The Samsung Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus are highly fragile phones but are also relatively affordable to repair, several experts recently interviewed by Motherboard claim. Due to the fact that the South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer opted to almost completely eliminate the bezels on its latest pair of flagships while simultaneously covering the duo with glass, the Galaxy S8 lineup is far from being resistant to drops, but the design of the handsets allows for a relatively simple process of screen replacement, according to a number of independent repair shops.
A simple screen replacement procedure directly leads to lower repair costs, which is why replacing the display panel on the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus is already cheaper than doing the same on the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge. Wholesale retailers from China are currently offering replacement screens for approximately $200, which is up to $100 cheaper than what replacement display panels for the Galaxy S7 lineup were going for when the devices launched in early 2016. Given how the Galaxy S8 family starts at around $750, its screen replacements already seem cost-effective and the prices of replacement parts haven’t even started dropping yet, some industry watchers say. From the other side of things, third-party repair shops are currently waiting for the screen replacement price to drop below $200, i.e. the average price of phone insurance deductibles, which would ensure additional business as smartphone insurance services wouldn’t be able to compete with them.
Repair costs aside, a number of unrelated repair experts recently conducted a thorough analysis of the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus and concluded that Samsung’s latest pair of high-end Android smartphones is technically difficult to be repaired. While replacing the front and back display panels of the handsets is a relatively straightforward task, repairing internal components of the devices without cracking their screens borders on impossible, a recent teardown of the smartphones revealed. Overall, the repairability factor of the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus is unlikely to affect the commercial performance of Samsung’s new flagships that are currently projected to outsell all of their Android-powered competitors released this year.
Source : www.androidheadlines.com
