Expensive phones often require expensive repair
Considering its fragile nature and steep price, Samsung one-year manufacturer’s warranty for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 might already seem a little on the short side. But to make matters worse, recent reports from disgruntled customers suggest the phone’s foldable inner screen is dying now, just outside the one-year warranty period.
Based on a first-hand account and posts on Reddit, PhoneArena reports that at least three people had the large inner screen die for no apparent reason. Physical impact wasn’t the cause, and both Redditors said they unfolded the phone and heard a sound as a crack ran down the middle of the display along the hinge, killing the screen. One person said they seldom unfolded the phone in its fifteen-month life, while another mentioned their three-month-old Fold 3 was charging wirelessly before the crack appeared.
As you might’ve guessed, repairing the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3’s foldable screen is an expensive affair. One victim of this issue received a $700 quote from Samsung, while another was quoted $800 by UBreakiFix, a Samsung-authorized repair center.
We also found reports of what could be the same issue in customer reviews on the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s product page on Samsung’s website. In a recent live stream, prominent tech YouTuber Linus Sebastian of Linus Tech Tips fame also showed his Fold 3 inner display cracking up, when briefly discussing foldable phones and their hardware issues.
Although Linus’ issue isn’t as pronounced as the other complaints, the telltale signs he describes could be worth looking out for, especially if you have a Galaxy Z-series device. As a self-professed heavy user, Linus mentions a “cracky-looking rainbow effect down the middle” of the inner screen, with “an actual texture” to it, as though the protective film on the display is starting to fail.
Foldable phones are inherently fragile because they don’t use hard glass for the inner display, and operating the hinge will inevitably cause material fatigue. Samsung, however, claims the phone should be able to endure several years of use. From the unfortunate examples above, premature display failure could potentially be attributed to a layer of the inner display becoming brittle, possibly sped up by cyclic ambient temperature variations.
People who purchased Samsung Care Plus, a warranty extension of sorts, are likely still in the clear, but anyone buying such an expensive phone shouldn’t have to live with the anxiety of display failure. As PhoneArena notes, customers in the US can email Samsung’s CEO with their complaints. In other markets, your best course of action is approaching a service center and escalating from there. We just hope Samsung takes action to help affected customers, and the people with still-functional Fold 3s get their money’s worth.
