- iFixit and Samsung are ending their partnership on a direct-to-consumer phone repair program.
- iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens says “Samsung does not seem interested in enabling repair at scale” and that the deal is not working due to high parts prices and difficulty of repairs.
- Samsung only ships batteries pre-glued to the phone screen, forcing customers to pay over $160 even for just a battery replacement, unlike with other vendors.
- The contract also limited iFixit to selling no more than 7 parts per customer in a 3-month period, hampering their ability to support local repair shops.
- Additionally, Samsung required iFixit to share customer email addresses and purchase history, which iFixit does not do with other partners.
- iFixit says it will continue to stock aftermarket Samsung parts and publish repair guides, but will no longer work directly with Samsung on official repair manuals.
iFixit says:
We clearly didn’t learn our lesson the first time, and let them convince us they were serious about embracing repair.
We tried to make this work. Gosh, we tried. But with such divergent priorities, we’re no longer able to proceed.
Evil megacorp declines to be less evil, news at 11
Chaebol. Zaibatsus are in Glorious Nippon, Chaebols are Korean. But same concept, and just as terrible.
I have to admit, Samsung have some great things in terms of hardware, but this is not one of them - and their anti-consumer practices will continue to keep me away from the brand.
There isn’t really a lot of options for a premium products.
Phones for example, sure they’re all repairable phones but they’re cheap low-end models, there’s nothing in the high-end market.
You’ve basically got Samsung and Google and then if you’re prepared to go with iOS Apple, but none of them are any better than Samsung.
At least from software point of view Google doesn’t make a fuss with the warranty if you unlock the bootloader of the phone, which can’t be said about Samsung (and good luck with Apple about that). It might not matter to the majority of users, but it matters to me.
There are flagship quality phones that aren’t totally impossible to repair, and at reasonable prices.
Sent from my OnePlus 12
Did they really say, “We tried to make this work. Gosh, we tried.”?
Well, golly.
Yeah. It would’ve been fleek and groovy if they said mid or litchally. So fetch.
Is this a meme? Every time I’ve seen someone use fetch there’s always someone telling them to stop trying to make it a thing. I love it either way and I will henceforth do my part.
So, at this point it is cheaper to change iPhone battery in Apple Store. Wow.
This article is primarily about Samsung, but yes, there is a brief mention of iFix its battery prices, which are $50.
Apple charges $99 for a battery swap on a new phone. Component + labor.
Samsung’s replacement is $90 if done at a service center, so it was more expensive to buy the parts (because they included the screen for some reason)
If you’re technically inclined, you buy a Samsung phone only once.
But in my defense, the Galaxy S3 is legendary up to this day. They didn’t got better since then.
I had the original Galaxy Note and loved it. Then I went to oneplus one and loved it. Then I went Nexus 6 and liked it enough. Then I got the first Pixel.
I’ve been pixels ever since. But there was a deal on the Galaxy flip5, $0 up front, $300 over 2 years. I couldn’t pass it up, for the novelty if nothing else.
There’s a lot I like about this phone, but a lot more that I don’t. I’m looking forward to going back to Pixel when I can.
This phone is missing so many standard features, and so many others are locked behind Samsungs walled garden that I refuse to sign up for. It’s just a mess. I’m frequently frustrated.
I highly recommend the pixel fold if you want a folding phone but don’t want to go with Samsung. It’s a better form factor anyway and it closes all the way.
Thanks for the recommendation!
I like the fold concept in theory, though it’s a bit exhausting protecting the screen all the time.
Being able to set the phone anywhere at an angle to take a picture has come in handy super frequently.
If this phone was full price though I think I’d be mad. I baby this screen line no tomorrow, and I’m diligent about keeping my pocket free of any dust and lint, let alone dirt or bits.
I’ve got a tiny scratch in the middle of the fold, and the entire fold area has long tiny cracks forming from folding. I’ve only had this phone for like 7 or 8 months.
My buddies broke in 30 days of buying it, and he had to fight to get it replaced.
Again, I like the idea, and I enjoy using it. But there’s still too many pain spots for me to make the jump. It’ll have to get a lot cheaper or a lot more sturdy before I’ll get another.
Samsung phones have some of the best features like the S Pen and Dex which turns your phone into a computer if you connect it to a TV/monitor. Samsung’s marketing is bad and doesn’t really tell you all the features it has.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/Fg2A8o-IGhQ
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
There’s not really a lot of options out there. Can’t say I agree with Samsung’s policies but their devices are pretty good compared to everyone else. iPhones are well, if you’d consider an iPhone then we wouldn’t be in this conversation. Chinese brands generally have very problematic software, Pixels are pretty barebones unless you’re into the AI stuff (Material 3 is also pretty ugly), Sony is very expensive and fairly barebones too.
If you kept it long enough… The last update made it unusably slow, was the only phone I ever destroyed and sent for recycling as there was no way I could sell that thing to someone.
Also last Samsung phone I ever bought for that reason. Actually could be the last Samsung anything I nought come to think of it
