Assessing the Limitations: A Closer Look at Samsung and uBreakiFix’s Insufficient Partnership

Samsung has made it much harder to get Galaxy phones repaired in the United States over the past few months. Samsung and uBreakiFix now offer faster device repairs, but not everyone has access to them.

Samsung announced last year that it was working with uBreakiFix , a chain of repair stores across North America, to offer better and faster repairs for Galaxy phones and tablets. The plan was to upgrade 50 existing uBreakiFix locations into “flagship Samsung repair locations” by the end of 2023, with more repair training and on-hand parts. They are in areas such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Newark, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, and Phoenix.

Samsung and uBreakiFix revealed today that the new flagship locations are ranking higher in customer satisfaction, and now have an average of 23% more on-hand stock for repairs and replacements than other uBreakiFix stores, allowing for faster repairs. The flagship locations can also now repair the new Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 series, which is coming soon to all uBreakiFix stores.

It’s great that some uBreakiFix stores can now do faster Galaxy device repairs, but there’s a big problem: there are still only 50 of those flagship Samsung repair stores. There are currently 682 uBreakiFix locations across North America, so the flagship locations only make up about 7% of all the company’s stores. If you live too far away from any of those flagship stores, your Galaxy repair might still take a while.

Meanwhile, it’s harder than ever to get your Galaxy device repaired through other means. Samsung ended its partnership with iFixit in May 2024, as Samsung didn’t allow iFixit to sell some parts individually or in bulk orders, and replacement parts for newer devices were never made available. Best Buy also stopped accepting most Samsung phone repairs at its stores earlier this year, and Samsung still limits independent repair shops from fixing certain phones or using third-party parts.

The improved flagship uBreakiFix stores are great, but it’s clear Samsung still doesn’t care all that much about affordable and accessible device repairs. Apple also has a lot of room for improvement, but the company has nearly 300 of its own stores across the United States (most, if not all, accept device repairs), and authorized repair partnerships with Best Buy, uBreakiFix, and other stores.

Source: Samsung