How to distinguish between China Made and Original iPhone 7 Series LCD Screen

April 14, 2017
How to distinguish between China Made and Original iPhone 7 Series LCD Screen

Since the iPhone 7/7 Plus has been released for quite a long time, finally the China made iPhone 7/7 Plus screen replacements came out in the market. we’ve got some iPhone 7 series LCD screen replacements samples and done some tests on them, now let’s take a closer look at these new iPhone 7 series LCD screen replacements!(Tianma and LG sources for testing )

Test object: China made iPhone 7/7 Plus screen replacements(Tianma and LG sources)

Test Numbers: 10 Pieces each for iPhone 7/7 Plus

Test Projects:

  1. 1 Installation Fitment
  2. 2 Appearance
  3. 3 Display Test
  4. 4 Home Button and Touch Function

Testing Results:

After all the test procedures were done, here are the results we’ve got.

1. Installation fitment

After installing all the sample screens to the iPhone 7/7 Plus rear housing assembly, we found that all the China made iPhone 7 series screen replacements are fitting well just like the original ones - the home button fits well, the screen assembly and the rear housing also fits well.

2. Appearance

A. Apple Logo

From the picture below, we can see that there is no difference between the China made iPhone 7 series display and the original ones, however, back to the rear side, we can easily figure out which one is which, cause the original one has Apple logo on it while the China made screen has none.

B. Flex Cable

By comparing these two iPhone 7 screens, we can find that the screen flex cables are much different, there are extra IC on the China-Made iPhone 7 screen while the original one has none. And the original iPhone 7 series screen flex cable is integrated together while on the China-Made iPhone 7 series screen the touch function flex cable is soldered to the display and 3D touch flex cable.

C. Exposed IC

Another difference between the original and China made iPhone 7 screen replacements is the exposed IC on the after-market iPhone screen, just like other China-Made iPhone 5 or 6 series screen replacement, which has more potential risk of electrostatic damage and more likely to get damaged and this problem needs to be improved.

3. Display Test

During our test, we found that the display color between our after-market iPhone 7 screen and original screen seems a little different although they are not effecting the touch function. And to be honest, there may have some black dots on the screen because of impurities within the screen module when laminating the LCD and backlight together, without any doubt, this can be solved with technical improvement.

4. Touch Function

The screen touch sensitivity is another big concern for all of us, luckily, during our test, almost all home button and touch functionality on both iPhone 7 and 7 Plus works well, except one piece of iPhone 7, the 3D touch function is not acting so well on the central part of the screen.

Conclusion:

The China-Made iPhone 7 series LCD screen assembly replacement still remains to be improved in quality and performance compared to the original ones, the exposed IC, heavier screen flex cable ribbon, and the screen color difference, the touch function stability, although the price is attractive. However, the China made iPhone 7 series screen replacement is under the improvement, and sooner or later their quality and performance can be quite close to original ones and acceptable, if you're going to stock up some non-original iPhone 7 series LCD screen replacement, pay more attention and we’ll keep you updated with further information about after-market iPhone 7 series screen replacement!