Samsung’s foldable phones will soon be repairable, but the fixes might not be cheap
Samsung is expanding its Self-Repair program to 16 more devices including the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5.
This marks the first time Samsung foldables have been made repairable and will stand alongside the Pixel Fold as one of the few folding smartphones supported by iFixit. At the time of this writing, it’s unknown what parts will be available through the service although the company hints in its announcement that users will be able to fix the screen, speakers, and charging ports, among other things. Pricing also remains a mystery, however, we don’t think it’ll be cheap.
If you look at how much it costs to replace parts on the Pixel Fold, you’ll find the price tags are astronomical. The repair kit for the Pixel Fold’s Inner Screen, for example, will run you over $900 – that’s without taxes and assuming you have all the tools. With all the extra costs added, you’d be looking at nearly $1000 at checkout. At that point, you might as well buy another phone.
Granted, the Z Flip 5 is much cheaper than the Pixel Fold so its parts might not be so expensive. The Z Fold 5, on the other hand, is pricier. We wouldn’t be surprised if repair kits for this model hover around the $1000 range.
Future inclusions
The rest of the expansion consists of other recently released Samsung hardware.
For instance, the entirety of the Galaxy S23 series (even the S23 FE) will now be repairable, much like the S20, S21, and S22 lines before it. Next, every single model under the Galaxy Tab S9 umbrella is fixable, as well. Yes, that includes both the Galaxy Tab S9 FE and FE Plus units. Then finally, owners of the 15-inch Galaxy Book2 Pro or Book Pro 360 can repair select pieces of their laptop like the fingerprint reader or the cooling fan.
Similar to the foldables, it’s unknown exactly when the spare parts will become available for purchase. If you look at Samsung’s page on iFixit’s website, nothing has changed – at least at the time of this writing. The company states that through December these products will be added to the list. So, it should happen very soon as we are in the final days of the year.
In addition to increasing the amount of hardware supported, Samsung is also expanding the program to 30 other European countries. The full list is on the company website, but just to name a few, we have Austria, Greece, Ireland, Norway, and Romania.
No word on when the new parts will come in or when the European rollout will start although we reached out for clarification. This story will be updated at a later time.
While you wait, check out TechRadar’s list of the best Samsung phones for 2023.
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Samsung is expanding its Self-Repair program to 16 more devices including the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5. This marks the first time Samsung foldables have been made repairable and will stand alongside the Pixel Fold as one of the few folding smartphones supported by iFixit. At the…
