The cost trend to repair a foldable smartphone is going downhill: here are the examples of the recent Galaxy Z Fold3 and Galaxy Z Flip3
In just a few years on the market, foldable smartphones have made remarkable strides in terms of construction, and so have the materials that make them up. Long gone, for example, are the days when Samsung's first-generation foldable created problems for customers who thought there was a film on the display, and removing that layer made the screen almost unusable.
But even in terms of visual quality, the delicate displays of foldables have made great strides. However, the situation became more complicated with the third generation, Galaxy Z Fold3 and Galaxy Z Flip3: Samsung decided not to make any Galaxy Note official this year, and to put a patch on the lack of a series always highly anticipated and appreciated by fans, it equipped the Galaxy Z Fold3 with S Pen support. This of course required the installation of an extra component on the screen, the one that recognizes and processes the touch of the S Pen. But surprisingly, despite this, the cost of replacing the display of the Korean foldable has decreased compared to last year.
Display cost Galaxy Z Fold3
In case of damage then it is (relatively) cheap to replace the screens of Galaxy Z Fold3 and Galaxy Z Flip3. We don't know yet how much the operation will cost in euros to European customers, but a good measure is given by the prices in dollars that are already known.
So we find that if the replacement of the display of Galaxy Z Fold2 cost 599 dollars, the practice for Galaxy Z Fold3 costs "just" 549 dollars, despite the introduction of the digitizer for the S Pen that was absent on the predecessor. Replacing the external display, on the other hand, costs $139, and the whole thing can take up to 10 business days including shipping, while it's all done in a day if you go to an authorized Samsung repair center.
Display cost Galaxy Z Flip3
Somewhat cheaper is the replacement cost for Galaxy Z Flip3: $369 is enough for the 6.7-inch internal flexible display, while the small external AMOLED of almost 2 inches takes $99. Again, costs have dropped: $499 was required to replace the Galaxy Z Flip 5G's internal display, so despite the gain in overall panel quality with the latest generations Samsung has managed to make the replacement cheaper. Again, you have to budget for up to 10 business days, just one day if you go to a repair center.
Prices going down, but still high
Prices for replacing foldable displays, despite going down, still remain higher than for traditional smartphones. For the same operation on a Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, which has a great quality OLED, 120 Hz and high-efficiency LTPO technology, you need "just" $ 289, and you are under the figures required for foldable even taking into account the expensive iPhone 12 Pro Max from Apple, for which you have to budget $ 329. In short: there is still work to be done, but the road taken by the foldable is the right one.