Updated: 13/5/2024
WHY ARE SAMSUNG SCREENS EXPENSIVE TO REPAIR ?
Introduction
We get a lot of people asking us how much does a screen repair cost, well for the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8 Plus phones and the latest S10 and Samsung S20 models. A Samsung phone screen repair with genuine Samsung Service Packs are very expensive, and this has to be reflected in the price we charge. Along with all the other repair technicians we partner with, most customers tell us it’d be cheaper to buy a second hand phone or upgrade their contract; and that’;s mainly because Samsung repair prices in the UK are so high.
On hearing this, many people understandably point out that it’s only the glass that’s damaged- not the screen itself- and want to know whether we can replace that alone. Unfortunately, the bad news is that we can’t. We’ve written this article to explain why.
Why Replacement Screens Are Expensive…
Simply because Samsung screen repair costs are based on the high cost of Samsung genuine parts.
It is also because they can be in short supply. During the Covid pandemic and afterwards there was obviously a manufacturing delay and this caused a lot of the prices to go up. More recently in March onwards of 2024 it seems that specifically the S23 Ultra screens are in short supply and this has caused a skyward increase in the part cost. Simply due to lack of availability and demand. Often times the only colour available is black, as a refurbished model or as what we call a screen pull (meaning it has come off a working phone) with come slight frame of screen scratch and is still coming to us as a very high price meaning the repair of one of these models at the time of writing, May 2024 is around £360 inc VAT to repair.
Samsung mobile phone screens are notoriously expensive, and often the cost of a replacement is nearly as much as a second-hand phone. The reason for this is that the manufacturing cost is high; most Samsung screens use AMOLED (active matrix organic LED) technology and are made by Samsung themselves. Manufacturers of compatible third-party displays (mainly based in China) have not yet succeeded in making their own equivalent and these screens as cheap as they may be are cheap for a reason – they are poor copies and dont work as well .
And what you get with a Samsung Service Centre pack is a genuine part with a new frame and in a lot of cases a brand new battery, so the lifespan of your phone is significantly better. Literally you are getting a new phone other than your motherboard and the vibration motor in a number of cases
Options for Replacement Screens
In general, there are three options for replacement of Samsung screens:
While “copy” screens for older Samsung phones (like the S4 and S5) are available from China, they aren’t very reliable and use LCD technology instead of AMOLED. Official screens are available via Service Packs that are sold by Samsung to distributors, but stock of these is usually limited, especially for newer models.
Official Samsung screens are also available via recycling, having been taken from handsets and refurbished in factories in China. Due to supply and demand, the resale value of a broken Samsung display is very high, which in turn bumps up the price of recycled displays. The official Samsung Service Pack is the best quality product, and this is what we tend to use where possible. (Unfortunately, this option is only available for the newer phone models.) These are brand-new Super AMOLED displays produced by Samsung and used in their service centres. Usually, these will come with a new frame and all the correct adhesives required to give the repair a factory finish and, as you would expect, this product commands the highest price. Some other stores may use refurbished Samsung displays, and these usually come without the correct adhesive and frame. This means you need to transfer the old frame from the broken display- if not done correctly, this can cause issues at a later date. For example, the display can lift from the frame causing it to break, or if the old frame isn’t cleaned correctly, it can result in a pink line appearing on the display. (If you returned to the store with the pink line they would refuse a warranty claim on the basis that you broke it).
The other issue with refurb displays is that there’s can be a massive quality difference depending on who refurbished it. Some screens may have imperfections or dust trapped inside, but more importantly, the glass might not be the same quality as Samsung use typically it will be thinner and break more easily. Screen replacements for the S6 Edge, S7 Edge, S8 and S8+ are expensive. This is because the official screens cost a lot to buy new, and even variable-quality refurbs can be expensive due to supply and demand. A lot of owners ask us if we can do a glass-only repair cheaper. Unfortunately, we can’t. There are people that do it, but expect a 5-10 day turnaround time.
Why Can’t I Get a Glass-Only Repair?
It often doesn’t help that many people know you can buy a Samsung S7 Edge glass replacement kit on eBay for around £20… but what they don’t know is there’s a very nasty catch. All you get id a sheet of glass, some pointless tools and some Loca glue, they don’t tell you that you also need about £3500 worth of technical refurb equipment to strip the old glass. Replacing glass in general requires a lot of skill. Replacing the glass on a curved screen like the S7 Edge’s is near-impossible, even for an experienced technician-,without breaking the lcd itself.
update : there are some reputable refurbishing companies now doing glass only repairs for a lot, but not all of the Samsung range . You can have it done as long as your LCD isn’t bleeding and all the areas of the screen have working touch . All you need to do is google mobile phone screen refurbishing and find someone with with good reviews .
Why phones are so expensive to repair? (Main reasons explained)
All mobile phones – even the apparently simplest and cheapest ones to originally buy – are manufactured using advanced methods and and usually the most modern manufacturing methods. In these devices, the density of electronic components is particularly high compared to other types of portable gadgets, especially as we all know they have more capability than the computers they used to apparently put men on the moon
Of course, technical faults of mobile phones are usually related to the failure of a single specific component and commonly after a user has dropped it. But no matter what the issue that led to hardware malfunctions, the high cost of cell phone repairs can be explained
High Cost of manufacturing parts especially as a lot of the rare earth minerals are either in short supply or are controlled by a small number of companies pushing the prices up, tho these days companies such as Apple are making massive efforts to recycle phone materials that have been reclaimed.
Samung research and development into new technology has to be paid for some how and that cost is bourne by those that buy their new devices or need to buy parts to repair their old ones.
Repair techniques often require expensive tools, heat mats, glue, adhesive tape and premises and in the case of some phones screen coding tools and micro-soldering skills to preform the repair. All of this comes at a cost. You should see the kit Apple send out if you order a screen repair kit from them. Shows customers that it’s not as easy as a few cheap screwdrivers and something to prize the old screen off with
If you choose us ?
If you choose us we only use Samsung Service Centre parts, we know they work, we buy direct from an authorised retailer and give a 12 month fault warranty, Copy screens do not work as well. We do use refurbished screens where we can that are genuine to keep some prices down but not all displays refurb well so not all are available. We don’t carry them in stock as there are so many models on the market and often in different colours so we need payment upfront as it’s a special order and we need your commitment for the repair. If you don’t show up it costs us money to send it back. Some models we’ve only repaired once in the last year as possibly only 1 in 10 customers accept the cost. I think a lot of people think we are trying to rip them off but that’s not our style. We use genie parted and as we’ve explained they are expensive to buy.
If you’d like us to repair your Samsung call us on 07934 062949 to book an appointment.
OUR REPAIR PRICES can be seen if you CLICK HERE to see the prices we charge.
