Robert Triggs / Android Authority
I’ve been using smartphones since 2011, and they’ve all been Samsung and Google devices (aside from a few other brands due to my job). Both companies have come a long way over the years, and while the S24 Ultra is my phone of choice for now, that may soon change for one reason. Pixels and Galaxy phones each have their strengths and weaknesses, but one thing I’ve always found Google is best at is customer support, while Samsung has more reliable devices.
As I think back on my experience with both, I’ve started to reevaluate which of those things is more important to me. Do I want a phone that’s less likely to be a problem and accept that it’ll be a fight if something does go wrong, or the inverse?
How has your customer support experience been? 11 votes Samsung: Good 45 % Samsung: Bad 18 % Google: Good 36 % Google: Bad 0 %
Galaxy phones have held up well, but foldables make it complicated
Eric Zeman / Android Authority
I’ve owned a lot of Samsung phones over the years. I started with the Galaxy S2 and S4, and then after a dip into the Google ecosystem, I’ve had the Galaxy S10 Plus and every Ultra from the S20 to the S24 series and a smattering of foldable review units. Of the eight Galaxy phones I’ve personally owned, only one has had an issue.
Being in the UK, I’ve had to endure my fair share of Exynos-powered phones, and my S20 Ultra was by far the worst, suffering from an unfortunate failure in the summer of 2020. It got so hot during a video call with my then-fiancé that it cooked its motherboard. Samsung covered this on warranty, so I didn’t have to pay for any repairs, but the process was a joke.
Samsung has a repair-at-all-costs policy in the UK, causing considerable delays of weeks before I get my phone back.
Samsung has a repair-at-all-costs policy in the UK. Because of that, my S20 Ultra was gone for six weeks while they replaced the motherboard, two of the rear cameras, the battery, and the rear glass, which cracked during removal. Replacing the phone would’ve been much simpler, but Samsung insisted on repairing it. To make matters worse, the phone got lost in shipping for another week. In total, I was without my phone for nearly two months.
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