Some T-Mobile Galaxy S6 Edge users report screen defects (updated)

By all accounts, Samsung’s new pair of flagship Galaxy S devices are prepared to take the world by storm. With a combination of premium materials, a lightweight reduction of TouchWiz, and less bloatware than ever, the phones allegedly had over 20 million retailer pre-orders before MWC even ended. T-Mobile made news recently when it announced that pre-orders of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge were shipping early and indeed some customers already have them… along with some problems.

Several users on XDA Developers and Reddit have reported a troubling issue involving the screen of the Galaxy S6 Edge having quality control issues. Specifically, there are fine scratches all over the screen and, in the case of Erica Griffin, a crevice deep enough that it can be felt when running a fingernail across it. Some have already gone about returning the products to T-Mobile, only for the second (replacement) to have the exact same problems. User rhcpcjg has posted several pictures:

If you look at the bottom right corner, you can clearly see a circular halo-type pattern of scratches. One user suggested that a pattern-formation is not necessarily a defect, however it was refuted with another user’s claim that their scratches do not adhere to a pattern.

The second picture shows further scratching on other areas of the screen (look around the flash), once again appearing in a circular-like pattern:

The final picture contains a dead pixel, though it’s admittedly hard to see. Look at the horizontal line near the bottom of the screen (above the word “Start”), just above the center-right portion. A small black artifact is there:

It’s difficult to say just what is going on here. One XDA user has suggested that the damage might be due to mishandling with T-Mobile’s shipping couriers, such that particles of dust are trapped under the factory installed screen protector, and due to throwing or dropping packages, the dust is therefore allowed to scratch the surface. Others have suggested there are problems with the individuals assembling these units, or packaging them. Yet another idea is that T-Mobile may have installed its own screen protectors on the devices post-manufacturing by Samsung’s factories, and that might be where the culprit is coming from.

One thing seems to be generally true of these claims however – the scuffs required direct lighting (often sunlight) to view. It remains to be seen just how widespread this is, or if the standard Galaxy S6 will experience similar problems. It’s very possible that only devices in early batches are suffering from this problem, though that’s just speculation. Suffice to say however, if the S6 Edge does have quality control issues, it might serve as yet another justification for a “standard substitute.”

Update: Our reader imtheking83 shared images showing what appears to be an actual crack (as opposed to a scratch) in the glass of their S6 Edge. See the comment below for more pics.

Have you encountered any similar issues on your Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge?