Haven't really seen any posts on this, so maybe I just got a lemon...
Got my Flyer last night and first thing I noticed was that I had some light-bleed at the bottom of the screen in portait mode. 2 greenish blobs to be exact. Also some more slight bleed along the right side from top to bottom. I cranked up the brightness to just how bad it was, and lo and behold, found 3 stuck pixels.
Examined it a bit more and noticed a slight gap with light passing through along the bottom edge, where the screen meets the bezel. And last but not least, also a jaggy scratch on the aluminum itself.
I'm going to take back to BB and exchange for another, was wondering if anyone else had flaws like these? HTC build quality is usually pretty good, so I was surpised to see this on mine.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA Premium App
There seems to be some different issues depending on which version people have bought (EU/US/other, Wifi only/3G+Wifi).
I have EU 3G+Wifi,32GB version, my screen and the exterior was perfect, but the touch sensors are totally irratic. Sometimes the far most left edge doesn't respond in portrait mode, some times it seems to respond to nothing at all, just flicking the home screens around, pulling the status bar down, launching shortcuts, or typing random stuff, even the soft keys are buzzing and active when this happens.
It actually did this from the first time I powered it on, and it took me 30 mins to get through the first few steps to get it up an running because it kept pressing the wrong places and quite often hitting the back soft key. I tried a factory reset, it helped slightly, tried recalibrating the keyboard, tried various hacks found around these forums, nothing helped. It seems worse in landscape mode than portrait.
I am getting it replaced by Amazon, which is quite nice since it also seems to acquire scratches very easily, even using the capacitive end of the pen has left tiny tiny marks. So, I ordered some screen protectors just to be on the safe side.
No issues with mine, sounds like you just got a dud.
No issues with my and is 16 gb wifii
Ok, just exchanged and got my 2nd one at a different BB... more problems.
This one also has some light-bleed at the bottom, but not as bad as the 1st one. Also has 2 stuck pixels, you can see them perfectly using one of those screen tester apps. And lastly, the volume rocker is loose, when I pick up the tablet, it makes a rattling sound.
Also weird, when I first booted up, had a default wallpaper of a blue skateboarding Android on a dark background... was not the normal default HTC wallpaper, wtf? lol. The box was sealed shut, had never been opened. Weird.
So back to the store again tomorrow, gonna exchange.
Edit: Tried out one of those stuck pixel fixer apps and didn't work. The stuck pixel is red, can see it perfectly on a dark background. I'd be willing to keep this one despite that, but the loose rattling vol rocker is driving me nuts. Argghh!
Ok, I guess 3rd time's a charm because I got Flyer #3 today and seems to be perfect - no dead/stuck pixels or rattling vol rocker! Everything seems solid.
Interestingly, on #1 and #2, the 3d carousel effect never worked at all. But on this one it works fine. Really surprised I had to go through 2 bum units first to finally get one that wasn't defective..
Related
just wondering if anyone else is also tolerating the unfortunate light bleeding around the bottom half of their phone and above the soft keys. is this an issue with most of the thunderbolts or did i just get a defective model?
Can't really see what your talking about, is it like that for you all the time for you?
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
I only see it when tilting the phone down at an awkward unusable angle. Don't see anything anytime i've been using the phone normally.
found this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=12954063&highlight=light+bleed#post12954063 .
My phone has that too, but it really never gets in the way unless like said you're looking at your phone from an already unusable angle.
It's a problem with most thunderbolts and many phones/tablets in general (even the jesuspad isnt immune).
As already mentioned, I dont ever see it unless im intentionally trying to look for it (at an angle).
Have same issue at an extreme angle.
Have same issue only a problem at night. Daytime I don't notice a thing.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
like stated in the link posted above, its from the illuminated capacitive buttons at the bottom and not the LCD panel itself.
On my first thunderbolt, i actually had the entire screen rotated by a few degrees and pretty bad bleed from the back lighting of the keys at the bottom. VW overnighted me a new phone and the new one still has the back light bleeding, but as others have said, only at extreme angles.
The screen isn't bleeding. It's just the lighting from the soft keys. I only notice it when I have the phone at a certain angle. No big deal.
This normally happens with any device that has backlight keys, soft or not. My Droid X did the same thing.
i work for verizon and every thunderbolt i've sold hasn't had nearly as much light bleeding as mine. it is a painful thing to sell models that surpass mine haha, getting a new one sent to me though, just hope it's not the same. blast this ocd
Okay,
This happens only on the bottom right of the screen, if I press down with a little bit of pressure you can see the LCD screen distort, This occurred on my 1st device (requested a replacement) the replacement does the same exact thing in the same exact area.
So is this just a overall defect with the device (Since it's present on more than 1 device I received) or something with just a bad batch?
To test:
Open up the browser, on a white screen landscape mode, just use some pressure with ur finger press on the screen and the lcd will distort/wave into blue-ish color. Do the same test around you will see that 1 side will always have this effect but the other 3 won't.
The old device this issue was far worse than the new one. Only other note to make.
No issue here
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app
Nyxagamemnon said:
Okay,
This happens only on the bottom right of the screen, if I press down with a little bit of pressure you can see the LCD screen distort, This occurred on my 1st device (requested a replacement) the replacement does the same exact thing in the same exact area.
So is this just a overall defect with the device (Since it's present on more than 1 device I received) or something with just a bad batch?
To test:
Open up the browser, on a white screen landscape mode, just use some pressure with ur finger press on the screen and the lcd will distort/wave into blue-ish color. Do the same test around you will see that 1 side will always have this effect but the other 3 won't.
The old device this issue was far worse than the new one. Only other note to make.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's bad.. but it wont cause any issues if you don't press on the screen really hard
Well I'm exchanging the second device as well.
Will keep going round and round until one without a defect lands in my hand.
On my Galaxy note 2 no matter how hard I press nothing. DNA little pressure it begins, the 1st unit was very easy to cause the ripple effect, but the second unit was much harder maybe 3rd times the charm.
Well 3rd device does it as well so its an inherent trait of the product.
It sounds to me like the screen is set in tilted a little. A lot of HTC phones have this, I've noticed. Almost all the replacements I had on my rezound you can clearly see the screen set wrong from the light leakage on the bottom of the panel. Actually, I just pressed the bottom right* corner of my screen (the part that's higher) and it actually does the same thing but it's barely noticeable though on my rezound and only on darker colors.
Well the DNA is going back this is basically un acceptable to me. 3 units all of them do it, if you lightly press on the screen it will ripple.
The funny thing is I can feel the difference when you press down on the left side of the device it's much stronger than on the bottom right.
This is definitely not an issue on my phone. My One X had this issue. (coupled with the light bleed from bottom ). Looks like some DNAs are affected by same issue.
But its definitely not common thing. The second DNA I had ordered for a friend was received yesterday and both are perfect with no sign of any such screen ripple issue. Might be the case of bad batch at particular store.
No issue here on my phone. No offense, but it sounds like you are looking for a reason to switch phones. You either have extremely bad luck to get three defective phones, or you are trying too hard to find something wrong.
It happens to me when you press directly in the middle of the phone. Although it's not an issue for me, since the amount needed to press to see it would not be used on the phone on a regular day.
I'm going to try a diffrent source. Yes all the devices have this issue.
I'm going to post a video as well.
Mine does this as well, turns like a purplish color like if you pressed hard on an lcd tv. It hasnt bothered me at all and i love the phone but just wanted to say i have it too
All of the devices have this effect.
My HTC One X has this thingy but you have to press hard...which is not what's intended with a capacitive screen, the problem is that the more the phones are slim and the more screens are fragile, just touch the screen not press it
Not all devices have it but the dna def does have it.
I bought my N9 32GB white from Amazon Warehouse on Feb. 17. It was the second I'd ordered. The first had a defect (bent frame). All has seemed well with this--very minimal light bleed; no dead pixels; recessed but clicky buttons; no squishy back--in fact, very solid. For the past two weeks, I've noticed a cloudy area about 1"x1" just below the horizontal midline near the center in portrait mode. It looks like a smudge but remains after I wipe. It's particularly noticeable as I scroll white-background screens. I even changed my Tapatalk app to dark mode to avoid it. I've tried to get a pic of it, but it doesn't show up well enough, if at all.
I came across a similar situation of someone seeing dark areas on light background on his LCD panel laptop after he had sat on it. It was reported that applying extreme pressure to an LCD screen could result in this phenomenon. I have not applied any pressure to the screen, but as it is an open-boxed item, it could have happened.
I need opinions from those who know about these things as I know nothing. ATM, I'm trying to train myself to scroll a page from the center so that my fingers hide the "shadow" which is also what it looks like.
Thanks
ritchea said:
I bought my N9 32GB white from Amazon Warehouse on Feb. 17. It was the second I'd ordered. The first had a defect (bent frame). All has seemed well with this--very minimal light bleed; no dead pixels; recessed but clicky buttons; no squishy back--in fact, very solid. For the past two weeks, I've noticed a cloudy area about 1"x1" just below the horizontal midline near the center in portrait mode. It looks like a smudge but remains after I wipe. It's particularly noticeable as I scroll white-background screens. I even changed my Tapatalk app to dark mode to avoid it. I've tried to get a pic of it, but it doesn't show up well enough, if at all.
I came across a similar situation of someone seeing dark areas on light background on his LCD panel laptop after he had sat on it. It was reported that applying extreme pressure to an LCD screen could result in this phenomenon. I have not applied any pressure to the screen, but as it is an open-boxed item, it could have happened.
I need opinions from those who know about these things as I know nothing. ATM, I'm trying to train myself to scroll a page from the center so that my fingers hide the "shadow" which is also what it looks like.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, ritchea...
Sounds like you've not had the best of luck with the N9, this being your second one.
From your description it certainly sounds like a hardware defect with the screen. A manufacturing flaw perhaps, or something happened to the device whilst in transit or in storage at the warehouse
If it really bugs you, you should get it replaced.
I'm a little OCD about this kind of thing, and no matter how much you try to convince yourself it's nothing and to avoid looking (at the screen flaw)... subsequently, you spend all your time **thinking** about not looking... And eventually you look.. And wished you hadn't... if that makes sense. It detracts from your enjoyment of the device.
Rgrds,
Ged.
I'm a bit (more than a bit, really) OCD. I've owned over a dozen devices but never experienced this so I also assume a defect. I just needed to know if this is a possible defect that is known-especially when trying to get service.
EDIT: As this thread had had over 200 views, I'm throwing more info out there to see if anyone has any further insight.
I factory reset the tab --all stock except for relocking it. Darn if the spot didn;t seem to disappear. Then it returned. At that point, I decided to revisit the back. Hmmm. There is a little give in it--not spongy, but when I applied some pressure, I heard a sound in the middle of the tab like adhesive reattaching. (I've looked at the teardown and know that a lot of tape exists but not from the back cover to the rest of the tab.) I looked at the white screen, and again, the cloud was gone. In a few minutes, it reappeared. So, I firmly rubbed the mid-back and the cloud disappeared. I've now tried it over a dozen times (after restoring my nandroid), and applying firm pressure to the back always, but temporarily, removes the cloudy area. Can someone say what's most likely causing this? (I know it's faulty hardware, but I mean, what is happening to the screen when I apply pressure? Maybe a bubble in a layer somewhere?
Because of the camera, I don't want to get into taking the back off. I chatted with HTC to make sure my Amazon warehouse tablet was covered, and was told that it is even though (from the CSR) Amazon is not an official HTC retailer.
Hi everyone,
I got my nexus 9 last week from Best Buy. The serial number is HT4C, which means it has been manufactured in December of 2014.
I don't have like any problems with it so far, except the light bleed I think. I was not sure if this is too bad or this is normal and I can't get any Nexus 9 to have better LCD than this, so I decided to attach some pictures so maybe you guys can suggest either I should go and ask for a replacement or just deal with the current one...for comparison I have also put a pic I took in similar condition from my HTC One M8 screen...
Everything else is working fine..the volume button is working great and no problem with back cover...but also sometimes I feel when pressing the multi tasking button there is a delay to show the app, would anyone know how to fix this (is this even a problem?).
Thanks!
arminvm said:
Hi everyone,
I got my nexus 9 last week from Best Buy. The serial number is HT4C, which means it has been manufactured in December of 2014.
I don't have like any problems with it so far, except the light bleed I think. I was not sure if this is too bad or this is normal and I can't get any Nexus 9 to have better LCD than this, so I decided to attach some pictures so maybe you guys can suggest either I should go and ask for a replacement or just deal with the current one...for comparison I have also put a pic I took in similar condition from my HTC One M8 screen...
Everything else is working fine..the volume button is working great and no problem with back cover...but also sometimes I feel when pressing the multi tasking button there is a delay to show the app, would anyone know how to fix this (is this even a problem?).
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A slight delay every so often when hitting the recent app button shouldn't be any indication of a major issue. Unless you are having major lag, I wouldn't worry about it. It's really hard to judge how bad light bleed is in real world use from pics. My Nexus 9 does have some visible light bleed during boot up while the screen back light is unrestricted, but during use it is not noticeable at all. Even when watching letter boxed movies. I'm sure it would probably look much worse than it is if I took a pic of it during boot up. Honestly, if the only time you can see it is during boot and it isn't giving you issues during use, I wouldn't bother returning or exchanging. This device really has a beautiful display and, although I'm sure there are a few people with really bad screens, I think the issue is being over exaggerated.
GibsonSGJ said:
A slight delay every so often when hitting the recent app button shouldn't be any indication of a major issue. Unless you are having major lag, I wouldn't worry about it. It's really hard to judge how bad light bleed is in real world use from pics. My Nexus 9 does have some visible light bleed during boot up while the screen back light is unrestricted, but during use it is not noticeable at all. Even when watching letter boxed movies. I'm sure it would probably look much worse than it is if I took a pic of it during boot up. Honestly, if the only time you can see it is during boot and it isn't giving you issues during use, I wouldn't bother returning or exchanging. This device really has a beautiful display and, although I'm sure there are a few people with really bad screens, I think the issue is being over exaggerated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
I agree, this is why I posted this here. However, the problem is there whenever there is something with a black screen, like when watching movies, I can't avoid looking at black stripes on the top and bottom and see the light bleed....which is kind of annoying.
But overall, the display is great, very warm colors and good contrast.
Also, regarding the delay..no I am not experiencing lags, but sometimes when i.e. I play the FiFa ultimate for 2hrs and then come out of the game it takes 1 second or so to home screen get loaded.
arminvm said:
Thanks.
I agree, this is why I posted this here. However, the problem is there whenever there is something with a black screen, like when watching movies, I can't avoid looking at black stripes on the top and bottom and see the light bleed....which is kind of annoying.
But overall, the display is great, very warm colors and good contrast.
Also, regarding the delay..no I am not experiencing lags, but sometimes when i.e. I play the FiFa ultimate for 2hrs and then come out of the game it takes 1 second or so to home screen get loaded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I watch a lot of Netflix, etc in bed with the lights off when the wife is sleeping, so it would probably drive me a little crazy if the lightbleed was very noticeable under those conditions.
Taking a second to load the homescreen after two hours of gaming isn't anything to worry about. Some apps will do that, some won't from my experience.
I have one of the first Nexus 9's, a white 32gb. I'm very happy with the screen and have had no performance issues other than what we've come to expect from Android. The only (non)issue with mine si a slightly flush volume up button on the volume rocker. But it still clicks nicely and I've never considered returning mine.
I was playing with two demos at the local best buy the other day and the buttons on the white demo they had were horrible! But the Black demo had the most raised buttons I've ever seen. They were amazing, a made a very firm "click" when pressing them. But, when I went into the settings and started scrolling, the screen started to do this weird purple flickering thing, so what can you do?
As long as you are happy with yours, that's all that really matters.
A couple weeks ago i bought 2 nexus 9's from 2 different best buys. both were December builds. One looked like yours when it booted; it looked really bad IMO. My other one wasnt nearly as bad, there was some bleed in a few spots, mostly upper right, but there was no significant color shift. i returned the bad one. so, you can do better, but its all luck of the draw. depends if it's worth your effort and time and how noticeable it is in normal usage.
Turbo Brian said:
A couple weeks ago i bought 2 nexus 9's from 2 different best buys. both were December builds. One looked like yours when it booted; it looked really bad IMO. My other one wasnt nearly as bad, there was some bleed in a few spots, mostly upper right, but there was no significant color shift. i returned the bad one. so, you can do better, but its all luck of the draw. depends if it's worth your effort and time and how noticeable it is in normal usage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
During the past two days, after my work, I went to Best Buy store that I got my Nexus 9 from...the first day I opened 3 Nexus 9s all with HT4C serial numbers and 2 of them had awful light bleeds and the third one had bad volume buttons...I ended up with bringing the third one to see if I can deal with the buttons. However,the buttons were so bad and I also saw that this one also has the same color shift but small light bleeds...
Today I went back to BestBuy and asked them to change it again. They give me another HT4C and I checked it over there, the built quality and volume buttons are great and small light bleed...but when I got home I saw that this one still has the color shift problem...
I think all of the high res LCD panels have this problem, because I put my N9 beside my friends iPad mini 2 and surprisingly saw that the iPad has also exactly the same color shift on black screen in Max brightness...So, I think I should deal with it....
BTW, I also called google and they said some light bleed and color shift is normal and probably any replacement device I get is going to have these issues (they didn't call it a issue though and just said ..are going to be like that).
So my question is, could you please take a photo from you N9 in a black screen in Max brightness to I see how it looks?
Thanks.
arminvm said:
During the past two days, after my work, I went to Best Buy store that I got my Nexus 9 from...the first day I opened 3 Nexus 9s all with HT4C serial numbers and 2 of them had awful light bleeds and the third one had bad volume buttons...I ended up with bringing the third one to see if I can deal with the buttons. However,the buttons were so bad and I also saw that this one also has the same color shift but small light bleeds...
Today I went back to BestBuy and asked them to change it again. They give me another HT4C and I checked it over there, the built quality and volume buttons are great and small light bleed...but when I got home I saw that this one still has the color shift problem...
I think all of the high res LCD panels have this problem, because I put my N9 beside my friends iPad mini 2 and surprisingly saw that the iPad has also exactly the same color shift on black screen in Max brightness...So, I think I should deal with it....
BTW, I also called google and they said some light bleed and color shift is normal and probably any replacement device I get is going to have these issues (they didn't call it a issue though and just said ..are going to be like that).
So my question is, could you please take a photo from you N9 in a black screen in Max brightness to I see how it looks?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're fretting over nothing. No one uses their device with a black screen with max brightness. Besides, it's an lcd screen, it will never be jet black in that condition.
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
Here it is.
Turbo Brian said:
Here it is. View attachment 3241664
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
OK, here is how my story ended yesterday ?, during the past days I swiped 7 nexus 9 tablets from 2 different Best Buy stores! Sounds crazy? But all of them had problems...three of them as I posted here had severe LCD light bleed, the other one had volume bottun problem and two of them had soft back cover problem (!), that was so funny even the best buy costumer service couldn't believe the back panel could be like that when we opened the box!...anyways...finally O got one yesterday (the last one in their store, lol) and thank to god, it has min light bleed...volume buttons are OK and the back cover as far as I checked is fine...some part of the right top of it seem to be soft again but its negligible and since I want to put it in a case I will never notice that...fare enough I think for the money I paid and the fact that got sth that at least looks to be not full of faults...
Here is a photo from its screen, in max brightness...thanks again.
jd1639 said:
You're fretting over nothing. No one uses their device with a black screen with max brightness. Besides, it's an lcd screen, it will never be jet black in that condition.
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know and agree, but when sth has problem and you know that it should not be like that, then I think it is not fretting over nothing...I love nexus..and this is why I swiped 7 N9s to get one without these problems...thanks
When I first got my Nexus 9, I looked very carefully for the light bleeding as I heard it was really common on these devices. And to be quite fair, mine had a lot when you ramp up to max screens brightness (especially on the bottom left corner). But after several months of use, I hardly see it now as it's due to myself not always nitpicking at it. You will eventually grow accustomed to it so in the end, it'll definitely fade into the background of your device
Moomoomania said:
When I first got my Nexus 9, I looked very carefully for the light bleeding as I heard it was really common on these devices. And to be quite fair, mine had a lot when you ramp up to max screens brightness (especially on the bottom left corner). But after several months of use, I hardly see it now as it's due to myself not always nitpicking at it. You will eventually grow accustomed to it so in the end, it'll definitely fade into the background of your device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first one I got from Amazon, a early build white 16gb had really bad bleed and the buttons were flush. They sent a replacement with a later build date and it has MUCH less bleed and great buttons. I was fortunate I assume.
I have one of the same models you have I bought from best buy yesterday. I'm really happy with mine. I have no perceivable bleed and the build quality is excellent. The back of the device has no flex. Its much better than the floor model in the store for sure.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
Let me start by saying that i bought this phone only 3 days ago and these are the problems I've found with it.
1. The Second screen back light issue. This is a common problem among many lg v10 users as i have noticed, and i have that same problem too. to the extreme left of the second display it is brighter than the rest but only when it is off. I do not find this very annoying since i do not use the second display for reading my notifications while it is off. i mostly use it when the screen is on
2. In addition to that, the power button/ fingerprint scanner combo is completely garbage, as in the actual clicking. the button seems loose and when i click it, it squeaks. Also, when i run my finger up and down the power button it wobbles and has the same annoying squeak.
3. The charging port is loose. Not so much that the cable could slide out not in that axis, but it moves side to side freely and up and down. this worries me because i think that if i put too much pressure on the cable the port could break somehow.
4. The steel bezels are nice and stuff but the gaps, are uneven at the bottom left, the metal bezel is like bent and you can easily see through it. also at the back when you pop in the cover it seems like it doesn't align with the bezel. but that might just be my ocd lol
This phone in my opinion is great the best phone I've had. but its just that these things are what let me down. This phone is great but they absolutely ruined it with the quality control. note* my batch is from January 15, 2016
U probably just got a bad one. Sometimes, they make it thru the quality control somehow. I would return it until u get the one ur satisfied with.
Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk
youngpettyboi said:
U probably just got a bad one. Sometimes, they make it thru the quality control somehow. I would return it until u get the one ur satisfied with.
Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I think I should but I'll wait until the weekend and decide if I should change it.
Probably a good idea. The flaws won't change. I have the lightbleed on the 2nd screen, but I never notice unless it's absolutely pitch black where I am and the screen is off. It doesn't annoy me tho.
Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk
YMartin said:
This phone in my opinion is great the best phone I've had. but its just that these things are what let me down. This phone is great but they absolutely ruined it with the quality control. note* my batch is from January 15, 2016
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like the phone, maybe I love it. I have the same problem with the residual light on the left of second screen. (phone batch 26 Oct.2015) But, what I dislike the most:
1. The lack of a LED on the front.
2. The second screen, about my opinion is useless until then a developer create an xposed apk for a flashing light on second screen when I loose a call.
3. The fingerprint sensor is useless too for me.
4. Volume of the speaker is not too loud.
But, I like the size and the shape of the phone. It is a catch eyes everywhere I go. Benchmarks are very good for a Snapdragon 808. The screen is very fluid. And the most, the camera and his software are great; you believe or not I compared in photoshop pictures from an expensive Sony semiprofessional DSLR camera with photos made with my V10 and the overall quality are quite the same. It's the best phone I ever had (and I had a lot of top level androids)
I don't want to change it, even on a G5!
H961 dual SIM, rooted, debloated.
The light bleed is a common issue, but everything else sounds like your phone was assembled incorrectly, you should exchange it
Okay so today I was wondering if I could find any more nit picky problems and noticed that the back cover did not sit flush with the buttons and that if I pushed it down it became flushnot a big issue but it bugs me when I'm turning up the volume or turning on the phone
thisisjason said:
The light bleed is a common issue, but everything else sounds like your phone was assembled incorrectly, you should exchange it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I exchanged a week ago and now that the time limit to return it is over, it cracked, not from a drop. It just cracked by itself there is a small hair line crack right by the metal rail and if is so annoying I paid good money and I take care of my phones well even if this was made to be tough. It cracked while I was in the car waiting for someone and then out of no where I heard a little pop and I thought nothing about it but after I finished watching the video I noticed it and got so scared I was like"did I drop it" but I did not idk how it managed to break I haven't dropped my phone yet and it just cracked out of nowhere