With the launch of the all new Samsung Galaxy S8 on the horizon, you should strongly consider buying insurance for the phone if you order it. If the official announcement verifies what leaked images have already revealed, the Galaxy S8 is going to be a looker. It’s going to have a massive Gorilla Glass 5 curved display, with an unmatched screen to body ratio, and it will also be made of the same glass on the back. While Gorilla Glass continues to advance in durability with each generation, it is still prone to cracking which can happen at anytime during phone ownership.
I grabbed the S7 edge last year and considered it to be the best designed phone of 2016. However the gorgeous curved glass can be extremely fragile. I was sitting down when my S7 edge fell from my pocket, on its side, just after three weeks of owning it. That fall from two feet up resulted in a cracked front display and a shattered rear panel. While the phone still functioned properly, it lost its ability to repel water and dust and looked ugly at the same time. I didn’t have accidental damage insurance, I never purchase it, and learned that it would cost about $270 to have Samsung fix my S7 edge. This is one case where I thought the advanced Gorilla Glass would protect me, and I’m not the only one who experienced easy breakage either.
In retrospect I should have purchased the $129 insurance for the S7 edge when I bought the phone. There are third-party phone repair shops, like UBREAKIFIX, but I like to go through the manufacturer since it restores and guarantees the IP68 water resistance rating the phone originally came with out of the box. If I would have purchased Samsung Protection Plus for my S7 edge, I would have covered my phone for two years against drops, spills, and cracked screens. At $129 the insurance might seem pricey, but it’s half the price of what mobile carriers offer and it is certainly much cheaper than paying the full $270 to repair the glass out of warranty.
- Covers accidental damage from handling – drops, spills, and/or cracked screens
- Covers electrical and mechanical failures after the manufacturer’s warranty expires
- Next business day replacements shipping, Monday through Friday, once a claim is approved
- Customer support open 7 days a week (9AM – 9PM EST) by calling 1-866-553-3239
- Up to 2 replacements in a 12 month period for accidental damage claims
If you’re planning on grabbing a Samsung Galaxy S8 make sure to pick up insurance too. Learn more about Samsung Protection Plus here.