Phones Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

[NeonNights]

I never bother as I upgrade every year

Even then, I don't think the standard manufacturer warranty is going to cover a shattered display or cracked back glass/camera array, water damage, etc. I think standard Samsung warranty is for defects, not things caused by the user.

I normally don't purchase extended warranty but insured my pricey M3 Max MBP and should have done the same on a pricey foldable. Fortunately, I can afford to get another Fold but it's not something I'd want to do repeatedly. I never needed insurance on any previous phone in over 25 years, but I'll kick in the extra $15/month for peace of mind on a foldable whether I trade it in yearly or not.

 

[SteveJUAE]

Even then, I don't think the standard manufacturer warranty is going to cover a shattered display or cracked back glass/camera array, water damage, etc. I think standard Samsung warranty is for defects, not things caused by the user.

I normally don't purchase extended warranty but insured my pricey M3 Max MBP and should have done the same on a pricey foldable. Fortunately, I can afford to get another Fold but it's not something I'd want to do repeatedly. I never needed insurance on any previous phone in over 25 years, but I'll kick in the extra $15/month for peace of mind on a foldable whether I trade it in yearly or not.

Samsung often bundle accidental in some countries

However

Like you were I am in the camp of never buying these extended warranties etc (bar once) and consider my self $1000's in front (YMMV) and in my simple accounting I could replace my F5 and Macs multiple times and still be in front

Affording to replace is a different argument but I understand and there is no right or wrong , its just personal preferences etc.

 

[Mellofello808]

I wouldn't bother with a Mac, or even a regular phone, but foldable are probably the most fragile electronics on the market.

I am on my first, and already had to use Samsung care + 3 times.

 

[NeonNights]

I wouldn't bother with a Mac, or even a regular phone, but foldable are probably the most fragile electronics on the market.

I am on my first, and already had to use Samsung care + 3 times.

What repairs did you need and was it a smooth process using Samsung Care+?

 

[Mellofello808]

What repairs did you need and was it a smooth process using Samsung Care+?

Had to have the screen protector changed out twice, and the whole phone replaced once.

Paid $0.00 for all 3 repairs.

Dealing with Samsung+ is mostly smooth, unless you need anything that doesn't follow the Filipino representatives script. They are not empowered at all to help you with issues that do not follow their exact workflow, and it is pretty obvious that they are penalized if the allow your issue to be escalated because they will hang up on you.

I had to fight them to send me a replacement phone because I live in Hawaii, and they were saying that it is not part of America, and therefore not covered by the plan. This is obviously not true, and should have just gone to a supervisor to be overriden, but I ended up having to cause a huge ****storm emailing high up people to get it resolved.

 

[NeonNights]

Wow, that is interesting with the whole Hawaii excuse...they're only about 65 years behind history.

 

[NeonNights]

Welps, I tried to do a transplant using my Fold4 as the inner screen donor and failed. I picked up a Fold4 from eBay for $220 that had a broken inner screen but everything else healthy and OS working and bootable. The plan was to replace the broken inner screen with the presumably working one from my old Fold4.

I learned a lot throughout the 6-hour operation, chiefly that it's not really worth my time to try this again (even if i know where everything goes now and have improved my technique and speed). We are all at different stages of our lives and in my twenties I definitely had more time than money, but I have an established career and family now and this was not worth a wasted half-Sunday. For anyone else contemplating this, just pay the $550 repair bill or pony up $840 for a fully working Fold5 from Swappa...or better yet, always have insurance on a foldable.

I needed less than $20 in tools, mainly .10mm screen separators, tweezers, and tiny Phillips screwdriver set to take everything apart. The rest was an exercise in patience, organization, and technique.

What sucks is the three ribbons behind the inner screen are buried behind everything so you literally have to disassemble most of the phone except for the batteries and hinge. It took me two hours just to remove the back plate and front screen without breaking it. Later, my technique improved and I was able to remove the front screen and back plate on the second phone in only 30 minutes.

The inner screen was already broken on the eBay phone so that allowed me to learn a few things, mainly that I severed the ribbon cables while trying to remove the eBay inner screen. Learning from my mistake I managed not to cut any ribbons on my donor phone, however I still managed to accidentally separate the layers of the inner screen because I didn't get the thin pry tool deep enough behind the actual display -- what can I say, it was hard to see and feel for the thickness of the screen.

Oopsie...

In the end, the eBay Fold4 inner screen still doesn't work and worse the front cover screen now shows a white line down the left side:

I also learned you can't expect every Fold4 to be the same as some circuit boards have additional pin outs whereas others have outlines for placeholders on the board. If you needed to swap out that particular board then they wouldn't be compatible:

In the end, if everything worked out as hoped then I would've saved a net $300 versus the repair bill at a local shop but honestly I make enough now that my time is more valuable than the potential savings. Lucky me now has two non-working Fold4, lol. Well, one sort of works except for the inner screen.

Hope this experience convinces the next person to buy insurance for their foldable, it really is the cheapest (in time and money) and the easiest path. At least now I'm not afraid to crack open any phone, I just prefer not to.

 

[SteveJUAE]

Welps, I tried to do a transplant using my Fold4 as the inner screen donor and failed. I picked up a Fold4 from eBay for $220 that had a broken inner screen but everything else healthy and OS working and bootable. The plan was to replace the broken inner screen with the presumably working one from my old Fold4.

I learned a lot throughout the 6-hour operation, chiefly that it's not really worth my time to try this again (even if i know where everything goes now and have improved my technique and speed). We are all at different stages of our lives and in my twenties I definitely had more time than money, but I have an established career and family now and this was not worth a wasted half-Sunday. For anyone else contemplating this, just pay the $550 repair bill or pony up $840 for a fully working Fold5 from Swappa...or better yet, always have insurance on a foldable.

I needed less than $20 in tools, mainly .10mm screen separators, tweezers, and tiny Phillips screwdriver set to take everything apart. The rest was an exercise in patience, organization, and technique.

What sucks is the three ribbons behind the inner screen are buried behind everything so you literally have to disassemble most of the phone except for the batteries and hinge. It took me two hours just to remove the back plate and front screen without breaking it. Later, my technique improved and I was able to remove the front screen and back plate on the second phone in only 30 minutes.

The inner screen was already broken on the eBay phone so that allowed me to learn a few things, mainly that I severed the ribbon cables while trying to remove the eBay inner screen. Learning from my mistake I managed not to cut any ribbons on my donor phone, however I still managed to accidentally separate the layers of the inner screen because I didn't get the thin pry tool deep enough behind the actual display -- what can I say, it was hard to see and feel for the thickness of the screen.

Oopsie...

View attachment 2375285 View attachment 2375286 View attachment 2375289

In the end, the eBay Fold4 inner screen still doesn't work and worst the front cover screen now shows a white line down the left side:

View attachment 2375291 View attachment 2375292

I also learned you can't expect every Fold4 to be the same as some circuit boards have additional pin outs whereas others have outlines for placeholders on the board. If you needed to swap out that particular board then they wouldn't be compatible:

View attachment 2375290

In the end, if everything worked out as hoped then I would've saved a net $300 versus the repair bill at a local shop but honestly I make enough now that my time is more valuable than the potential savings. Lucky me now has two non-working Fold4, lol. Well, one sort of works except for the inner screen.

Hope this experience convinces the next person to buy insurance for their foldable, it really is the cheapest (in time and money) and the easiest path. At least now I'm not afraid to crack open any phone, I just prefer not to.

View attachment 2375287 View attachment 2375288

Sounds like fun ............... not, more of an experience

But did you find the original fault, was it one of the ribbons ?

 

[NeonNights]

Sounds like fun ............... not, more of an experience

But did you find the original fault, was it one of the ribbons ?

I suspect my Fold4 has pinched flex cables, and possibly a fried charging board, but I was too tired to check the flex cables. I am still curious to verify the flex cables and may do it real quick later in the week. For now I'm gonna take a break to recover from the "experience".

 

[NeonNights]

...also managed to collect 4-5 knicks and cuts on my palms from the .10mm stainless steel pry sheets slipping and digging into my hands. I should've used some gloves.

 

[NeonNights]

I'm back for more punishment. Another 1.5 hours to confirm my original Fold4 indeed suffered from a broken lower flex cable (upper flex cables was fine). There are reports that the metal plates over the flex cables have a tendency to cut into the ribbon, but I don't think that's the case at all...at least not on my Fold4. I suspect my issue, and those of countless others, is caused by some bad assembly.

If you compare the upper flex cable it is nicely seated in the channel, but the lower flex cable is not centered and installed more towards the left in the photo. This creates a sharp crease instead of a gentle bend:

If you look at the eBay Fold4, which has a pair of healthy looking flex cables perfectly centered, the ribbons naturally part and move completely out of the way when the phone is folded (right-half of image) so there's no way the metal plates would contact the ribbons:

I was also able to verify the front display on my original Fold4 is perfectly functional. Remember, the eBay Fold4 had a white line down the left side of the front cover display after my little transplant experiment. I plugged my Fold4 cover screen into the board of the eBay Fold4 and the cover screen works perfectly. So, this means I'm really back to square one.

If I buy just a replacement inner screen for $150 then I should be able to piece together a fully working Fold4. If I get two inner screens, a front cover display, and a lower flex cable, then I may be able to revive two Fold4s and one can go to my brother. We will see as I'm in no rush to resume this project and I wonder if Fold4 parts will get cheaper after the Fold6 releases.

 

[Mellofello808]

Props to you for messing with the internals of a fold.

I would just write a check, and move on lol.

 

[NeonNights]

Props to you for messing with the internals of a fold.

I would just write a check, and move on lol.

Definitely the smarter move. In reality it isn't all too difficult but not worth my time either. I would hate to work in a factory putting these things together. That's not to diminish factory workers, I'm just saying it's not work I would enjoy doing.

 

[SteveJUAE]

Definitely the smarter move. In reality it isn't all too difficult but not worth my time either. I would hate to work in a factory putting these things together. That's not to diminish factory workers, I'm just saying it's not work I would enjoy doing.

Thanks for looking further and confirming the issue as we both originally thought ie the flex cable

I think the lesson learned is self repair on the Folds requires above average skill levels and a certain amount of technique that can only be gained from experience. ie don't try this as a one off

 

[Ludatyk]

Finally received OneUI 6.1....

 

[SteveJUAE]

Finally received OneUI 6.1....
View attachment 2376752

Enjoy