Introduction

We get a lot of people asking us for the cost of a screen repair for the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8 Plus phones. Unfortunately- for reasons we’ll go into later- replacement AMOLED display units are very expensive, and this has to be reflected in the price we charge.

On hearing this, many people understandably point out that it’s only the glass that’s damaged- not the AMOLED screen itself- and want to know whether we can replace that alone.

Unfortunately, the bad news is that we can’t. We’ve written this article to explain why.

Why Replacement Screens Are Expensive

Samsung mobile phone screens are notoriously expensive, and often the cost of a replacement is nearly as much as a second-hand phone. The reason for this is that the manufacturing cost is high- most Samsung screens use AMOLED (active matrix organic LED) technology and are made by Samsung themselves. Manufacturers of compatible third-party displays (mainly based in China) have not yet succeeded in making their own equivalent.

Options for Replacement Screens

In general, there are three options for replacement of Samsung screens:-

  • While “copy” screens for older Samsung phones (like the S4 and S5) are available from China, they aren’t very reliable and use LCD technology instead of AMOLED.
  • Official screens are available via Service Packs that are sold by Samsung to distributors, but stock of these is usually limited, especially for newer models. (See the images below for an example of a service pack).
  • Official Samsung screens are also available via recycling, having been taken from handsets and refurbished in factories in China. Due to supply and demand, the resale value of a broken Samsung display is very high, which in turn bumps up the price of recycled displays.

The official Samsung Service Pack is the best quality product, and this is what we tend to use where possible. (Unfortunately, this option is only available for the newer phone models.) These are brand-new Super AMOLED displays produced by Samsung and used in their service centres. Usually, these will come with a new frame and all the correct adhesives required to give the repair a factory finish and, as you would expect, this product commands the highest price.

Some other stores may use refurbished Samsung displays, and these usually come without the correct adhesive and frame. This means you need to transfer the old frame from the broken display- if not done correctly, this can cause issues at a later date. For example, the display can lift from the frame causing it to break, or if the old frame isn’t cleaned correctly, it can result in a pink line appearing on the display. (If you returned to the store with the pink line they would refuse a warranty claim on the basis that you broke it).

The other issue with refurb displays is that there’s can be a massive quality difference depending on who refurbished it. Some screens may have imperfections or dust trapped inside, but more importantly, the glass might not be the same quality as Samsung use- typically it will be thinner and break more easily.

The Important Points

  • Screen replacements for the S6 Edge, S7 Edge, S8 and S8+ are expensive. This is because the official screens cost a lot to buy new, and even variable-quality refurbs can be expensive due to supply and demand.
  • A lot of owners ask us if we can do a glass-only repair cheaper. Unfortunately, we can’t.
  • Replacement glass is cheap, but replacing the glass without breaking the screen itself is almost impossible, even for a skilled technician. Over time, shops doing this would lose far more paying for new screens than they would ever make replacing the glass.
  • Some stores may try to pass this cost- and risk- onto the customer. However, it’s generally impossible to judge how good they are, or whether they’ll be honest regarding breakages.
  • Glass replacement/refurbishment is only really practical in large factories. These have large enough numbers to justify investing in equipment to do it properly. Shop-based replacement generally uses less reliable techniques.
  • There’s little margin in Samsung screen repair, so we’d expect most places to have similar prices. Those significantly cheaper may be using parts from stolen phones or not declaring VAT.

Service Packs and Refurbished Screens


 
Samsung Galaxy Edge Service Pack

 
Samsung Galaxy Edge Service Pack

 
Refurbished Screen

 
Refurbished Screen

 

Why Can’t I Get a Glass-Only Repair?

A Near-Impossible Task

At the time of writing, the Samsung S7 Edge is one of the most popular phones we get asked about repairing. As we mentioned above, we’re often asked for the price to replace the screen and then get told that “it’s only the glass that’s broken”.

It often doesn’t help that many people know you can buy a Samsung S7 Edge glass replacement kit on eBay for around £20… but what they don’t know is there’s a very nasty catch. Replacing glass in general requires a lot of skill. Replacing the glass on a curved screen like the S7 Edge’s is near-impossible- even for an experienced technician- without breaking the screen itself.

The situation is much the same for the Galaxy S6 Edge, S8 and S8 Plus.

High Risk for Little Profit

Put simply, this is why no shop will offer a cheap, glass-only repair. Any small profit they make from glass replacement jobs would be completely eaten up by the cost of having to replace broken screens.

For example, at the time of writing, a Samsung S7 Edge service pack AMOLED display is selling on eBay for £260. If a store was to charge (say) £100 to replace the glass there could be good margin in this- if everything went successfully. Were they to break the screen, however, they would lose a lot of money on the job (along with their time).

Some stores may say something like “We can try to change the glass but if we break the screen you will need to pay for a new display”. Of course, this is passing the risk to the customer, and you have no idea what their skill level is. There’s also nothing stopping them saying they broke the screen then charging you the full price. Once you’ve agreed to the repair you can’t take your phone back in the condition in which it came into the store and go elsewhere.

Leave Glass Replacement to the Factories

The factories in China who refurbish screens have invested a great deal of money in the special machinery to carry out the repair to as close to factory specifications as possible. They do this type of repair day in and day out (and in much, much higher numbers) so you would expect them to be experts in their own field. They will have clean rooms, a freezer to separate the AMOLED display, use OCA, proprietary moulds and techniques to do the job correctly.

It would be unreasonable to expect a small store to be able to change the glass to the same standard. Most stores will only have basic machinery and will use LOCA instead of OCA. LOCA is a liquid adhesive you spread over the display to bond the glass to it. The problem with LOCA is it smells and can be very messy leaving excess glue inside the phone. There is also the risk of dust getting underneath the glass. Would you be prepared to accept these issues to save money?

Can I Really Save Money on This?

As there is little margin in Samsung screen repair we would expect most stores to be around the same cost when it comes to replacing the display. If somewhere is charging considerably less than this, we’d question the reason. In particular, some stores are buying stolen handsets, stripping the display off them and using them in their repairs. This is why there are adverts on Gumtree looking for “blocked” handsets and also why there is also a thriving market on eBay for “no service” phones.

One other thing- if you’ve ever been in one of these stores and they’ve asked you to bring cash, they’re probably not declaring the VAT properly.