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Why I will never buy another Samsung device

• puzzlingcaptcha 5y ago
  This is a bit of a tongue-in-cheek answer, but if you want a foldable phone with a modicum of control over its software, get a Nokia 2720 Flip instead (running KaiOS, based on Mozilla's failed Boot2Gecko).
• puregram 5y ago
• johmue 5y ago
  maybe just don't buy devices where the screen folds. it is unholy and obviously leads to punishment by the spirits
• s1mon 5y ago
  Folding LCDs have been a solution in search of a problem for years. Maybe they looked cool in some ID rendering or model, but I’ve never understood why anyone would want one other than the novelty factor. And as has already been pointed out, they’re destined for failure at the fold.
  • yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
    Twice the screen while still fitting in your pocket? If they were reliable I'd love one of those
    • s1mon 5y ago
      Yes, twice the screen, but also double the thickness, at least for the LCD and some supporting components. Figure on at least a few mm extra (LCD+touchscreen+case). I don't know of any material which can fold 180 degrees over and over, and not eventually succumb to fatigue. Maybe within the expected lifetime of a phone it will work under test conditions, but unless there is serious margin in the robustness, I would expect some to die at the fold in the real world, and that will never be good publicity.
• jansen555 5y ago
  I banned Samsung product from my house for a decade (2004-2014). Samsung product is always giving me the crap quality feel. I now unbanned it to twst drive some of thei innovations. Their S21+ is quite good. S22 Ultra is so complicated, I am not sure it will last 1-2 years. I give their folds easy pass as I know their screen won't last daily usage. Just google it. I missed Nokia. I will never forgive that Elop guy who stopped Nokia going Android. We all would have incredible phone by now, instead of crap quality with feeble experimental tech.
• DonBarredora 5y ago
  This is what happens when you have more money than brains.
• deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
• MengerSponge 5y ago
  > slowly becoming reliable You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
• klodolph 5y ago
  I am truly, deeply, unsurprised that foldable phones fail along the seam. I know that's not the point of the post, and I'm not blaming the author. It just seems like such a ridiculous concept in the first place. My old flip phone had its own problems, and there wasn't even a display along the seam.
  • deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  • userbinator 5y ago
    I don't get the point of this design either, unless it's to show off deliberate planned obolescence. Two regular screens with ultra-narrow bezels on the butt edge would achieve the same effect, without the constantly stressed folding bit. I have some old (almost 10 years old now) smartphone LCDs and the pixels go right up to the edge of the glass itself.
    • TillE 5y ago
      It's really incredible how much technology and marketing has gone into removing a tiny seam (which is actually not even fully removed anyway).
      • bee_rider 5y ago
        It seems very strange. Like even if you really wanted screen that went down to a smaller size, why not do something scroll-inspired, rather than book-inspired?
      • Teever 5y ago
        The people who are tricked into buying these phones through that marketing are beta testers. Give it a couple of revisions and you'll see products that you actually want to buy. Compare those pen based tablets that Bill Gates was demoing in IIRC 2002 to the first ipad.
        • niek_pas 5y ago
• mulmen 5y ago
  If the phone was in a case where did the damage come from?
  • yellow_lead 5y ago
    > this scratch is probably caused by a grain of sand in my pocket about a month ago
    • mulmen 5y ago
      > Yep, it is these two dots where the paint has been chipped off. Under the picture of clear damage to the phone.
  • aliljet 5y ago
    According to the article, it wasn't in a case for the first month, but more importantly, the magnitude of the damage is what makes the Samsung assessment remarkably suspect. Certainly seems like a really bad experience with Samsung.
    • mulmen 5y ago
      I mean, maybe. I have had glass screens shatter with similar damage to the body of the phone.
• Aeolun 5y ago
  This does not strike me as damage that should exclude a phone from warranty, fancy folding type or no. I’d be angry if it were a €100 budget model, but this would make me livid.
• throwanem 5y ago
  > What they’re doing currently is forcing their early-adopter customers to bear the risks of the new technology. We generally call this "being an early adopter."
  • EarthIsHome 5y ago
    Yup, they're paying for the privilege to test their product
  • rvz 5y ago
    There you go. Never buy the first edition of a new product innovation or technology. It is guaranteed to end in disappointment and they are essentially beta testing. Better to wait for it to mature first in newer versions than to jump into the hype squad and leave disappointed.
    • gruez 5y ago
      >There you go. Never buy the first edition of a new product innovation or technology. But the model number mentioned in the post resolves to "Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G" which sounds not "first edition"? According to wikipedia samsung's first foldable phone came out in 2019.
    • scarface74 5y ago
      Was the first iPod, iPhone, or iPad a disappointment? The first ARM Macs have gotten rave reviews. Now the first Apple Watch…
    • dotancohen 5y ago
      > There you go. Never buy the first edition of a new product innovation or technology. I'm fully vaccinated but this was my biggest concern. mRNA tech is still in the first-edition of large-scale deloyment.
  • bmicraft 5y ago
    The real problem I see here is that they are legally required to warranty the device but aren't doing it
• mitchbob 5y ago
  Archived: https://archive.ph/RqSu6 https://archive.ph/RqSu6
• jtchang 5y ago
  I can feel my blood boiling for you. In fact I'm in the market for a new phone and stories like this make me actively want to avoid Samsung. As companies get larger and larger they will tend to make choices that are suboptimal to consumers. Cynical me says that Samsung is seeing above average warranty claims on these foldable phones. Thus they need to get them down so some manager somewhere decides that they will enforce the policies more strictly with small scratches and dents outright disqualifying claims. Lo and behold this reduces the warranty claims paid out but in the grand scheme of things completely demolishes any customer loyalty. I wonder if author reached out via twitter or some other social media channel to have Samsung comment. Also I have to think what Apple or Google would do. I'm pretty sure Apple would just straight up repair the phone with very few questions (that has been my experience). Google you'd have to go through a longer warranty process but my guess is they'd be more lenient and eventually you'd get a new or repaired phone. Samsung is losing hard here.
  • klodolph 5y ago
    As companies get larger, they tend to make choices that benefit individuals within the company, at the expense of the company at large. Somebody was told to invent a new type of phone, something that will "wow" people. That's the flip phone. Somebody was told that the warranty claims were coming in too fast, and need to be reduced. Same reason people at Google keep launching new products. It doesn't make Google look good, it doesn't achieve Google's goals, it makes L5s promotable to L6s.
    • throwawaylinux 5y ago
      Or, Pournelle's iron law of bureaucracy. The goal becomes less about doing things that benefit customers, and more about doing things that benefit the organization.
  • deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  • shahbaby 5y ago
    You can't quantify customer loyalty like you can quantify warranty claims so you can burn the former to improve the latter, maybe even get a promotion for doing so, then move on and let someone else deal with the long term consequences. It's sad but I've accepted that this is how most companies are today. One way to avoid getting burned is to only buy what you actually need when you actually need it.
• ikt 5y ago
  > I was in need of replacing my aging Pixel 4 > Released 2019, October 22 How is a 2 year old phone aging?
  • MerelyMortal 5y ago
    Technically everything is aging, unless you have a process to halt time.
    • reb 5y ago
      There's no user(name) I'd trust more to deliver this kind of wisdom, MerelyMortal.
      • MerelyMortal 5y ago
        Thanks. Not everyone seems to agree though, oh well.
  • schmichael 5y ago
    You must not be a Google phone user, or if you are: you got lucky. I owned 4 Google phones and only the original metal-case-with-trackball Nexus 1 lasted over 18 months. It’s the only phone that I replaced due to obsolescence. The one I managed to get repaired under warranty (Nexus 5 bootlooping death) lasted 1 week before dying the exact same way again. It look 2 weeks just to get it repaired. I switched to iPhone. I can’t remember what number even though I’m typing on it because it doesn’t matter. It works as well today as the day I bought it. (Although I do miss Google’s keyboard)
    • ianlevesque 5y ago
      You don’t need to miss Google’s keyboard: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gboard-the-google-keyboard/id1091700242 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gboard-the-google-keyboard/id1...
      • malkuth23 5y ago
• atty 5y ago
  I remember fondly when I had an iPod, the one time I had an issue with it (can’t remember what, honestly), I just walked into an apple store and probably 5-10 minutes later walked out with a new device, free of charge, no questions asked (after they tried resetting it once) I’m sure someone in these companies has made a spreadsheet that shows permissive repair and replacement policies cost $X million a year, but it probably doesn’t take into account that the experience with the iPod directly led to me purchasing multiple iPhones and Macs.
  • Gigachad 5y ago
    Similar experience with the airpods. They stopped pairing right. Walked in to the store, they ran through some basic tests, plugged their diagnostics tool in, then handed over a new pair and it was done all on the same day.
  • 2muchcoffeeman 5y ago
    I used to abuse new iPhones, and before the warranty ran out claim that the battery life was not up to scratch. They always replaced my phone. Once I got a new phone when the damage was clearly my fault but I played dumb anyway. I am still buying Apple products. So jokes on me.
    • SV_BubbleTime 5y ago
      > I used to abuse new iPhones, and before the warranty ran out claim that the battery life was not up to scratch. Oh, so, fraud.
      • deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      • 2muchcoffeeman 5y ago
        Nope. They have a utility to test the battery capacity. They check your claim first and someone decides.
• bstar77 5y ago
  Youtubers and tech sites get devices for free, play with them for a week and give rave reviews. The rest of us have to live with the device for years worth of wear and tear. What could possibly go wrong with bendy screens?
  • speedgoose 5y ago
    Many influencers on YouTube get paid by the brands. It’s a shit show.
    • rexf 5y ago
      They are an indirect promotional arm. YT phone "reviews" are as useful as a video game "review". They are well-timed promotional content, and they generally can't say anything truly bad or else they jeopardize early access to demo units.
• unobatbayar 5y ago
  What do you expected from Android phones? I wouldn't recommend iOS devices either.
• c- 5y ago
  He says she says about damage to a device, congratulations.
• gjsman-1000 5y ago
  We're not buying Samsung devices again for a completely different reason. We got a home remodel, with Samsung appliances because they looked decent and were priced reasonably enough for what we wanted. Mainly, a Samsung Refrigerator, Microwave, Stove and Dishwasher. Around the same time we also bought a Galaxy Note9 smartphone. 2 years later, only the Refrigerator and Microwave have survived. The Dishwasher broke after a year, and was replaced with a new Samsung which also broke in a year, and we replaced it with Bosch. The Stove's burners just stopped working and couldn't be fixed by the repairman, so that was replaced (with a non-Samsung one). As for the surviving appliances, Samsung had the ingenuity to build the Microwave's control electronics inside the microwave door, the thing most likely to get slammed, so we're babying the microwave or otherwise that would have almost certainly died from that idiotic decision. Even though the refrigerator is still standing, the "stainless steel" is apparently so thin it's covered in dents from when children left drawers open next to it, something stainless steel should be resistant to. Lastly, the Note9 after a year became slower than a snail crawling up a rock (crashed constantly opening even basic apps like Outlook) and no battery replacement or factory reset could revive it. Also began dropping calls randomly and constantly, and apparently it was a botched firmware update that randomly affected people with absolutely no fix. Replaced with iPhone 13 Pro. Never again.
  • chrischen 5y ago
    We have a Samsung fridge and the ice maker has a major unfixable design flaw (gets jammed with ice). One of the cables in the fridge also has a known design flaw. I guess we should be lucky our stuff isn’t catching on fire like most Samsung products do (at least when they are not supposed to be).
  • userbinator 5y ago
    That makes me wonder if the Koreans living in Korea itself have the same experience with Samsung, or if its "KDM" products are built to a different standard than export ones.
  • mark-r 5y ago
    It's not just Samsung though, you can run into problems with anybody. When we built our house my wife's company was doing a cross promotion with GE, so we were able to get a good discount on GE appliances and we loaded up. The dishwasher, microwave, washer, dryer, garbage disposal, and water softener are long gone. The stove has been a constant source of frustration, and the refrigerator has parts that haven't worked in years. I can assure you we will never own another GE appliance.
• rhuru 5y ago
  My Samsung s21 ultra camera stopped working after a Samsung update. This is pruely a botched app upgrade. Samsung wants me to try a factory reset as solution but I have too much of data to do that. Might move to pixel next.
  • DrScump 5y ago
    If there's a Best Buy in your area, ask what hours the Samsung specialist is on site.
  • aaaaaaaaata 5y ago
    Used Pixel, GrapheneOS.org WebUSB install, and suddenly this whole thread becomes jokes.
• fomine3 5y ago
  Foldable tablet (Fold3) is great. I can't have 8inch tablet on my pocket without folding technology. I'll never back to normal phones/tablets even if it's fragile. I don't know foldable phone (Flip3) worth to trade off durability, weight, and battery. Anyway foldable screen is early technology so insurance is mandatory IMO.
• StopHammoTime 5y ago
  This is why I always go with Apple. I've always just walked in, yeeted my phone at them and gotten a new one. I've had four warranty issues since my original 3GS and every time the experience has been pleasant. I've also had an AirPod replaced when it no longer kept charge and was within the warranty period. The same has also applied to other family members who have had failing devices and Apple always replaces them instantly. I recommend Apple phones to everyone in my family for the specific reason that if you have a broken Apple device, you can walk into an Apple store and get it fixed.
  • dhosek 5y ago
    I remember when I had my first-generation iPhone and it started to feel kind of hot during usage. I took it in to the Apple Store and the genius was a bit wobbly about it and he asked another genius and he said, "just replace it" and that was it.
  • silisili 5y ago
    Counterpoint, maybe. My mom is starting some kind of personal vendetta because her 13 month Ipad just stopped functioning. The Apple store told her it's 'fried' and she needs to just buy a new one.
    • klodolph 5y ago
      Sounds like it's out of the one-year warranty period. I think warranty periods for electronics should be longer, but I would also not expect replacement or repair for out of warranty devices, unless defective.
      • silisili 5y ago
        Yeah, that's how the conversation goes. 'It only has a one year warranty, but I feel like it shouldn't just die after that.'
      • throwawaylinux 5y ago
        > I would also not expect replacement or repair for out of warranty devices, unless defective. It sounds like it is defective.
• deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
• Bluecobra 5y ago
  I would double check with your credit card company to see if there is any recourse. For example, a lot of American Express cards give you an additional 1 year warranty. You can wait until the Samsung warranty ends and file a claim.
• bentobean 5y ago
  I’m surprised that anyone finds this surprising. These foldable phones with their soft plastic screens feel so cheap and gimmicky.
• Nursie 5y ago
  Honestly I'm pretty sure I won't ever buy another Samsung phone too, after my last experience. I bought an S20 Ultra after a price drop, it was still a very pricey phone. The camera was one of the best at the time and that sold it to me. I also bought the official Samsung hardened leather case. The phone was a large glass-sandwich (AFAICT all their flagships still are), and within a week the glass on the side and a little on the back had cracked, just through being carried around in my pocket, in its official case the whole time. I had a hell of time getting a refund out of Amazon ("We'll see what the manufacturer's warranty says" "no, this is your issue, you are the retailer and you'll give me a full refund because you sold me something that's clearly not fit for purpose") Why are they selling things which are so expensive and so fragile? I've gone over to the dark side now (iPhone 12 pro) for the first time, and while the software stack is not markedly superior on either side (IMHO), the hardware is far better designed and much more robust.
• kylecordes 5y ago
  It is unfortunate (and much more) that this purchaser is not being treated well. I am mostly an early adopter (sometimes joking that I refuse to use software past the alpha stage)... But a foldable screen? I am deeply skeptical that this will be reliable anytime in the next two decades.
• hedora 5y ago
  We had some installation issues with a samsung washer. The runaround was ridiculous. To see what I mean, try to order a replacement part. Here’s a link to their official US parts distributor. I spent over a half hour on hold with Samsung to get this URL. Rest assured the actual parts distributor doesn’t pick up the phone at all: https://www.samsungparts.com/ https://www.samsungparts.com/ This site truly has to be experienced to be fully appreciated. Try to find a part for one of their appliances (like a latch or hose or something). Here’s a list of some of their model numbers: https://www.whirlpoolparts.com/PartSearch/ProductBrandAllModels?brandId=160&productId=8 https://www.whirlpoolparts.com/PartSearch/ProductBrandAllMod... You may be wondering why I needed to order replacement parts for one of their appliances during initial installation. Let’s just say I’m not buying any of their crap again either. If that’s not bad enough to scare you off, their fridges have cameras that use deep learning to translate video into marketing info, then phone it home (joining it with information from local samsung tvs if possible).
  • gjsman-1000 5y ago
    I posted my full rant about my terrible experience with Samsung at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30424010 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30424010 if you want the full story, but in a nutshell, we had two Samsung Dishwashers and a Samsung Stove and a Galaxy Note9 all go out at an unrepairable level within a two-year period. And as for the Refrigerator and Microwave, they are still standing after two years but have major design flaws. They can't design a dishwasher that doesn't die within a year. At least Best Buy honored the warranties on them - twice.
    • haliskerbas 5y ago
      This might not work in your case for various reasons but, if you live in California: “ LPT: If you live in California, manufacturers of most household electronic goods that sell for more than $100 have to provide spare parts for up to seven years, regardless of warranty status. If they can't make the parts available to you, they have to buy the product back from you.” https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/p9nz0l/lpt_if_you_live_in_california_manufacturers_of/ https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/p9nz0l/lpt_if_... (Sorry, I hate linking to Reddit web interface)
• accurrent 5y ago
  I've had similar experience with a few manufacturers before including Apple, Dell and Samsung. The repair technicians are trained to spot even the tiniest scratch on your phone and then void your warranty (in Dell's case the technician himself probably forgot to screw one of the screws back in probably as it was missing a screw the second time I sent it back for repair... Its ironic that scratches can void the warranty of a product even if the damage has no relation to said scratch. I guess its just big corps milking every dollar out.
• JoshTko 5y ago
  I got the iPhone 13 mini at launch. Literally has no scratches even after several drops of 3-4 feet with no case. Has the best build quality of any device I've ever owned.
• sairahul82 5y ago
  Latest pixel phones are even worse. Every update is a nightmare. With one update, Bluetooth wont work, next update I wont get signal etc. I don't want to be in the Apple ecosystem but I am forced to. At least it works all the time.
  • aaaaaaaaata 5y ago
    > I am forced to Ten minutes on GrapheneOS.org web installer, no longer forced.
    • hddherman 5y ago
      Properly supporting a device should be left on the shoulders of the manufacturer, not a group of volunteers who do it in their free time.
      • aaaaaaaaata 5y ago
        Not until society demands corporate responsibility with their cash....
  • benjamir 5y ago
    Google is becoming incompetent. It's not only their phones. Currently they fail to fix their speech services for over a month. Doesn't update the language over mobile networks and drowns batteries while waiting/trying -- no matter the settings, restarts, Cache cleans. While other apps on those phones update properly over the same network. Dropped from a 4* rating to 1.5 (s. Play Store) Major changes were "changed name", "new icon", which were a clear warning sign to me -- now they can add "botched network handling"
• vzaliva 5y ago
  Few years ago I stopped trying to buy most advanced bleeding edge top to the line phones and go instead with more basic, cheaper model. Makes my life much less stressful. I know if it broke I can quickly replace it for few hundred bucks.
• fredsmith219 5y ago
  I will buy another device from them, like a phone or a watch, if they guarantee in writing that it will leak all over my floor daily like their damned fridge.
• Panini_Jones 5y ago
  I will never buy from Samsung again either. I bought a 49" monitor from them in January. A week later, I had two lines of dead pixels. I'm still trying to get them to repair it and customer service has been the worst. Moreover, the warranty online was incorrect. They said they would fix it but they haven't yet. It's been weeks. A nice $1k spent on a very frustrating experience.
• mehrdada 5y ago
  Until Apple mass produces a foldable phone I will put my chips on "it is crap".
• COGlory 5y ago
  >I was in need of replacing my aging Pixel 4 What? aging? It's from late 2019...That's hardly aging at all. I still use a 4a that is smooth as butter and battery lasts 2 days.
  • FearlessNebula 5y ago
    agreed the 4a is still butter smooth but if you’re getting 2 days battery that’s very light use, not typical use. And the 4a was known to perform better than the 4 for some reason, so I’m not surprised that people are getting rid of their pixel 4’s.
• petarb 5y ago
  My 65” curved Samsung TV started showing purple clouds on the LCD backlight a couple months after the warrenty expired. Never again, I don’t associate Samsung with high quality products anymore. Other family members with Samsung appliances like fridge, drier and washer have had similar issues.
  • mark-r 5y ago
    I have a 65" flat Samsung TV that I'm mostly happy with. But every once in a while, maybe after a couple of months, the video will start flaking out. Knowing it has a computer inside, I just do the classic thing to fix a computer - reboot it. I unplug it for a minute then plug it back in again, and it's good for another couple of months. Simply turning it off doesn't work.
• dade_ 5y ago
  I bought a Samsung Flip 5G, it is 1.5 years old now, and no issues with the display. The close sensor failed, which mean that my call kept going after I hung up, but Samsung repaired it under warranty. I was actually surprised someone would never buy Samsung again for their hardware as they are reasonably good quality and design. Their software on the other hand is pretty awful and the main reason I will look at other brands when this phone needs to be replaced.
• gjsman-1000 5y ago
  Also, in case anyone did not hear the news, Samsung's earbuds have been recently causing severe ear infections in some people from brief exposure - only 15-20 minutes with them was enough to give an Android Central reviewer an ear infection. Apparently Samsung was using Nickel directly on the skin, and an acrylic alternative called acrylate that also has been known to cause irritation. 2 irritating substances, directly on the skin, in one pair of earbuds. Madness. https://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-buds-pro-ear-infections https://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-buds-pro-ear-i...
• CTDOCodebases 5y ago
  Pardon my scepticism but how did the paint get chipped that badly without dropping the phone and why did the author of this article buy a case after owning it for one month? I think it’s silly that they are using these chips and scratches as a reason to refuse replacing a faulty screen though.
  • sundvor 5y ago
    Agreed on both counts. Those chips indicate some truly rough handling. If it's anything like my S21 Ultra, the paint is very strong and premium.
• hnshit3 5y ago
• mhardcastle 5y ago
  I started boycotting Samsung forever when I woke up one morning to the NFL app on my home screen on a Galaxy S6. Able to be disabled, but the fact that they'll install spam apps long after you've bought a device is really malicious.
  • _iziv 5y ago
    + they reinstall apps with major updates + the shitshow called Galaxy Store that you mandatory have to visit if you care about security updates always greets me with a dialog that suggests to install some game _and_ I have to opt-out for _every_ game. I don't know any real world example were you can be forced to watch an ad before something broken gets fixed. That only works in the (virt.) environment of a quasi monopoly.
  • maze-le 5y ago
    Absolutely agree, this was a red line for me as well. Coming with pre-installed crapware is one thing, but installing it during a security update is just malicious. I switched to a Google Pixel 4a with Calyx OS around a year ago and never regretted it even once. I mean -- what are they thinking about their userbase? They didn't just lose a customer they've gained an enemy.
• YPPH 5y ago
  If you make a warranty claim, it's no answer to say there are small scratches or dents. Small scratches and dents are normal and phones should be built to withstand them.
  • timbit42 5y ago
    Sounds like Samsung would lose in court if sued over it.
• Havoc 5y ago
  Yeah foldable screens struck me more as a “maybe in gen 4”. Still the author does seem to have a point on repair policy. On screens specifically on this model they should have been more chill
• deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
• nelox 5y ago
  I wouldn't go that far. Samsung portable external SSDs are pretty flash. Of the few I have had, they've been fast and dependable.
• abhimanyuaryan 5y ago
  My problem with Samsung devices: They sell slow Exynos in India, Overheating, bloatware and no stock android
  • benjamir 5y ago
    That cannot be stressed enough: no stock Android is a pain (at least if coming from there) E.g. more or less bound to their camera app, my automatic sync with Google photos isn't working because they want me to use _their_ gallery. Only when I start Google's photo app does a sync start. Repeating explicitly: that's preventing that pictures are automatically backuped to the cloud! -- too me, that's preventing the main selling point of paying a lot of money for a phone with a decent camera And: why would I switch every service to the crappy Samsung equivalent?
• jfoster 5y ago
  I'm considering a "rugged phone" as my next one. They seem great. A bit chunky, sure, but more battery, better value & more durable. I don't need a paper-thin or foldable-screen phone. I'm a bit surprised how little attention this category of phones gets.
  • MerelyMortal 5y ago
    I looked into getting a CAT (rugged) phone once, until I discovered how they don't get software updates.
    • jfoster 5y ago
      Really? The entire category? Just because they're too niche for the manufacturers to bother with issuing updates for? Surely they have to release security updates for some period of time, though?
  • deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
• selfhifive 5y ago
  Not the point of the article but being a stock or nothing guy and saying there's no innovation is not very smart. Eg. Samsung's brand of Android has floating multi windows. Split-screen app pairings. There's also Samsung Dex. Pixel and Nexus are probably the most basic Androids you can get.
• qwertox 5y ago
  Where was it bought? Sending it back to Samsung may mean that you wanted them to cover it with their own warranty, unless you bought it directly from them and explicitly told them you want to have them fix the issue in accordance to the "Gewährleistungsrecht". Having the seller (instead of the manufacturer) deal with this issue explicitly under the two-year "Gewährleistungsrecht", where the first six months it is up to the seller to prove that you are responsible for the damage (since 2022 it's now 1 year, if bought in 2022), may yield a better result. I can't imagine having the phone in the pocket together with a grain of sand would qualify as neglectful behavior? My phone has very tiny scratches probably because of sand in the pocket, but this is to be expected and not a problem to the phone, it can handle this without problems. So having phones in the pockets together with a grain of sand should be no issue. Is there such a warning in the manual?
• UltraViolence 5y ago
• adityapatadia 5y ago
  Samsung TVs are worse. Their OS is something app makers are not willing to support anymore. Twitch just stopped working. This is something I don't expect from a $1k TV bought just 20 months ago. I wish someone makes just TV panel with ton on inputs and outputs. I am happy to plug in Sonos soundbar and Apple TV to make it work and make it "smart".
  • staticman2 5y ago
    Twitch is a bad example, they are owned by Amazon who sells their own TVs and they dropped their Roku app after Amazon bought them presumably to try to get people to buy their Fire sticks instead. As far as I know you won't see Twitch on any built in TV os other than android and amazon's version of android. That's hardly Samsungs fault.
  • alex_suzuki 5y ago
    > I wish someone makes just TV panel with ton on inputs and outputs. Search for „digital signage display“, you might find something that fits your need. Have to leave consumer space and the pricing that comes with it though.
  • mijoharas 5y ago
    I posted a comment that goes some way to explaining this elsewhere[0]. The short answer is that tizenOS is crap, and the samsung engineers I worked with to build smart TV applications were crap. The only way that anything gets built on that quagmire is the herculean effort of a lot of developers (NOTE: my info is 5.5 years old, so that may have changed) [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30423815&p=2#30428375 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30423815&p=2#30428375
• haughty 5y ago
  I had a horrible experience with Samsung plasma TV about 7 years ago. TV cracked in front of my eyes - it went from completely fine to having a huge 'spider web' crack right in the middle. Samsung support claimed it was physical damage; After extensive research i found multiple other people who had the same problem. These TVs were extremely fragile, a slight impact could cause a tiny non-visible breakage; And then due to the heat generated during normal operation this tiny breakage could progressively turn into a cracked screen. At the time, Samsung's determination seemed like an extreme injustice... i filed multiple complaints with consumer protection services. Samsung people reached out and after a few weeks of 'passionate' phone conversations they agreed to refund the cost of repairs provided that i sign off that it was 'indeed' physical damage (obviously i did that). I never bought a Samsung product after that; But that TV still works :). As for phones, i am still using iphone SE 1st gen. Simplicity, beauty, and absolutely perfect one handed operation on this phone has not been matched still. Which tells you everything you need to know about phone 'innovation'.
• gardenfelder 5y ago
  My regular samsung cell phone has a button to mark as spam, but only for text messages which are regular billing statements, never for real spam. My google phone before it was awesome at marking spam; samsung just fails. No more samsung phones if they don't figure that out.
• pixelbreaker 5y ago
  Never be an early adopter
• noisy_boy 5y ago
  All this is just making me more and more worried - after swearing off Samsung (many years ago due to my Note 3 motherboard dying and them quoting a crazy repair cost), I gave in and recently bought a bunch of Samsung devices - S21 FE phone, Galaxy 4 watch and an A-series tablet - all have been working very well. Let us see how things go with this batch.
• Ycros 5y ago
  I was shopping for a new monitor recently, and I considered 3 different models from Samsung, and all 3 had so many complaints from users indicative of serious QA issues in at least their monitor division. I hope they sort their issues out, their products on paper at least, are compelling.
• JakeAl 5y ago
  This is why sometimes it's worth it to get the protection plan/insurance. Sometimes tech just fails, and if it's out of the manufacturers warranty often if it can't be repaired for any reason they send you a replacement or the money for a replacement. Amazon offers such plans.
• jiggawatts 5y ago
  I avoid all things Samsung for a much more important reason: They spy on you mercilessly, up to about the same level as Facebook. For example, they take screenshots of what you watch on your Samsung Televisions! Don't believe me? Take it from them: https://www.samsung.com/us/business/samsungads/resources/tv-ad-retargeting/ https://www.samsung.com/us/business/samsungads/resources/tv-... and https://www.samsung.com/us/business/samsungads/insights/ https://www.samsung.com/us/business/samsungads/insights/ You're not their customer, you're the product. Additionally, Samsung have a habit of releasing forced updates that almost-but-not-entirely brick their TVs, slowing them down to molasses. They do this right before the next model becomes available for purchase. Last but not least, a colleague worked there as a consultant, and his stories of their lax IT security were nearly unbelievable. Even though they spy on you like Google or Facebook, they are not like a FAANG when it comes to protecting your private info! They've been hacked for sure, probably by multiple nation state actors. Whatever you watch or do with their TVs is being relayed to the US, Russians, Chinese, or whomever. Assume that nothing you do with a Samsung device or Samsung software is remotely secure or safe. They're a slimy company made up of unscrupulous people trying to squeeze every last drop out of every rock. Don't give them your money. There are many other companies with much better track records.
  • bobetomi 5y ago
    I used to work at an electronics store, and another reason I avoid samsung products is because, compared to everything else, they seemed to be engineered to look good for marketing material and spec sheets over actual use. They would look shiny and great and seem to have great features, but the real world UX was so annoying.
  • midrus 5y ago
    Any alternatives? What would you recommend instead? I'm under the suspicion that every single Smart TV vendor has the same problems.
    • _nalply 5y ago
      Buy a dumb screen. For example a big computer monitor. I know it's not the same but this is the only solution I know.
• mdoms 5y ago
  You're going to keep a framed broken phone on your desk forever? Ok man.
• dotancohen 5y ago
  Help me get off Samsung! I find the Note's stylus terrific - and I find the iEcosystem does not fit me. Are there any non-Samsung devices with a stylus? Are there any good third-party stylii? I need something for dragging across the screen smoothly primarily, but also used for tapping. I once bought an "active stylus" from ebay for about $20 that was terrific, but it failed within a year and I've been unable to repair it. It's not available anymore, but I've tried other active stylii and been disappointed. Also, that fact that the Note stylus is built into the phone means that it is always available - that is not the case with any other stylus. Help me HN, you're my only hope.
• gyulai 5y ago
  That's why, at this point, I only buy mobile devices that meet milspec or are otherwise ruggedized. A mobile device that doesn't look like it would be right at home on a battlefield or a construction site is just not for me. Why is "shininess" an attribute at all that people are willing to trade off for the hassle of dealing with mechanical failure? Probably because, at the time when they make their purchasing decision, they are too willing to take it on faith that a manufacturer makes sane choices around tradeoffs between looks and likeliness of mechanical failure. Well: They don't. Stories like the above just show how easy it is for manufacturers to extricate themselves from liability. I had that experience some 15 years ago, when I was dealing with a phone that came down with a bad case of cracked-screen after two weeks of normal use. They just made a blanket statement that a cracked screen is always the customer's fault. And when I say they, I don't even mean a repair technician tasked with making those sorts of determinations all day long, but the process seemingly was just a pimply-faced kid in a retail outlet just saying that to any customer who came in with a cracked screen.
• shmde 5y ago
  To lower smartphone prices in India, Samsung fills it phone with samsung + non-samsung app bloatware, installs 4-5 shitty social media and game apps after every minor update(they call it security update). Has ads allover the place, in the lockscreen in the settings. The phone feels like how cancer would look like if it was made into a phone.
• cycomanic 5y ago
  It seems like he lives in Europe, so he should simply contest the rejection. Within the first 6 month (1 year?) the manufacturer has to prove that the failure was due to the customer. They can not simply say there is some scratches so we reject the claim. Also the ct magazine is a good place to contact as they have a column about these sort of cases.
  • Macha 5y ago
    Yeah, check your local law's implementation of 1999/44/EC and bring it back to the seller. The seller might urge you to try the manufacturer warranty because it makes their life easier, but ultimately they are responsible under EU law. If Samsung _is_ the seller, you can bring them to small claims.
• viktorcode 5y ago
  I've been through similar experience, but with LG. By similar I mean no repair in service for a phone under warranty. This has happened 15 years ago or more, but since then I'm avoiding all LG products. My stance hasn't changed in years; in fact now I'm more convinced in my position after hearing anecdotes from people I know about their service troubles with LG.
• Szpadel 5y ago
  Samsung is straight laying in they products, just look at this range hood: NK36N9804VB/UR on Samsung page you'll find that it have wifi build in, and this is just a lie. unfortunately I found out that after purchase, but you might check instructions, and you'll find that it contains Bluetooth client, and you supposed to have their wifi enabled cooktop to with it would connect and get connectivity from there. For me it's the same as claiming that your eg. computer comes with 128gb of ram because you can buy some sticks and put them there
• tluyben2 5y ago
  I don’t know; some companies are forgiving with repairs; my experiences; Apple (anything I sent them the past 20 years was fixed or replaced without any questions asked) and Fujitsu (I used to swear by Lifebooks as the customer service was brilliant). Worst I had were MS (blaming me for dropping on a factory faulty Surface; not once but twice in a row) and Samsung (also blaming me). Guess some train their staff to be customer friendly and the other to prevent repairs?
• zxcvbn4038 5y ago
  IMO foldable phones are a throwback to planned obsolescence. The mechanical wear of the folding and unfolding is going to win and you are going to find yourself with a new phone in a relatively short time. Every iPhone I’ve had has succumbed to either the home button failing (which requires a completely new main board to fix) or the lithium battery swelling to the point the case bursts open. My current model has no home button and has lasted the longest, and is a few months away from its third battery - I have no intention of replacing it until Apple brings back Touch ID or eliminates the notch. My wife has had the same Samsung phone for almost fifteen years, but it fails consistently every year and she has it replaced under warranty (how many of those things did they make that there is a two decade supply of replacements?) She gets a fresh unit with a fresh battery every year and runs it until it fails, then she spends about four hours on the phone with clueless support techs from Samsung and Tmobile, they point fingers at each other for a while, then finally agree to replace the unit. Usually it is the screen that fails but once she lost a bunch of irreplaceable photos when the encryption key corrupted, leaving her with nothing but a memory card full of encrypted blobs. Otherwise she has become really good at migrating to new phones when they arrive.
  • FearlessNebula 5y ago
    What 15 year old phone could your wife possibly still be using? Is it her main phone? I can’t even imagine rocking. 10 year old phone like the iPhone 5
  • throwawaylinux 5y ago
    Does your warranty period re-start when your device gets repaired or replaced?
    • zxcvbn4038 5y ago
      Yep! I think she pays $4/month to keep the warranty going.
  • rottencupcakes 5y ago
    Ironic that you find that the frequently actuated button is the prime source of failure but refuse to adopt the newer models that require no button actuation, no?
• deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
• rbrbr 5y ago
• RachelF 5y ago
  Another reason to avoid Samsung: New Samsung phones are almost impossible to root.
• RachelF 5y ago
  And avoid their SSD's too with the the 980 Pro, Samsung has just changed the components but kept the same model number. Samsung have removed the Elpis controller from the 980 PRO SSD and replaced it with an unknown one, and also removed any speed reference from the spec sheet. Take a look here for what's changed on the 980 PRO: https://i.imgur.com/YJShyLR.jpg https://i.imgur.com/YJShyLR.jpg
• kalal 5y ago
  Just recently I skipped buying Samsung TV because I feared to get unwanted advertisement in home screen. Is that really the case?
• donatj 5y ago
  I bought a Samsung TV in 2008, my friend liked my TV and bought the exact same one several months later. 7 years later, my TV died. Screen only showed the red channel of any picture. Like clockwork several months later my friend had the exact same issue. My Samsung refrigerator has been the biggest disappointment I’ve ever had from a major appliance. It constantly freezes up. I had it repaired multiple times under warranty, and it just kept doing it. My Samsung washing machine lasted several weeks past the warranty. My early experiences with Samsung were so positive, my camera circa 2003 was great, as well as all the dumb-phones, and my first smart phone, a Galaxy S, but something changed. They’re not the quality they once were.
• fireflymetavrse 5y ago
  We can bash Samsung here, for this particular case, but is this something only Samsung does?
  • saltmeister 5y ago
• IYasha 5y ago
  Samsung won't admit their garbagephones are irrepairable. The repair cost on foldables is ridiculously high. If you want something compact and fancy, buy yourself a flip-phone. There were a few 4G ones, even from samsung :)
• jay_kyburz 5y ago
  My Samsung TV is not connected to the internet, but every night about 2am it turns the panel on. Its black, but glowing. I have to turn it off at the wall if I want it to stay off. I'm convinced its trying to shorten its own lifespan.
  • pph 5y ago
    I'd consider that a defect and return it.
    • jay_kyburz 5y ago
      Its about 10 years out of warranty :)
• valdask 5y ago
  I have not bought anything Samsung since 2010 due to similar reasons.
• StillBored 5y ago
  Its the whole GD tech industry. Its been a race to the bottom on many fronts combined with constantly seeking ways to drive margins higher. Gone are the quality product for a fair price mindset. PS, I thought everyone knew the foldable devices weren't ready for primetime? I swore off LG products about 15 years ago, after a similar experience with some of the monitors, but ended up with a LG fridge (which failed) and a TV, and various monitors full of LG parts. These big tech conglomerates are hard to get away from. Its part of the reason I cheer on any competition in some of these spaces, no matter where it comes from.
• sockpuppet69 5y ago
• phendrenad2 5y ago
  Samsung probably won't care, no matter how popular this story gets. Samsung is the de facto "Not Apple" device. They will have customers flocking to them. They don't need to do anything. They just need to stay a step ahead of LG (lol) and Motorola (double lol). It's hard to overemphasize how big their moat is. If you look at a list of "Top Android Phones" Samsung is always in spot 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, etc. (they lose a few positions to Google sometimes).
• npteljes 5y ago
  I'm plenty happy with my Samsung phones, but truth be told, the first thing is that I slap LineageOS on them. Also I'm definitely not an early adopter, my latest purchase is an S9.
• nunez 5y ago
  Agreed. Samsung’s customer service is awful. I dealt with them years back for an RMA; don’t remember why. Worst experience ever. They also have no issues with holding your device for weeks at a time, even if it’s your only device. It’s not just Samsung. Basically everyone has craptacular customer service. CS is like tech: extremely useful towards keeping people around, and the first thing to get gutted by corporate budget. For anything not Apple, I can’t recommend third-party warranty enough. Shit breaks? Insurer pays up if OEM doesn’t play ball. Not your problem.
• peterashford 5y ago
  I won't ever buy Samsung products as well, but not because of their phones. I've had several Samsung TVs, a Samsung Washer / Dryer and a Samsung Fridge Freezer. All of those have had issues and Samsung went to great pains to avoid their responsibilities under NZ law to fix those issues. They're an innovative company but their customer service sucks and I will never give them another cent.
  • puregram 5y ago
• techzerd 5y ago
  Lol ! Dropped Samsung in 2011 when their stupid batteries already sucked. Never bought it again. Bought nexus lg pixel. No Samsung. NEVER
• cryptica 5y ago
  It's an ugly, over-engineered device. Not surprising that a device with so many moving parts is prone to failure. The whole point of smartphones was to reduce visible complexity as much as possible. Steve Jobs' innovation was consistently about removing unnecessary things; keyboards, padding around the edges, ports, hole grid for speakers... On the other hand, this foldable trend appears to be about adding back complexity which yields no benefits... What is the benefit of this foldable screen? There are none! If anything, it will make it easier to drop the phone and the fold looks horrible and it's fragile. WTF is going on with tech/engineering sector? Everything seems to be getting worse. No common sense.
• AlfeG 5y ago
  For some reason S10+ is the best phone I've ever owned. It's still updating - got Android 12. First thing I've done - disabled bixby entirely. No issues at all. Replaced broken screen once, not a Samsung fault.
  • jlelse 5y ago
    I am very happy with my S10 Lite as well, also received Android 12 recently. With some PC software it's possible to uninstall Bixby and the other bloatware even without rooting.
• teekert 5y ago
  "’ll not give a single penny to that company, ever again. To make sure I don’t change my mind, I framed the phone, including the warranty repair rejection email to have on my desk to remind me of this forever" That's some serious dedication to keep yourself feeling that unhappy, hateful feeling for a very long time.
• koo6 5y ago
  samsung TVs have the worst behavior when connected to a computer. Every once in a while, you get a screen that appears as if there's no signal, but instead it's asking you to "configure". But there's nothing to "configure", except to select that the HDMI is connected to a "PC". If you don't do that, there's no way to have a stable, full picture. If you do it, it deliberately limits you to two picture settings presets. The settings details menu often doesn't come up - you have to perform about 12 navigational actions to be able to control brightness etc. And this kind of crap goes on and on and on and on and on
• Jiro 5y ago
  The paint chips themselves are small and are not very damaging to the phone, but getting the paint chipped like that probably means he dropped the phone.
• conjectures 5y ago
  Folding screen breaks in the crease. I'm shocked! Shocked. Well, not that shocked.
• dredmorbius 5y ago
  Numerous Samsung electronics and appliances purchases have disappointed badly. (Several of those by other household / family members and/or friends, after I'd sworn off the company.) On my "never again" list.
• mclightning 5y ago
  Adding onto this; Their 360 cameras are rendered useless after an upgrade last year. They havent fixed them ever since. I am talking about a camera from 2017, that is basically completely useless now.
• 999900000999 5y ago
  Foldables are generally a stupid idea. I really liked the detachable idea LG was putting out, but their out of the OEM race.
• jmyeet 5y ago
  So the author had a folding phone that failed and couldn't get it repaired/replaced. The narrow take is that you're kinda crazy to buy a folding phone but Samsung was selling them so is really on the hook for the inevitable issues. The story of getting it fixed is really why people love Apple and even Amazon. I've had the Wifi go unreliable on an iPad. I got a Genius appointment for later that day. They confirmed the Wifi module was shot and just gave me a new device on the spot. They even offered to do the transfer for me. This sort of convenience is what gives people confidence in buying Apple products. Even something as simple as accessory access matters. If my Macbook charger dies, I can walk into any number of stores and buy another. Dell charger? Not so much. Amazon has pretty accurate shipping estimates. This matters. So does Apple for the record. Just last week I got sent the wrong product. I didn't have to talk to anyone on the phone. I simply went to my order on my phone and clicked "return item" -> "wrong product" and the entire matter was dealt with. I don't want to deal with support that is deliberately hard to contact that is monetarily motivated to not do anything for you.
  • maccard 5y ago
    > The narrow take is that you're kinda crazy to buy a folding phone but Samsung was selling them so is really on the hook for the inevitable issues. It's not up to a customer to decide whether a product is "technically" feasible. Lots of things that "seem" impossible or unreasonable are usable and practical, e.g. compact high wattage laptop chargers compared to the absolute _units_ we used to get and still get on cheaper laptop models. The blame here is squarely on samsung; They decided that this product was fit for sale and as a result need to support it, whether or not people who buy it are "kinda crazy"
  • wraptile 5y ago
    > The story of getting it fixed is really why people love Apple and even Amazon. It's really one of those anecdotal experiences. I used Samsung devices exclusively because they have RMA offices all around SEA region. On the other hand Apple's iCare in my current town has 2.2 stars on google reviews which I didn't know was even possible. When my work iPhone's battery died I decided to drop 70$ from my own pocket rather than deal with iCare - that's how bad it was. All I'm saying that warranty service anecdotes are just that - anecdotes, and your milage might vary.
• newbie2020 5y ago
  I gave up on Samsung in 2008. Tech life has been more peaceful ever since
• poisonborz 5y ago
  OP simply bought into new technology (even if this is a 2nd gen device), and pays the price. A such often used device with moving parts is in constant danger, and I'd wager any major manufacturer would react similarly. You could call out Samsung on this issue, but outright trumpet "never buy any device again" based on your edge case is just sour clickbait. Samsung - despite myriads of issues with bloatware, OSS-hostility, half-assed and then abandoned features - is still a major innovator, has a solid product line, and currently the only company that can globally compete with Apple.
• LtdJorge 5y ago
  Same happened to my cousin. Her screen broke from the fold. Samsung says no warranty, since "it's caused by a 2mm scratch in the hinge". That scratch was caused by a bump into metal while she was carrying it by hand, it wasn't hard. In fact, the phone I'm writing from has had much stronger hits, all to the corners and my aluminum is more marked than hers, but my screen is intact. (Mine is an LG G7, for the record).
  • sbcd 5y ago
    >That scratch was caused by a bump into metal while she was carrying it by hand Not to defend samsung, because foldable phones are a flimsy bad idea, but it's to be expected that bumps that wouldn't damage other phones (including phones that Samsung makes like the galaxy series) might damage the folders : the folders are made with a plastic screen, and on the recent models, a very thin, fragile layer of glass underneath the plastic. If you buy one, you really should have the expectation that it is going to fail at the slightest mishandling. You can even feel the fold when you touch the area, it doesn't take a major shock to cause damage there.
• heurisko 5y ago
  I'm going to buy the Samsung A33 phone when it's released. I've had the Samsung A5 for several years, and the build quality has been good for the price, and it has retained its battery with daily use. The only issue is that is doesn't receive security updates any more, so I will install Lineage OS on it when I receive the new device. I've owned a few Android phones and Samsung seem to be the best build quality. Although I believe this went down after the A5, as they stopped releasing IP68/IP67 (dust and waterproof rating) rated midrange phones, until I believe the A33, which will be the next one. I would never consider buying a flip phone with a single screen, as that just looks like asking for trouble to me.
• xunn0026 5y ago
  The article is a bit embarrassing to be honest. And framing the thing to remember it forever?! Move on, person, move on. I would kinda not want to deal with such an attitude as an employee or as a partner. You are not Steve Jobs man! Though, not many companies know warranty. Only Amazon and sometimes Apple gets it right. Sometimes!
• Proven 5y ago
• jordiburgos 5y ago
  Maybe the problem is not Samsung but spending 1000+€ on a single device, when there are cheaper and equal options.
• muddi900 5y ago
  So are their even any decent Android emulators left
• ur-whale 5y ago
  > I will never buy another Samsung device Depending on what he means by "device", I don't think he's got a choice.
• cosmodisk 5y ago
  Samsung is one crap of a company. Phones are full of bloatware- my wife had a couple and I would never buy one. We also have a Samsung TV,which is kind of decent on its own,but I had to enable special menu on it, so I could disable 'samsung only Bluetooth devices' on it, as it was essentially telling me I need Samsung headphones to connect to it.
• ggm 5y ago
  400+ comments and nobody has mentioned bixby. If you value your sanity don't allow vendors to bind closed vendor specified functions to the limited supply of physical buttons on the device.
• magicroot75 5y ago
  One person had one issue issue with a single repair ticket. And then amongst a site of hundreds of thousands of users, some also put their single issues in the comments. So what? We could do this with any major tech company. And we do. It's not enough to change my behavior. I want to see the data.
• magicroot75 5y ago
  Don't forget Samsung also built an autonomous gun turret for South Korea. They aren't exactly shining beacons of morality.
• abriosi 5y ago
  I achieved the same conclusion on 2010 after buying Samsung Galaxy S. It was a terrible device with awful support. This was specially bad since it was supposed to be a premium device. Since then, the only thing I will buy from Samsung are TV's
  • mijoharas 5y ago
    As a consumer samsung TVs seem fine. Having looked under the hood, and having worked building apps for smart TVs (and collaborating with samsung engineers), samsung were some of the worst people that we worked with, and it's a miracle that any engineers can be bothered to build anything for tizen OS. Among all of our partners samsung were easily the worst. LG had fantastic devs, I never worked with the android TV folks, but the OS was solid and easy to develop for. All the mediatek chipsets were all straightforward, just "here's the sdk" and go, it's only samsung that was a madenning morasses of kludgey code and arcane build systems.
• kdomanski 5y ago
  I still remember when Samsung effectively bricked their SSD for Linux users with a faulty firmware update. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/fstrim/+bug/1449005 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/fstrim/+bug/144900... Not only did they never revert/fix it, but they had the audacity to blame their customers for using "software that anyone could modify".
• etempleton 5y ago
  I have never had a good experience with a Samsung product. From TVs to appliances they all seem to have something go wrong within the first 1-2 years. Sometimes it is minor and I can live with it, but it is everything Samsung I have ever owned. When I Google whatever the problem is it is common and there appears to be a near 100 percent faliure rate of the particular component. As a company I can only conclude they have poor quality control or do not do rigorous long term testing.
• camillomiller 5y ago
  I've reviewed this and many other foldable phones in the last three years. I will be extremely surprised if foldable phones will succeed in the next 5 years. They all give me very strong 3D TV vibes, in terms of how much companies want them to succeed, and how much they're actually not solving any problem in a way that doesn't require heavy consumer-side compromises. Another good question to ask to assess the potential success of consumer products trends is "has Apple produced any of these yet?"
• andrew_ 5y ago
  Thanks for this post. I was this close to purchasing the same model. I'll stick with my bulletproof S10e.
• auggierose 5y ago
  I guess the very definition of Early-Adopter is that you bear the brunt of the product development costs :-D So it is not so much Samsung's fault, but you wanting to be an Early Adopter without having to bear any of the risks that come with that. I mean, foldable screen, of course that will break quickly. It's actually astonishing that it survived for 3 months, that's pretty cool tech. If you want safety, get an iPhone and Apple Care. They should be foldable in a few years time.
• vbphprubyjsgo 5y ago
• crismiquelg 5y ago
  yea... when thinking about buying this foldable model the rejection was always caused by an intrinsic fear of having to rely on Samsung's customer attention and technical fixing once again... Their terrible service makes u rely on external, non-official technicians every. single. time.
• DoubleGlazing 5y ago
  I stopped buying Samsung stuff years ago. I have never encountered a brand who products have consistently given me problems like theirs do. It's not just phones. I've had their TVs (old CRT and flat panels) fail within a year of purchase. A camera with a zoom lens that didn't work out of the box. A microwave which only displayed 99:99 on the display and wouldn't turn on. A washing machine where the hoses to the outflow pump came loose and flooded our kitchen. Luckily I didn't have to deal with Samsung directly and sent all that stuff back to the retailer to sort out, but I did learn a lesson. As for their phones, they just seem to be a little bit more delicate than other brands. Things like the glass seemingly being easier to break, charging ports getting loose and not allowing for a good connection and physical buttons that just fail. I know other peoples experiences will be different, but for me I have decided to never again buy Samsung.
• smallerfish 5y ago
  > I was in need of replacing my aging Pixel 4 Come on, seriously? That phone is at most 2 years old. It's not like the specs of that phone are in any way deficient; I guarantee you there is no app that you needed to run that couldn't run on that phone. Phones are resource intensive to manufacture - we should be aiming to keep them for 1/2 a dozen years or more. This mindset of replace with new and shiny "just because" [you're addicted to spending money] is bad for the planet.
• hogrider 5y ago
  I knew customer support is dead everywhere, but damn. I'm only buying 100 to 200 dollar phones so I can just trash them in this case.
• mijoharas 5y ago
  I think the main thing, is that this is a device that you bought in the EU that failed within the first 6 months. This is legally guaranteed, that within the first 6 months any defects are assumed to have existed at the time of delivery [0]. If samsung don't respect the warranty, issue a chargeback. Your bank will back you up and Samsung have no leg to stand on. (Also, samsung really shouldn't be playing silly-buggers here, but I guess enough people capitulate, that it makes sense for them to do this.) [0] https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-returns/faq/index_en.htm#:~:text=The%20legal%20guarantee%20covers%20any,at%20the%20time%20of%20delivery https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/gua....
  • FearlessNebula 5y ago
    My concern with that these days is what if Samsung blocks his account? Now I’m not a Samsung customer but if I handed Google $1k and they gave me a dud I wouldn’t dare do a chargeback no matter what because the risk of loosing my Gmail and other services is too high. Same for Apple. Consumers need more rights when it comes to termination of services that are borderline essential.
  • Beltalowda 5y ago
    > If samsung don't respect the warranty, issue a chargeback. Your bank will back you up and Samsung have no leg to stand on. I don't think "chargebacks" are that easy? It's purely a thing that credit cards do, but nothing else AFAIK. But yes, this falls well within warranty. Samsung needs to prove the damage is caused by the consumer, and this is clearly not it. Whether it's worth the time and headaches getting your right is a different matter.
  • nuodag 5y ago
    Dont do that. You have to speak to the merchant, as they are your legal contract partner and you can demand they fix it. Not Samsung or your bank. This is a horrible advice
• oort-cloud9 5y ago
• rkv 5y ago
  Samsung support is atrocious. Had a similar issue with my S9 phone where the power button suddenly got jammed and couldn't be released. They sent it back with the exact same reasoning: "Caused by physical damage". Well yeah, I physically press the button to turn the phone on and off, what do you expect. I don't understand how they are still so popular when they never help you with anything.
• unixhero 5y ago
  The new Galaxy S22 is the best phone out there.
• samfather 5y ago
  My Samsung "TV" draws almost 40W of power when it's turned "off" - I have to physically cut the power to it. There's also no way to disable Bluetooth. Spyware seems to be the fait accompli for Samsung.
• baxuz 5y ago
  Gonna play the devil's advocate here, but in my experience it's not easy to chip off paint from phones.
• sliken 5y ago
  Not surprised. My main beef with Samsung is poor software quality. The malware/adware etc on the Samsung phone I bought was buggy, slow, and even simple actions like hitting the home button was painfully slow. I "upgraded" to a google pixel, with less ram, and a slower CPU. Felt WAY faster, more responsive, the home button was MUCH faster, and generally much nicer to use. No extra ads, no notifications of streaming NFL games, no partnerships with cell phone companies with value added services, etc. The pixels by contrast are clean, simple, and don't show ads other than using various apps/browsers (by choice) that show ads. I pay for youtube red/premium/music, so no ads there. Netflix is also excellent at showing what you want, when you want, with no extra trailers, ads, etc.
• westcort 5y ago
  A folding phone broke, and Samsung wouldn't fix it. "What they’re doing currently is forcing their early-adopter customers to bear the risks of the new technology. With a device like this the policy should be leaning much more towards the customer’s side. A foldable warranty repair should be rejected only when it is extremely obvious that there was damage caused by the user."
• charlieflowers 5y ago
  i am with you. that's ridiculous and inexcusable on samsung's part. thank you for documenting and posting this. i am following suit. no more samsung for me. their reputation has been declining anyway.
• Xeoncross 5y ago
  Install https://calyxos.org/ https://calyxos.org/ on that Pixel 4 and purchase a moment case + lens and you have a much upgraded phone for free that is a lot more secure and private and much better at portraits.
• nuodag 5y ago
  Years ago I worked in customer support for samsung for a bit. Yeah, sounds about right, I'm not gonna buy customer electronics or household appliances from them either. Don't get me started on planned obscolescence. (Components like SSDs or the LEDs (different part of conglomerate) are fine probably, can't say about the submarines) Since OPs pictures had German notes: Just ask the merchant, he has to fix your stuff, (even if foldable phones are stupid), Samsung sends you away because their warranty is voluntary in the first place and - I believe - just there to confuse people.
• bhushan 5y ago
  Avoid keeping it at your desk.. it will keep on reminding you the negative things happened with you.. and it will bring further unwanted mental fustration.. if you want, post pic of it on their social media handles..