Some LG V20 owners claim camera glass cover breaks easily (Updated)

Bulging cameras on phones are not only unsightly, they can also pose durability issues, as their glass surface is exposed to more wear and tear compared to the older flush designs. Unlike other phone makers who’ve adopted sapphire to mitigate this issue, LG scorned a sapphire camera cover for the V20.

Now some owners of the smartphone have taken to Reddit and YouTube to spread awareness of an alleged weakness of the LG V20: a fragile camera glass covering. One Reddit user posted a photo of his LG V20 with a camera cover that allegedly cracked after he left the LED flash on for a long period. Another user claims his LG V20 had its camera cover broken within five hours of receiving it.

The real causes for the incidents haven’t been verified yet, so these claims must be taken with a grain of salt. But there seems to be a growing number of V20 owners reporting the same type of problems with their phone. At least until we learn more about what’s going on, the best thing to do is handle the device with caution.

You could also try leaving the LG V20’s built-in protective film on the camera glass, as suggested by Zack from JerryRigEverything. In his V20 durability video, Zack pointed out that the camera cover can crack after a simple scratch.

While Corning and other glass makers have made great progress in creating stronger materials for mobile applications, glass remains one of the weak links of phone design. The LG V20 is not, by any means, the first device with fragile glass elements. For instance, multiple users complained about spontaneous cracks in the glass window of the Nexus 6P.

Have you encountered any problems with your V20? What did you think was the cause? Share your thoughts down in the comments!

Update, November 2: Folks over on r/LGV20 put together a list of reports of broken camera glass on the LG V20. So far, the list is pretty short with just seven incidents report, but if you’re worried about the issue, or if it happened to your device, you might want to check it out.