Introduction: Custom Smartphone Logo Light

By My website
About: I am 25 years old Polish "teen" (was... xD) :D I play electric guitar, like programming and arduino :)

Customize your smarphone adding a backlighted logo!

Step 1: First of All

This will propably void your warranty...

Be as careful as you can, one wrong step and bye bye phone! Keep in mind: whenever you use solder iron on your smarphone's PCB UNPLUG THE BATTERY connector!

Sorry for that some photos are bad quality, but I didn't think about instructable then.

Step 2: Parts

You will need:

  • Razor blade (to cut out logo or you can use CNC, or whatever you want)
  • Thin wires
  • Soldering iron
  • Guitar pick (to open smartphone)
  • White paper sheet
  • Backlight from old small LCD
  • Color filter (I used blue from 3D glasses...)
  • Two-component glue (epoxi...)
  • Sand paper
  • Superglue

And of course your smartphone with aloy or plastic backplate. (Xiaomi Redmi Note 4x in my case)

So as you can see everything you can find in the garbage :D

Step 3: Phone Disassembly

Find on Youtube how to disassembly your smartphone and carefully do it. Put your back cover on the side and check where your motherboard has GND and V BAT pads/connectors.

Step 4: Cutting!

Print your logo stencil, stick on the back cover and start cutting! Do it with full precision. My Avicii logo took me whole day.

If you have acces to CNC then the most difficult step you have done!

Step 5: Filling Logo With Glue

Mix your two compound glue and fill your logo with it. Leave your cover for one day, let it dry.

Then sand the glue to be completely smooth, glue on it color filter and again use sand paper. It is important to make everything as thin as it is possible.

Step 6: Sanding Backlight

Now take your backlight film and again use your sand paper to make the film thin. Otherwise backlight will push your battery on the screen, this will couse your screen to pop out! You don't want that.

Step 7: Glue Backlight

First glue white paper on battery (or whatever you have under the cover/logo) then glue backlight film and solder it to the MOBO (don't forget to unlpug the battery first, use thin wires). If you backlight can't stand 4.2v from Li-ion battery use resistor (SMD if you don't have much space).

Step 8: FInish!

Plug in your battery, close backcover and you are done! If you are using rubber cover then cut a shape in it so everybody will see your custom phone :D
To be fair. I have second damaged Redmi Note 4X so I didn't care if something would go wrong... If you are scared buy aftermarket cover on ebay, alliepress so you will have original cover undamaged.

If you have more experiance you can solder you logo to buttons' backlight or screen's backlight. Or even connect audio jack (hahaha.. jack...) to make your logo dimming to the rythm.