The Samsung Galaxy S21 Series Is Still Really Difficult To Repair - Android

Samsung has once again made it more challenging to repair the 'Ultra' version of its phones than the standard version, this time with the Galaxy S21 series. That's based on recent reports following a teardown performed by iFixit. The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra received a repairability score of just 3 out of 10. Why did [...]

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The post The Samsung Galaxy S21 Series Is Still Really Difficult To Repair appeared first on Android Headlines.

Samsung has once again made it more challenging to repair the 'Ultra' version of its phones than the standard version, this time with the Galaxy S21 series. That's based on recent reports following a teardown performed by iFixit. The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra received a repairability score of just 3 out of 10.

Why did this phone score so badly and does it get anything right?

Now, there were some highlights in the teardown. iFixit says that Samsung continues to move forward with making its fasteners more universal. Namely, all of the important ones are identical and each is a Phillips-style fastener.

In fact, the South Korean tech giant has also made its components modular and independently replaceable. But not all of them. The display cable and polycarbonate rear panel from the standard Samsung Galaxy S21 are both actually a step backward.

More importantly, that rear panel is glued down and harder to remove. And the camera bump's edge, thanks to a new ridge around the component, only makes the ordeal more difficult. The battery and display are also still incredibly difficult to repair, being held down with stronger-than-average adhesive. All setting aside how difficult it is to disassemble just about everything just to get to those components.

So, although Samsung has taken plenty of steps forward, it hasn't taken as many steps forward as it might need to. At the very least, not in order to make the handsets that it produces easier to repair. And that, conversely, only goes to show why those who buy phones as expensive as these should really invest in protection.

This is a Samsung repair issue, not a Galaxy S21 Ultra issue

Now, the Samsung Galaxy S21 standard edition isn't much better, when it comes time to repair it, than the Ultra. The top-rated smartphone scored just a point higher on iFixit's scale. But that's not altogether surprising.

Samsung Galaxy S series phones have appeared to become harder to repair with each successive generation. And the Galaxy Note series isn't really any better either. The Galaxy S21 Ultra achieved an identical score to Samsung's Galaxy Note 20.

The post The Samsung Galaxy S21 Series Is Still Really Difficult To Repair appeared first on Android Headlines.