Fixing a scratch on a smartphone's lens cover..

The RM160 problem..

The HTC One X+ Android phone was the rave last year.

I got this to replace my LG Optimus 2X that literally hung on me.

Prior to that, I had a HTC Desire C, which is a 3" screen smartphone running on Android 4.1.

But it was a single-core phone and I didn't quite like the screen size.

So, I traded it in for the HTC One X+, which turned out to be a totally different animal.

The lens cover, restored from scratches

My phone's back cover

 Pocket time and "ugh!" images..

I must say that the phone camera on the HTC One X+ is only "so-so".

To date, I never had any luck with cellphone cameras.

Either they are too slow or just plain bad.

To make matters even worse, the HTC One X+ spent a lot of time in my pocket.

This means, mixing with coins and keys.

Which led to the scratches forming up on the lens cover.

This resulted in some really bad and "soft" pictures and in low-lighting conditions, the images literally "blows!".

snapshot taken on daytime

snapped during low-lighting conditions

A simple solution...

I went to a HTC dealership.

A sales guy there told me that he could replace the lens cover for RM160.

I was hesitant.

Which led me to check on the internet on solutions for this issue.

Some dude suggested toothpaste.

I took a more aggressive approach by using liquid abrasive.

It was a "all for nothing" situation when I dabbed the liquid paste on the lens and started rubbing it on a circular motion.

With a few rubs, I noticed that the scratched coated surface was gone.

Then, I turned on the camera and the images were clear again. Just like the day I bought it.

The pictures are not soft anymore.

Samples

I saved RM160 by literally polishing off the scratches from the lens cover.

And if there are any more unsightly scratches, I can do it again and again and again.

Basically, it was the glass coating that gave way. Seems like hard plastic to me, but with the liquid abrasives, it worked just fine!