Samsung’s foldable phones will soon be repairable, but the fixes might not be cheap
Samsung is expanding its Self-Repair program to 16 additional devices, including the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5.
This is the first time that Samsung foldable smartphones have been made repairable and will be one of the few foldable smartphones supported by iFixit alongside the Pixel Fold. At the time of writing this article, it is unknown what parts will be available through the service, although the company hinted in its announcement that users will be able to repair the screen, speakers, and charging ports, among other things. Pricing also remains a mystery, but we don't think it will be cheap.
When you look at how much it costs to replace parts on the Pixel Fold, you'll notice that the price tags are astronomical. The repair kit for the inner screen of the Pixel Foldfor example, will cost you more than $900 – that's without taxes and assuming you have all the tools. With all the additional fees added, you would be charged almost $1000 at checkout. Then you might as well buy another phone.
Granted, the Z Flip 5 is much cheaper than the Pixel Fold, so the parts might not be as expensive. The Z Fold 5, on the other hand, is more expensive. We wouldn't be surprised if repair kits for this model hover around $1000.
Future inclusions
The rest of the expansion consists of other recently released Samsung hardware.
For example, the entire Galaxy S23 series (even the S23 FE) will now be repairable, just like the S20, S21 and S22 lines before it. Then, every single model under the Galaxy Tab S9 umbrella can also be repaired. Yes, that includes both the Galaxy Tab S9 FE and FE Plus units. Finally, owners of the 15-inch Galaxy Book2 Pro or Book Pro 360 can repair certain parts of their laptop, such as the fingerprint reader or the cooling fan.
As with the foldable models, it is not known exactly when the spare parts will be available. If you look Samsung's page on iFixit's website, nothing has changed – at least as of this writing. The company indicates that these products will be added to the list through December. So it should happen very soon as we are in the last days of the year.
In addition to increasing the amount of supported hardware, Samsung is also expanding the program to 30 other European countries. The full list is on the company's website, but to name a few, we have Austria, Greece, Ireland, Norway and Romania.
No word on when the new parts will arrive or when the European rollout will begin, although we've asked for clarification. This story will be updated at a later date.
While you wait, check out Ny Breaking's list of the best Samsung phones for 2023.