OnePlus One User Discovers Manufacturing Defect Affecting Touchscreen Digitiser

Users of the much-talked-about OnePlus One 'flagship killer' smartphone have been reporting issues with touchscreen responsiveness, for which the company has rolled out a software update and promised another OTA update. However, one intrepid user has now claimed that the issue is caused by a manufacturing problem and not software, making such updates meaningless.

A OnePlus forum member going by the name Vantt1 has posted a detailed analysis stating that issues including unexpected and misinterpreted touches occur because the screen's flexible digitiser connector has been fitted in such a way that it comes in contact with the inner surface of the handset's metallic body.

"As suspected, the digitizer flex makes direct contact to the metallic chassis before being connected to the logic board," Vantt1 said. After experimenting with insulating material, he/she continued, "And sure enough, when the flex is isolated from the chassis, the problem disappeared. The phone had no problem registering all 10 touches, and every touch was more responsive than ever."

Vantt1, whose OnePlus One handset had touchscreen issues, suspected the nature of the problem after having encountered the same thing on an iPad mini which had been through a screen replacement. On separating the digitser's connector from the chassis with a simple insulating tape, the handset's touchscreen worked fine.

OnePlus is yet to comment on the matter and confirm whether the touchscreen issue on the One handset is really caused by a manufacturing problem or a software problem. Vantt1's detailed diagnostic process along with images can be seen in the forum post.

OnePlus announced an OTA update in October dubbed CM 11S 38R for the One smartphone, which reportedly fixed problems including unresponsive touchscreens and more. In August, OnePlus had also pushed out the CM 11S 33R update for poor touch responsiveness, but it only partly fixed the issue.