It’s not the first time we’ve seen this happen on a smartphone
Imagine it’s 2020, and you just bought a brand-new smartphone. It has served you well, but right as the phone’s warranty ends, the problems begin — and without a warranty, you don’t have an easy way to get your phone fixed or replaced. This hypothetical scenario might seem like a bad joke someone makes when talking about planned obsolescence, but for several Sony Xperia 5 II owners, it’s reality — one that has started to grow exponentially over the last few months.
We got a tip from a Vietnamese Xperia 5 II owner complaining that their phone’s screen has a green line streaking down without previous drops or water damage. Sony has also allegedly refused to fix the issue, as the phone is out of warranty. It’s definitely not an isolated case, as droves of Reddit users have complained about similar issues with the screen on their phones, dating all the way back to June 2021.
These kinds of hardware issues are not entirely unheard of. After all, defective units can and often do slip through quality control and into the hands of users. The problem is that the Xperia 5 II was released in October 2020, almost two years ago. If you bought your phone on release day, that means your warranty expired last year — and if the issue pops up after that period, you’re likely out of luck trying to get Sony to replace your screen for free.
Some Samsung Galaxy S20 users suffered a similar fate, having defects in their screen pop up right as their warranty period ends. If Samsung also made the OLED screen for the Xperia 5 II, that would point to wider problems with Samsung’s screens, at least for 2020-made batches, rather than it being entirely Sony’s fault.
If you have an affected unit, be sure to get in touch with Sony for a replacement. Your phone is likely not covered under warranty anymore, but who knows — maybe you’ll get lucky.
We’ve reached out to Sony for comment, and we’ll update this post if we hear back.
Thanks: Ming Hoang
