If you are a Galaxy S8 owner, you have one of the most beautiful phones ever made. But all that beauty comes with a caveat – it’s been dubbed the most fragile handset in the market. Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus both come with an all-glass design with its front and back panels roofed in Gorilla Glass 5. Both are really delicate, but its parts can be sourced relatively more affordable than those of other expensive smartphones.
A screen without limits?
A recent video posted by extended-warranty service provider SquareTrade put the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus through a series of durability tests and the results are, well, shattering.
Samsung’s “screen without limits” is the most fragile they had ever tested, according to experts.
Upon dropping the Galaxy S8 six feet high, the phone suffered from loose glass and star burst cracks. The back drop test proved catastrophic as well and resulted in spider webbing and more cracks. The handset isn’t water resistant either. Dunking the phone cause internal damage and tumbling it will destroy its appearance. Commenting on the results, SquareTrade concluded that the “S8 is the first phone we’ve tested that’s cracked on the first drop on ALL sides.”
Samsung almost completely removed the bezels on its latest flagship phones and covered them with glass. Several independent repair shops told Motherboard that the design allows for simpler screen replacement, and users will enjoy the fact that repairs are more affordable than the previous Samsung handsets.
Fragile but with an affordable fix
It would usually cost one around $200 or so to have a smartphone screen replaced, but owners of the S8 or S8 plus could have it for $100 less. “The price point is good; the repairability is there," said Justin Carroll, owner of a repair shop in Richmond, VA. It isn't what you would exactly call affordable, but the slashed price is better compared to what it would normally cost.
In general, most Android smartphones are more expensive to repair because it may different manufacturers, and brands carry Android smartphones. To a repair shop’s horizon, buying replacement parts in bulk isn’t the smartest thing to do, as there’s no absolute guarantee that it would be profitable.
In other news, Samsung just announced the unlocked version of the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are now available to pre-order in the U.S. for $724.99 and $824.99, respectively. The smartphones will be widely available starting May 31 and can be bought from Best Buy or Samsung.com.
