Successful revival of Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 MTK
Months after I bought the phone it got dropped on asphalt and the digitizer cracked. But not the screen. I kept using it like that for a couple of years in fact from 2016 to 2020. And from 2020 to 2022 the kids used it to play games or watch YouTube. Currently the battery no longer holds charge for more than two hours, and the screen is even more cracked than before. The kids even manage to give it a bath. In fact I am amazed of how many things this phone went through and didn’t die.
Trying something new
Fast forward to mid January 2023. I decided to try to replace the screen and the battery. Just to try something new.
Buying the parts
The parts roughly costed around $35: screen & digitizer assembly + battery + glue for the screen + glue for the battery + tools. I will be putting some pictures here just for reference. I was lucky because everyhing was at a discount(probably because the phone is old).
The screen — about $11.
The tools — about $2.
The battery — about $8.
Glue strips for battery — about $2.
Glue for the screen — about $5.
Shipping — about $5.
Fixing it
I followed this guide strictly for disassembly — it is very comprehensive and the phone model is the same as mine.
The most difficult part was removing the battery because the old adhesive strips broke and I had to peak from the top with a plastic tool in order to unbind the battery from the chassis.
To hold the screen in place after it was glued, I used clothes pegs.
Conclusion and custom recovery
As long as you have patience and the tools, it’s not that hard to do a screen/battery replacement.
After the repair was done, I used mi unlock to unlock the device, I rebooted it into fastboot mode and installed twrp. Thanks cofface!
Credits & Useful links
https://www.magazingsm.ro/
https://www.gsmnet.ro/
https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_redmi_note_4_(mediatek)-8291.php
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFb8vG-DG-Y
https://twrp.me/Devices/
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/cofface-redmi-note4-twrp-recovery.3457394/
