My Oppo A3 Pro 5G was badly damaged during a hiking accident. The display still lights up and I can sometimes unlock the phone with my fingerprint, but much of the screen is distorted, covered with dead pixels, and unresponsive to touch. I recently got a Samsung A27 and only need to recover the photos from the Oppo. Connecting it to a laptop with a cable did not work because I cannot clearly authorize USB file transfer. Samsung Smart Switch is also difficult to use because I cannot scan its QR code from the damaged phone. Are there any affordable alternatives, such as using a mouse, external display, or cloud backup, without paying for an expensive repair?
3 Answers
If Google Photos or another backup service was already syncing your pictures, sign in to the same account on the Samsung and check the online library. If backup was not enabled, you may still be able to use the damaged phone with an OTG mouse to start a sync. Without cloud backups, Android storage is encrypted, and a computer usually cannot access it until the phone is unlocked and USB file transfer is approved. In that situation, repairing the screen, even temporarily, may be the least expensive reliable recovery option.
Since the display is not completely dead, carefully try opening Settings and changing the USB connection from charging only to file transfer. A mouse or an OTG hub with external power could make this possible. If the Oppo supports video output over USB-C, connecting it to a compatible monitor or TV could also give you a usable view, but this depends on the exact model and its USB-C features.
If the phone is still running but touch input is unreliable, try a USB-OTG adapter with a wired USB mouse. That may let you navigate the screen, approve the USB connection, or open a cloud photo app and upload the pictures. Make sure the adapter supports OTG and that the mouse works when connected; some basic adapters or wireless mice may not draw power correctly.
Would any mouse work? The one I tried does not even turn on when connected through my adapter.
The screen is not blank, but it is extremely glitchy, so I am not sure where to find the setting or whether this model supports an external display.