7 ms·

Samsung expands DIY repair program, adds Galaxy S23 and Fold 5 in US

97 points by mikece 3y ago

smg007 3y ago
The Z Fold 5 is seriously expensive, so being able to replace a broken part myself could save a ton of cash. Plus, it's gotta be super satisfying to fix something that folds like magic.
- magixx 3y ago
  I imagine the cost of official parts such as the screens for flagships like the Fold 5 are still going to be very expensive. Even if you need to only replace a simple/cheap part it will likely be a major pain that requires removal of the screens which if you haven't done before could result in you breaking something expensive. Personally for such delicate devices I would rather pay the difference for someone with the experience and liability to fix it for me.
santaz01 3y ago
This is huge for tech nerds like me! Samsung's DIY repair program is like getting a superpower to fix my own stuff
SketchySeaBeast 3y ago
This is a great move. Google committed to 7 years of parts as well via iFixit. Of course, paired with the extra long support it now seems like Samsung is also possibly going to subscription models where they force you to pay to not have features taken away, so maybe it won't turn out well. Who knows.
- wkat4242 3y ago
  Google only does it for phones though. If you have a watch and you break the screen, their only solution is to just buy a new one. Even though replacement isn't hard. They just don't bother making spare parts available. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/09/11-months-after-launch-googles-pixel-watch-still-has-no-path-to-repair/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/09/11-months-after-laun...
vardump 3y ago
Samsung should get the memory card slot back. Heck, I still miss easily replaceable battery from Galaxy S5! In general, I hate how Galaxy S series is just becoming more and more like an iPhone. (Well, other than reasonably long firmware update support. Great job Samsung copying that!) I used to have both Samsung Galaxy S and iPhone — but now it's just iPhone. But yeah, DIY repair is great and there I wish Apple would follow in good faith.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago
  >Samsung should get the memory card slot back. They still have models with SD card slots, but they're never coming back to flagships because: 1. so they can milk you on cloud storage or on the expensive variants with more storage 2. access speed difference of UFS 4.0 vs fast SD cards is huge and unacceptable on a flagship that's supposed to compete with iPhones on speed 3. biggest and most important reason I learned from the horses mouth, people used to put the cheapest junkiest "value" SD cards off Amazon in them, which would be slow and negatively impact UX, and would also spontaneously die, taking the customers photos with them, so then the angry customers would blame the phone for both issues("your damn phone ate my photos/sd-card!"), so they had remove it to ensure UX and reliability across the board
  - gambiting 3y ago
    >>so they can milk you on cloud storage Samsung doesn't sell cloud storage though, so I'm not sure that's a valid reason. With apple it's obvious, with Samsung I don't see it.
    - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
      >Samsung doesn't sell cloud storage though Google, Dropbox and Microsoft do and they all partnered with Samsung at one point or another to ofer promotion or be defaults on their phones.
blopp99 3y ago
This is great. The main reason people change phone in the last couple years has been for battery degradation and screen breakage. Changing those for many people is not an option because is not really possible to get the same quality parts as OEM afterwards.
- KRAKRISMOTT 3y ago
  Also because of flash memory degradation. You may notice that older devices are slow even after a full factory reset. The memory chips are reaching their limits.
  - malfist 3y ago
    Flash memory doesn't slow down as it ages.
    - skyyler 3y ago
      Doesn't it degrade with use? I thought with modern wear leveling you get degraded performance for a long time before it just stops working, but I'm no expert. I'd love to learn more about this actually
      - SushiHippie 3y ago
        What may be the cause that the storage gets slower on older devices is, if they are nearly full. At least I heard this about SSDs. Please someone correct me if I remember this incorrectly
      - malfist 3y ago
        It does degrade, but not performance. The degrading happens when blocks hit their wear limit and can no longer be used. Flash memory typically includes additional blocks to replace those that are at their wear limit, but that will eventually exhaust and then the drive will be in a failure state. This can sometimes be that the drive stops working, or that it shrinks it's capacity, but the bandwidth and access speed characteristics remain constant throughout it's life.
christkv 3y ago
The curren iFixit prices even look reasonable. Color me surprised that they seem to actually provide replacements at a reasonable cost and have not mounted a "DIY" program in name only.
justapassenger 3y ago
It's great, but also a bit sad, that what used to be an industry norm not that long ago (easily accessible repair parts) is now a heavily celebrated news. Hopefully it's a sign that trends are reverting in the broader industry.
davidspiess 3y ago
I am currently looking for a new reliable OLED TV. Knowing they added the S90C to their repair program is very reassuring.
- stronglikedan 3y ago
  My dad just got the 83 incher and it's magnificent. Unfortunately, it looks like they only added the 77, but who knows what the future holds.
- smcleod 3y ago
  I’d definitely recommend LG TVs over Samsung, especially in the mid / high end range. The OS is so much better to use and you don’t get served up ads if you don’t want them.
rPlayer6554 3y ago
I'm a little disappointed. My S22+ charging port is broken and the part on ifixit is 60$. IIRC the Samsung repair shop quoted me the fix to be 80$. Doesn't really seem like I'm saving enough to justify my labour and potential to break it due to lack of expertise. I highly doubt that component is actually worth 60$
- wkat4242 3y ago
  Of course, the pricing is meant to disincentivise you from doing it. Apple is doing the exact same ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwgpTDluufY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwgpTDluufY ). They don't want to enable DIY repair but they do this because they have to in some areas. I assume this is also the reason they won't just sell you a battery without a screen.
wkat4242 3y ago
This is cool, they even have some parts like the buttons and glass in different colours. So you could even use it to pimp your phone (I wouldn't break the waterproofing just for that but if you need to get in there anyway...) One thing that's annoying though is that with the S23 you need to buy a new screen when you want to change the battery. The battery is only available as a screen+battery kit. Weird. I mean, when you replace the screen it makes sense to stick a new battery in, sure. Especially because the old battery might be a few years older or have damage from the impact (safety). The other way around, not so much. Why waste a perfectly good screen just to change the battery? This is really dumb and drives the price up. It also causes unnecessary e-waste. Now, this is in Europe where Samsung have a real parts shop of their own ( https://samsungselfrepair.shop https://samsungselfrepair.shop ), I see in the US it's different because it has to go through iFixit somehow. Edit: Nope, iFixit doesn't seem to sell batteries separately either.
- gg82 3y ago
  Maybe it is because to many people break the screen when they try to replace the battery.
  - wkat4242 3y ago
    Could be but they can still go and buy one separately when they need it then.
hjk_bear 3y ago
Samsung has been providing iFixit with genuine parts since at least the S20. Although this is a good first step it came with a huge major caveat: Screen+battery are only provided as a single assembly. You can't buy them separately. These are the two most common repairs on a smartphone and to get a simple battery you need to buy the expensive screen. I am hopeful Samsung redeems themselves this year especially with the introduction of the Fold5 to this program. Otherwise this is nothingburger only meant to appease regulators and legislators
- wkat4242 3y ago
  > These are the two most common repairs on a smartphone and to get a simple battery you need to buy the expensive screen. This is indeed really dumb and it's still the same for the S23 parts which have just been released on the European store https://samsungselfrepair.shop https://samsungselfrepair.shop They're not on iFixit yet for the US but I assume it's the same story.
- acquacow 3y ago
  You can definitely buy the battery only, at least for the S21 Ultra, as I just went through that. https://www.ifixit.com/products/galaxy-s21-ultra-replacement-battery https://www.ifixit.com/products/galaxy-s21-ultra-replacement...
  - ericpauley 3y ago
    That's an aftermarket part.
    - wkat4242 3y ago
      Yeah I would definitely not use that. Aftermarket parts can be fine but with batteries I don't take risks.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- epakai 3y ago

97 points by mikece 3y ago

The Z Fold 5 is seriously expensive, so being able to replace a broken part myself could save a ton of cash. Plus, it's gotta be super satisfying to fix something that folds like magic.

magixx 3y ago
I imagine the cost of official parts such as the screens for flagships like the Fold 5 are still going to be very expensive. Even if you need to only replace a simple/cheap part it will likely be a major pain that requires removal of the screens which if you haven't done before could result in you breaking something expensive. Personally for such delicate devices I would rather pay the difference for someone with the experience and liability to fix it for me.

santaz01 3y ago

This is huge for tech nerds like me! Samsung's DIY repair program is like getting a superpower to fix my own stuff

SketchySeaBeast 3y ago

This is a great move. Google committed to 7 years of parts as well via iFixit. Of course, paired with the extra long support it now seems like Samsung is also possibly going to subscription models where they force you to pay to not have features taken away, so maybe it won't turn out well. Who knows.

wkat4242 3y ago
Google only does it for phones though. If you have a watch and you break the screen, their only solution is to just buy a new one. Even though replacement isn't hard. They just don't bother making spare parts available. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/09/11-months-after-launch-googles-pixel-watch-still-has-no-path-to-repair/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/09/11-months-after-laun...

vardump 3y ago

Samsung should get the memory card slot back. Heck, I still miss easily replaceable battery from Galaxy S5! In general, I hate how Galaxy S series is just becoming more and more like an iPhone. (Well, other than reasonably long firmware update support. Great job Samsung copying that!) I used to have both Samsung Galaxy S and iPhone — but now it's just iPhone. But yeah, DIY repair is great and there I wish Apple would follow in good faith.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
FirmwareBurner 3y ago
>Samsung should get the memory card slot back. They still have models with SD card slots, but they're never coming back to flagships because: 1. so they can milk you on cloud storage or on the expensive variants with more storage 2. access speed difference of UFS 4.0 vs fast SD cards is huge and unacceptable on a flagship that's supposed to compete with iPhones on speed 3. biggest and most important reason I learned from the horses mouth, people used to put the cheapest junkiest "value" SD cards off Amazon in them, which would be slow and negatively impact UX, and would also spontaneously die, taking the customers photos with them, so then the angry customers would blame the phone for both issues("your damn phone ate my photos/sd-card!"), so they had remove it to ensure UX and reliability across the board
- gambiting 3y ago
  >>so they can milk you on cloud storage Samsung doesn't sell cloud storage though, so I'm not sure that's a valid reason. With apple it's obvious, with Samsung I don't see it.
  - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
    >Samsung doesn't sell cloud storage though Google, Dropbox and Microsoft do and they all partnered with Samsung at one point or another to ofer promotion or be defaults on their phones.

blopp99 3y ago

This is great. The main reason people change phone in the last couple years has been for battery degradation and screen breakage. Changing those for many people is not an option because is not really possible to get the same quality parts as OEM afterwards.

KRAKRISMOTT 3y ago
Also because of flash memory degradation. You may notice that older devices are slow even after a full factory reset. The memory chips are reaching their limits.
- malfist 3y ago
  Flash memory doesn't slow down as it ages.
  - skyyler 3y ago
    Doesn't it degrade with use? I thought with modern wear leveling you get degraded performance for a long time before it just stops working, but I'm no expert. I'd love to learn more about this actually
    - SushiHippie 3y ago
      What may be the cause that the storage gets slower on older devices is, if they are nearly full. At least I heard this about SSDs. Please someone correct me if I remember this incorrectly
    - malfist 3y ago
      It does degrade, but not performance. The degrading happens when blocks hit their wear limit and can no longer be used. Flash memory typically includes additional blocks to replace those that are at their wear limit, but that will eventually exhaust and then the drive will be in a failure state. This can sometimes be that the drive stops working, or that it shrinks it's capacity, but the bandwidth and access speed characteristics remain constant throughout it's life.

christkv 3y ago

The curren iFixit prices even look reasonable. Color me surprised that they seem to actually provide replacements at a reasonable cost and have not mounted a "DIY" program in name only.

justapassenger 3y ago

It's great, but also a bit sad, that what used to be an industry norm not that long ago (easily accessible repair parts) is now a heavily celebrated news. Hopefully it's a sign that trends are reverting in the broader industry.

davidspiess 3y ago

I am currently looking for a new reliable OLED TV. Knowing they added the S90C to their repair program is very reassuring.

stronglikedan 3y ago
My dad just got the 83 incher and it's magnificent. Unfortunately, it looks like they only added the 77, but who knows what the future holds.
smcleod 3y ago
I’d definitely recommend LG TVs over Samsung, especially in the mid / high end range. The OS is so much better to use and you don’t get served up ads if you don’t want them.

rPlayer6554 3y ago

I'm a little disappointed. My S22+ charging port is broken and the part on ifixit is 60$. IIRC the Samsung repair shop quoted me the fix to be 80$. Doesn't really seem like I'm saving enough to justify my labour and potential to break it due to lack of expertise. I highly doubt that component is actually worth 60$

wkat4242 3y ago
Of course, the pricing is meant to disincentivise you from doing it. Apple is doing the exact same ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwgpTDluufY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwgpTDluufY ). They don't want to enable DIY repair but they do this because they have to in some areas. I assume this is also the reason they won't just sell you a battery without a screen.

wkat4242 3y ago

This is cool, they even have some parts like the buttons and glass in different colours. So you could even use it to pimp your phone (I wouldn't break the waterproofing just for that but if you need to get in there anyway...) One thing that's annoying though is that with the S23 you need to buy a new screen when you want to change the battery. The battery is only available as a screen+battery kit. Weird. I mean, when you replace the screen it makes sense to stick a new battery in, sure. Especially because the old battery might be a few years older or have damage from the impact (safety). The other way around, not so much. Why waste a perfectly good screen just to change the battery? This is really dumb and drives the price up. It also causes unnecessary e-waste. Now, this is in Europe where Samsung have a real parts shop of their own ( https://samsungselfrepair.shop https://samsungselfrepair.shop ), I see in the US it's different because it has to go through iFixit somehow. Edit: Nope, iFixit doesn't seem to sell batteries separately either.

gg82 3y ago
Maybe it is because to many people break the screen when they try to replace the battery.
- wkat4242 3y ago
  Could be but they can still go and buy one separately when they need it then.

hjk_bear 3y ago

Samsung has been providing iFixit with genuine parts since at least the S20. Although this is a good first step it came with a huge major caveat: Screen+battery are only provided as a single assembly. You can't buy them separately. These are the two most common repairs on a smartphone and to get a simple battery you need to buy the expensive screen. I am hopeful Samsung redeems themselves this year especially with the introduction of the Fold5 to this program. Otherwise this is nothingburger only meant to appease regulators and legislators

wkat4242 3y ago
> These are the two most common repairs on a smartphone and to get a simple battery you need to buy the expensive screen. This is indeed really dumb and it's still the same for the S23 parts which have just been released on the European store https://samsungselfrepair.shop https://samsungselfrepair.shop They're not on iFixit yet for the US but I assume it's the same story.
acquacow 3y ago
You can definitely buy the battery only, at least for the S21 Ultra, as I just went through that. https://www.ifixit.com/products/galaxy-s21-ultra-replacement-battery https://www.ifixit.com/products/galaxy-s21-ultra-replacement...
- ericpauley 3y ago
  That's an aftermarket part.
  - wkat4242 3y ago
    Yeah I would definitely not use that. Aftermarket parts can be fine but with batteries I don't take risks.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
epakai 3y ago