Charging Dock DK26 - Does it cause Xperia Z screen to crack?

[helilessons]

I think the design of the Xperia Z Charging Dock (DK26) may be causing screens to crack.  Here's my reasons:

I keep the DK26 charging dock next to my bed to charge the phone at night which displays a night clock/alarm on the screen.  A few evenings ago I was using the Xperia to browse my mail and read the news and then placed it in the dock as usual.  The next morning I woke up, pulled the Xperia Z out of the cradle and noticed the screen had a crack in it!  How had this happened?  I treat the device VERY carefully and have never had a cracked screen with any phone before - I just couldn't understand it.

After some thought I realised that the place the crack had started was aligned with one of the plastic 'guides' in the dock.  I think these caused the problem.  The reasons are as follows:

1.  When you fit the supplied screen protectors, it tends to make the device a little thicker and less slippery.  This means that putting it into the dock is just that much more difficult to get in and out.

2.  The point pressure on the screen where it is touched by the tip of the guides is probably very high - not helped by the fact that there is a spring-loaded lever built into the back of the dock design to raise the electrical contacts so that they go into the side of the phone as you slide it in.  I can see why Sony designed this arrangement because if the contacts were permanantly exposed and you accidentally dropped a piece of metal onto them then it would cause an electrical short circuit and probably blow up the charger.  However, the problems I believe this arrangement has caused (in my case at least) leads me to think it is not ideal.

Overall in my view this is not a satisfactory design and my advice to users is to be very careful about how they insert the phone and withdraw it.  My advice to Sony is to revisit this design and see if something can be done to improve it otherwise a lot of cracked screens will result.

[Uliwooly]

oh ok, make sense

[helilessons]

Vrita,

You make a fair point - I have looked at the area closely with a magnifying glass and the plastic sorround of the Xperia Z is certainly level with the glass screen.  And I have no doubt that if the phone is slid carefully down into the dock, in line with the slot, that it would be fine.

I think the potential (and as yet unproven) problem is that when you are blurry eyed in the morning it's possible to twist the phone into an angle where all the pressure from that front guide is placed onto the glass.  I can definitely get the plastic to touch the glass in certain orientations.

The question is, if it isn't this, how did my glass get broken between the time I put it into the dock and when I pulled it out?  I haven't dropped it, I'm not aware of any shocks that the phone could have been subjected to, and there are no marks on the screen, not even the plastic screen protector.  In short, until a more convincing theory is available I will remain convinced that the dock has a problem.

[helilessons]

DonMC,

Glad you like the mod idea and thanks for your own idea to fill the base with something heavy - neat idea - I will do it too!

[dmbliz]

So here's my story about this phone:

bought it when it first came out a few years ago,

1st one i got just completely died after about a week when i plugged it into the charger and was replaced free of charge,

2nd one came without the ability to vibrate and was replaced again free of charge after about a week,

3rd one screen cracked whist in my pocket with cover on and screen facing inwards (+$200 to fix 1/3 of the cost of the phone),

Then this morning when i woke up the phone was in the dock (which i used everyday since getting it) i swiped to turn off the alarm and got up to get ready, i grabbed the phone out and realised it was unresponsive and that the screen had a crack running from just below the front camera to the bottom of the phone right where the dock holds it, unbelievable I have been so carefull after repairing the screen and to have this happen is a such a load of crap,

I will never buy annother sony product from this day onwards, the only reason i got the dock is because my old nokia became useless from the micro usb charge port degrading so i thought this would be great as it will never break, but what a pile of junk it turned out to be.

would love to hear a response from sony on this ().