- Samsung Care Plus will now replace your phone instead of repairing it.
- The new Samsung Care Plus starts with the Galaxy S26 and will expand to older devices.
- It is currently unknown if this will come to the US market.
Like most smartphone manufacturers, Samsung offers an extended warranty and insurance program for its devices. I’ve been a Samsung Care Plus customer for many years, and while the peace of mind you get from knowing your smartphone is protected is good, there’s always been an annoying caveat to the service Samsung has provided. Starting with the Galaxy S26 series in the UK, Samsung Care Plus is finally fixing that annoyance.
Until now, Samsung Care Plus has operated under a “repair at all costs” policy. Unless your phone is lost or stolen, Samsung wouldn’t replace your phone with a new one unless repair is physically impossible. My Galaxy S20 Ultra, for example, overheated to the point of melting its motherboard and cooking its battery, and rather than replace it, Samsung replaced every component in the phone except for the metal frame, a process that took six weeks.