How to Find a Samsung Phone Repair Shop Near You - Consumer Reports (2024)

If you’ve got a Samsung Galaxy phone in need of repair, you may need to find a new shop.

Best Buy’s Geek Squad—once a Samsung-authorized partner—will no longer fix hardware issues such as depleted batteries or cracked screens. Instead, the manufacturer is directing people to uBreakiFix stores owned by Asurion, the insurance company that covers Samsung phones.

Where to Get a Samsung Phone Repaired Near You

If you want to get your phone repaired at a shop that works directly with Samsung, you have a few options.

Visit a uBreakiFix shop. Samsung’s official repair partner has more than 700 locations nationwide. (The manufacturer also has a few other "authorized service centers"—like, for example, certain Batteries Plus stores.) Search Samsung’s service center map to find the best option near you. About 95 percent of repairs for Galaxy devices in uBreakiFix stores are completed the same day, according to Alex Hausfeld, the manager of a uBreakiFix store in Cincinnati.He hasn’t seen repair wait times increase since Best Buy stopped servicing Galaxy phones, he says.

Send it to Samsung. Request a repair online by logging in to your Samsung account. You can then mail your device directly to a Samsung technician or have a Samsung-certified technician come to you. Just note that the repair will likely take days or weeks instead of hours.

Find a Samsung store. A handful of Samsung brick-and-mortar sites offer in-person repairs. Check this map to see if there’s one near you.

Go to a designated independent service provider. Samsung works with more than 1,100 “independent service providers," or ISPs, which you can find using a filter on Samsung’s service locator map. We’ll explain the differences between ISPs and authorized service centers below.

How to Contact Samsung Customer Service

Best Buy Can Still Help With Some Problems

Should You Use an Authorized Service Center?

In brief, authorized shops agree to specific standards that may bring you some peace of mind. Their technicians receive training from Samsung and they use genuine manufacturer parts and proprietary tools that help ensure your device is repaired properly. The device is also automatically covered by either a 90-day warranty or for the remainder of its limited warranty, whichever is longer.

Technicians at authorized service centers are also required to run specific diagnostic testing before and after the repair.

But that doesn’t mean you should rule out independent repair shops. Samsung does work directly with more than 1,100 “independent service providers," which you can search for on the Samsung website. These shops may still use Samsung-genuine parts, but they’re not required to. They are required, however, to disclose to customers when they use an aftermarket part during a repair.

Whether due to cost or convenience, you may also choose to go to a local third-party repair shop that does not work directly with Samsung. You may get quality service, but keep in mind that these technicians may not be using Samsung parts or tools, so you may want to ask a few questions beforehand.

Going to a third-party repair shop itself doesn’t void your warranty. But, "if improper service or parts caused damage or defects, the limited warranty may not cover the resulting defects or damages,” Renato de Castro says. “If this happens, the customer can opt to get their device serviced as an out-of-warranty repair.”

How to Repair a Samsung Phone Yourself

We don’t recommend smartphone self-repair for most people. But if you’re particularly tech-savvy or have tackled repairs before, the DIY approach can be a way to save money. That’s why right-to-repair advocates continue to push for broader access to necessary tools and parts.

You can buy Samsung replacement parts via Encompass, the manufacturer’s official supplier, and other third-party sellers. (While iFixit has ended its formal partnership with Samsung, it will continue to sell aftermarket parts and Samsung-genuine parts through Encompass.) Self-repair guides and documentation are also available on the Samsung website and sites like iFixit. But, as with repairs outside Samsung’s network, any damage that occurs during a self-repair likely won’t be covered by your warranty.

The Fight for the Right to Repair

As these latest shifts in repair options make clear, access to affordable and convenient service is an ongoing issue for many consumers (iPhone users included).

That’s why there’s a nationwide push for right-to-repair laws. These protections—already in effect in states like New York, California, and Minnesota—require manufacturers to make parts, tools, and documentation available for purchase by individual customers and third-party repair shops.

According to consumer advocates, the protections prevent a manufacturer from monopolizing the repair process, allowing for more competition, cheaper prices, and quicker turnaround times. The more easily consumers can repair the stuff they own, the less likely they are to buy new devices, reducing e-waste and the carbon emissions associated with manufacturing electronics.

In an ongoing effort to support these initiatives, Consumer Reports has drafted model legislation that state lawmakers can use to secure right to repair protections for consumers. For more information, visit this blog post from Consumer Reports Advocacy. CR has also incorporated the right to repair into itsDigital Standard, a set of best practices used to evaluate software, digital platforms, and services.