Samsung says it’s doing a big expansion to its self-repair program this month. The repair program launched last year in partnership with iFixit, and now Samsung will be offering parts and repair manuals for more phones in more countries.
First up, the device list is adding some of Samsung’s newest and most expensive models. Foldables are landing in the self-repair system for the first time, with the Galaxy Z Flip5 and Z Fold5 getting parts and manuals soon. The parts aren’t up for sale yet, but we’re dying to know the cost of a Z Fold5 display. (The Pixel Fold, a similarly sized flexible Samsung display, costs $900.) Samsung’s current slab-phone flagship is also hitting the repair system for the first time, with all S23 models getting included. The Galaxy A05s, the first mid-range phone, is landing in the system, too. All the Galaxy S9 and A9 tablets are now repairable, as is the Galaxy Book 2 Pro laptop.
The number of countries where you can buy parts is increasing, too. Samsung’s repair program is currently active in the US, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. Samsung now says it’s expanding the repair program to 30 additional companies, with the full list being: “Albania, Andorra, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland.” Forty-three countries is a huge progression in just a year, but the flagship S23 is sold in 130 countries if Samsung wants complete coverage.
Although Samsung’s repair program was announced as a partnership with iFixit, it’s unclear if iFixit is a partner with Samsung in this expansion. Samsung doesn’t mention iFixit in the new press release, and the fine print notes “Samsung collaborates with various distributors” and that “self-repair program details may vary by market and distributor.” iFixit doesn’t ship to many of these countries.
Once the devices land in the repair program, Samsung says Galaxy phones will get parts for “the screen, back glass, charging ports, speaker, SIM tray and side key and volume key.” The company continues, “Galaxy Book series users will be able to repair the front and rear case, display, battery, touchpad, power key with fingerprint reader, rubber feet, fan and speakers.”
Source: arsTechnica | By: Ron Amadeo | December 20, 2023 | https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/12/samsung-expands-repair-program-to-more-devices-now-in-43-countries/
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