Google’s buyer assist is ridiculously higher than Samsung’s

I’ve been utilizing smartphones since 2011, and so they’ve all been Samsung and Google units (except for a number of different manufacturers resulting from my job). Each firms have come a good distance over time, and whereas the S24 Extremely is my telephone of alternative for now, that will quickly change for one motive. Pixels and Galaxy telephones every have their strengths and weaknesses, however one factor I’ve at all times discovered Google is finest at is buyer assist, whereas Samsung has extra dependable units.

As I feel again on my expertise with each, I’ve began to reevaluate which of these issues is extra necessary to me. Do I desire a telephone that’s much less more likely to be an issue and settle for that it’ll be a combat if one thing does go fallacious, or the inverse?

I’ve owned plenty of Samsung telephones over time. I began with the Galaxy S2 and S4, after which after a dip into the Google ecosystem, I’ve had the Galaxy S10 Plus and each Extremely from the S20 to the S24 collection and a smattering of foldable evaluation items. Of the eight Galaxy telephones I’ve personally owned, just one has had a difficulty.

Being within the UK, I’ve needed to endure my fair proportion of Exynos-powered telephones, and my S20 Extremely was by far the worst, affected by an unlucky failure in the summertime of 2020. It received so scorching throughout a video name with my then-fiancé that it cooked its motherboard. Samsung lined this on guarantee, so I didn’t must pay for any repairs, however the course of was a joke.

Samsung has a repair-at-all-costs coverage within the UK. Due to that, my S20 Extremely was gone for six weeks whereas they changed the motherboard, two of the rear cameras, the battery, and the rear glass, which cracked throughout removing. Changing the telephone would’ve been a lot less complicated, however Samsung insisted on repairing it. To make issues worse, the telephone received misplaced in transport for an additional week. In complete, I used to be with out my telephone for practically two months.

The experiences worsen once we have a look at my spouse’s telephones. She’s had the Z Flip 4, 5, and 6, and to date, solely the latter has endured a full 12 months with not more than an in-store display screen protector change.

The Flip 4 had an unlucky encounter with our fish tank, so I organized a restore by our Samsung Care coverage. Attributable to Samsung’s insistence on repairing moderately than changing, the telephone was initially gone for 5 weeks, throughout which era it had its motherboard, display screen, hinge, body, rear glass, and all of its cameras changed. The one a part of the telephone that stayed the identical was the duvet show.

The problems started when the telephone got here again. My spouse was at work, so I began the telephone up, aspiring to sign up for her and restore her information so she may swap again to it throughout her lunch break. Think about my shock when the telephone defaulted to French out of the field and mentioned “Z Flip 4 Maison Margiela Version” on the bootloader. That was a particular black and white model of the telephone, solely offered in France, and the machine in my hand was nonetheless Bora Purple. The telephone was a large number as soon as I received it began, with fixed UI crashes, warnings, and an OS construct a number of months outdated, with the software program replace display screen not working.

I known as Samsung and realized that the restore heart had flashed the fallacious software program construct onto the telephone after it was repaired, and I would wish to ship it off to be reflashed. A easy software program flash appears like one thing that could possibly be carried out rapidly, nevertheless it was gone for an additional three weeks.

If I’m being sensible, these two cases aren’t that unhealthy. My S20 Extremely restore was in the course of the pandemic, which actually would have contributed to the longer wait. With the Z Flip 4, errors do occur in remoted cases. Sadly, issues solely received worse the next 12 months with the Z Flip 5.

It’s been over a 12 months, and my blood nonetheless boils every time I give it some thought. Except for the Flip 4 that slept with the fishes, my spouse and I child our telephones. They’re at all times protected by a case and display screen protector, and we take them out of these circumstances for an intensive cleansing at the very least as soon as per week. However in February 2024, the Flip 5 died. It had by no means been dropped or banged, however the display screen destroyed itself. The wrongdoer? One of many rubber seals together with the show, alongside the hinge, got here unfastened and received caught within the hinge mechanism.

Reasonably than ship the telephone away, we took it to a Samsung Retailer. The worker inspected the machine after which advised us that whereas it was clear the telephone was in pristine situation, we’d have to pay for the restore. In response to Samsung’s restore information for the Z Flip 5, that part was “engineered to not fail.” Final time I checked, most issues aren’t engineered to fail, nevertheless it typically occurs anyway. Fortunately, our Samsung Care plan meant it value £90 moderately than the total restore value, besides, this was a low blow.

My expertise with Google units has been the other. I’ve owned the Nexus 6, 6P, Pixel XL, 2XL, and 3XL, and every of them needed to undergo guarantee at the very least twice. Two of my Nexus 6s popped their rear panel, 4 Nexus 6Ps both bent or had the show come out of the body, two Pixel XLs developed lifeless audio system, one 2XL received lifeless show pixels whereas the opposite determined it didn’t wish to take footage anymore, and my 3XL couldn’t report video with out crashing. The latter was in its return window, so I despatched it again and received an S10 Plus as a substitute.

That’s a horrible monitor report to make sure, and my Android Authority colleagues inform me I’m the unluckiest man on the planet as a result of nothing this horrible has ever occurred to their Pixels, particularly this incessantly. However one thing impressed me throughout that point: Google’s assist actually sorted me. I bought all of these units by the Google Retailer, and it changed every of them with both a brand-new telephone or a freshly refurbished unit in lower than 48 hours of my reporting the difficulty.

Google’s guarantee coverage, at the very least within the UK, is to switch the defective telephone straight away to minimise the impression on the person. Then the faulty machine will get repaired and totally refurbished in order that it may be used as a substitute for another person who makes a guaranty declare. It’s an environment friendly course of that made me really feel cared for as a buyer. Google’s buyer assist is at all times pleasant and (often) asks questions and provides troubleshooting steps that make sense.

I had one other strong expertise with Google assist in the previous couple of weeks. Pixel 6a battery issues are widespread, and my Grandfather’s 6a developed a swollen battery. Within the UK, telephones get a two-year producer’s guarantee, however this 6a was over three years outdated, so Google didn’t have an obligation to do something. Nonetheless, I reached out to assist, and in lower than 12 hours, a refurbished 6a that had a model new battery and show arrived at my door. Except for the assist agent encouraging me to make use of the charging brick that got here with the telephone sooner or later (the 6a doesn’t include one), the assist expertise was good, and every thing was sorted through a stay chat in lower than half an hour.

One other factor to think about is that Pixels have improved over the previous couple of years. My cousin has had a Pixel 6 Professional since launch, and it’s by no means let him down. A good friend has a 7a and loves it, and a number of other individuals I do know have numerous fashions of the Pixel 9 collection and couldn’t be happier. Telephones from all producers could have points at occasions, however from the expertise of these round me, evidently Google’s reliability has improved, and customers aren’t dealing with frequent points like I did in my early Pixel days.

Pair the improved reliability with implausible buyer assist, and I’m left questioning if I ought to return to utilizing a Pixel. I nonetheless love Samsung’s merchandise. I’ve had the S24 Extremely because it launched, and it’s by no means as soon as let me down. The Materials Expressive redesign of Android 16 seems implausible, however I nonetheless choose One UI general. Nevertheless, irrespective of how a lot I really like One UI or the telephone it runs on, I at all times have that concern that if one thing does go fallacious, getting it mounted could be an uphill battle with Samsung, and till the corporate modifications that, it could possibly be time for me to maneuver on.