Swap your Nokia Lumia 920 housing shell with this how-to video

By Sam Sabri
last updated

Windows Phone may finally be in third place in the smartphone wars, but we’re still a relatively small minority. That doesn’t really matter when we have such a kickass community. Need proof of that? Just look to Lemmiwinkles/Martin S. A few weeks back he shared with the Forums how to swap your housing on the Lumia 920 to get a new look. He’s gone ahead and made a video to show you step-by-step how you can do it yourself. Video time!

If you’re looking for cases head to eBay to see if you can take your black Lumia 920 and turn it into red, yellow or white. Maybe you’ll get lucky and find cyan or gray online. We did see a grey genuine housing online for a brief time last week. Either way, it’s a relatively easy way to give your 920 a new lease on life until you wait for Eos.

There should be nothing stopping you now from swapping the housing on your Lumia 920. Just make sure you’re ready to put up with the increase in attention from everyone swooning over your ‘new’ Lumia 920 in yellow. Have any other questions about the process? Ask below or head to our forums where Martin and others can help you out.

Thanks again Martin!

Source: YouTube, Windows Phone Central Forums

Sam Sabri
Sam Sabri
70 Comments
  • Planning to install grey when I'm selling it.
  • That's actually a good idea. You'd stand out against other people selling their 920s... unless everyone decides to do grey now o_0
  • Too scare to try. bummer
  • Same here. I'm on my 5th 920 so I'm a little over cautious at this point.
  • 5th?!?
  • It's easy. Make sure an order new wireless charging stick on part ( $25 ). It doesn't make the transfer over to new shell well. It may stick but if you drop phone the contact point may shift. *Experienced
  • It would be awesome to just take off the shell and have some auto shop paint it a candy color and clear it and reinstall it.
  • Nice video. Going to change mine when I change the screen
  • Thanks! Good luck :)
  • Funnily enough, that's what I do for a living. 
    My colleagues agreed with me that some of the holes (especially the noise cancelling holes on top) are too small and laquer (clear coat) would clog them up. I guess you could peirce them again with a pin but it would break the coating and could possibly lead to peeling. It also makes the shell slightly thicker (a few microns), but could be enough to cause issues putting it back together. The chances of that sharp edge at the front of the housing surviving popping the main unit back in are probably slim and you'd be left with a pretty bad looking housing. Not to mention, clear-coat scratches a hell of a lot easier than polycarbonate.
    That being said, I will probably try it anyway, just out of curiosity. I will, of course, post photos when I'm done!
  • Awesome, but very expensive and not very durable. The color of these polycarbonate cases are integrated with the material itself and not applied on top and is why the color doesn't scratch off. 
  • Waiting for my yellow housing! ^^
  • Great guide. Would like a cyan but red could work to.
  • I just hope WPCentral finds a grey casing or a grey 920. Love that grey.
  • Cant find a seller that would send to Mexico, dont know why lately its so hard I didnt have this problem before. :( would love a red one.
  • +1
  • Got the yellow one and thinking about doing the install.. Does this void the warranty/insurance?..
  • I am not sure how it would NOT void the warranty! Anytime you open the phone and you are not an authorized repair center your warranty is voided.
  • Yea that's what I figured.. Gonna watch the video and see if I'm going to take the risk or not
  • I heard these ones creek less on the back and sides, is this true?
  • yes less creeking. I have swapped out my white to yellow and its pretty awesome. Feels like a new phone
  • just waiting for my cyan cover to arrive... I will post pictures as soon as the transformation is completed!
  • Good luck! Let us know how it turns out. 
  • Good luck ! I love my Cyan Lumia 920!
     
    Greetzz.
  • Can you share the link to cyan housing ?
  • http://www.eurosatonline.com/store/carcasa-inferior-nokia-lumia-920-noki... 920
    I got mine from this shop and it fits perfectly ;)
  • I appreciate your reply but cover is blue rather than cyan. I dont think blue 920 exists. Whereas it says original. 
  • is there a way to open it up, without voiding the warranty? (like how the original xbox 360 had that sticker you could reuse with a blow dryer)
  • Well... even with taking apart the XBOX you are still voiding the warranty... you're just covering your tracks if you re-use the sticker.
    I don't advocate it at all, but it would be very hard to tell it was opened if you replaced the charging coil (or did a very good job of removing it) and replacing the black screws (they get a little scratched up after a few times). But again, the second you remove those screws and pop up the unit, warranty is technically void.
  • Yea that's what I mean, because say I drop my phone in a puddle of water after opening it? Lol your screwed unless you can do it by covering your tracks
  • Yeah, I'm worried about voiding my warranty too, but I have Best Buy's insurance where they will replace your phone even if due to water and other abuse. Should I be worried about opening up the case if I were to return to best buy instead of the manufacturer? Anyone have similar experiences with best buy?
  • Probably hard to do that. Not surprised you can take this apart so easily. You can take apart anything with the right set of tools. Just gotta be careful
  • Carbon fibre housing where
  • This. I want for sure....
  • Can't wait to try this next weekend when I am back in States and my new shell arrives.
  • I have the Cyan Lumia 920, i would love to change it to Red or Yellow, sexy colors!
     
    Greetzz.
  • I wanted Cyan, I had a Cyan 900, but having any other colored theme looked weird so I'll stick to white lol.
  • The seller he mentions in the video now has a cyan housing on sale but on the pictures it looks glossy. Has anybody ordered and received it yet?
  • I've noticed that as well... still waiting for mine to arrive, but will let you know when it's here. I'd prefer it to be matte, but can live with a glossy one. It's just a thought of it not being OEM after all... oh, well.
  • I swapped my stock matte black cover for a glossy yellow one a couple of weeks ago, and I LOVE IT! There were a couple of tricky bits -unclipping the usb port ribbon cable, and heating up then peeling off the wireless charging circuit are slightly pant-wetting moments but the result is well worth it. I also took the opportunity while it was open to wedge a thin peice of card down the side of my battery to stop it from rattling. Go for it!
  • Ohhhh is that what that rattling is when you shake the phone? It kind of scared me the first time I did it.
  • People don't do this to your phones.
  • Why dreonedon?
  • Have done it. And I would do it again! Poo Poo to you.
  • Swapped my red housing for white. The only issue I had besides the wireless charging coil was my LED was upside down in the new housing.
  • Just ordered the yellow case. Can't wait to change from my boring black. Thanks for the videos!
  • How about the front glass? Is there anyway to do that?
  • Defo gonna put a yellow on my baby now :)
  • I desperately want grey but I'm useless at fixing stuff. I don't trust myself to do it without screwing up. Almost wished mine was broken so I'd be *forced* to fix it.
  • I ordered a red one from the same eBay seller. I ordered right after the first video. I can't wait to get it.
  • Couldn't you buy an extra wireless charging coil and just have that new one slapped in your new case as to make switching back and forth much easier? :) I want to get a yellow or cyan case but I'm hesitant now more than ever, my screen yesterday has developed a permanent vertical line down the screen and had I done a case swap when I wanted too initially I'd be screwed right now to get it fixed........so I have mixed feelings
  • What a truly award-winning idea! Why didn't I think of that?! Just priced them up; not expensive at all. Marvelous
  • Thanks for the video brother, just bought a yellow housing!
  • I did it las week. Went from black to yellow. I had the flash issue but I then realized the flash was upside down! I caught this while comparing both cases... you could tell it was rotated 180 degrees. I heated the case with the hairdryer, removed the flash, turned it upside down and voialá! it worked!
  • Anyway to add a MicroSD card? My phone has no space left and I cannot purchase new games on it.
  • Just a noob question but why is grey so coveted?
  • I think only because it is rare. I find grey anything to be boring. I'l like a real carbon fiber unpainted housing!
  • I hope Nokia Care would offer this service in the near future..
  • i will love a indigo glosy housing
  • A deep purple maybe... Although I have been playing around with the though of a wooden case, if it was possible. Would look awesome with the brown or emerald themes... maybe even the crimson theme if its something like blood oak, or red mahogony.
    I really wish I could get a wooden case...
     
  • Well said, I would like a bamboo, or a cherry finish.
  • Sooooo my Lumia 920 doesn't say "NOKIA" on the back. It says "Carl Zeiss Tessar 2.0/26" If these are OEM, shouldn't they say that? Also, the blue isn't matte, and it doesn't say cyan. WTF
  • Only the US has CARL ZEISS | Tessar 2.0/26. The rest of the world has NOKIA | Carl Zeiss
  • Oh, thank you!
  • I better go with cc1043.. It almost looks like the housing.... 
     
  • In love with my Cyan 920 :D Now I will turn heads with this and my cyan/skull touch cover Surface Pro ;)
     
  • TThanks for the tutorial!!! It's really helpful and now I enjoy my "brand new" yellow 920!! :D
  • Hey please do a tutorial like this for Lumia 720! Thanks
  • Thanks for the video. I am going to try this with the gray cover. Hopefully it  all lines up right.
  • I changed my white housing with black, only problem was that the glue from wireless charging coil didn't came off, so I put it the new housing without any glue, since than my battery life is much shorter! Could that be a problem with my battery life?