Robert Triggs / Android Authority
I’ve been using smartphones since 2011, and they have all been Samsung and Google Devices (other than some other brands because of my job). The two companies have traveled a long distance over the past years, and while the S24 ultra is still a phone call for my choice, which can soon change for one reason. Each of the pixels and galaxy phones has their strength and weakness, but one thing I have always found in Google is best in customer support, while Samsung has more reliable devices.
As I think of my experience with both of them, which of these things have I begun to examine? Do I want a phone that is less likely to worry and accept that if something goes wrong, it will be a fight, or the opposite?
How was your customer support experience?
11 votes
Samsung: Good
45 %
Samsung: bad
18 %
Google: Good
36 %
Google: bad
0 %
Galaxy phones have maintained well, but foldables make it complicated
Eric Ziman / Android Authority
I have owned many Samsung phones in the past years. I started with the Galaxy S2 and S4, and then after sinking into the Google Eco system, I got a sumting of each ultra and foldable review units in the Galaxy S10 Plus and S20 to S24 series. Of the eight galaxy phones I personally owned, only one problem has faced.
Being in the UK, I had to suffer a fair share of acne -driven phones, and my S20 ultra was the worst, which suffered from unfortunate failure in the summer of 2020. It became so hot during the video call with my then fiance that he cooked his mother board. Samsung covered it on the warranty, so I didn’t have to pay any repair, but this process was a joke.
Samsung has all the pricing policy for repair in the UK, which delays me a week before I return to my phone.
Samsung has all the repair pricing policy in the UK. For this reason, my S20 ultra went for six weeks when they replaced the Mother Board, two rear cameras, battery and rear glasses, which exploded while removing. It would have been very easy to replace the phone, but Samsung insisted on repairing it. To further worsen matters, the phone disappeared for another week. Overall, I was about two months without my phone.
When we look at our wife’s phones, experiences get worse. It had Z Flip 4, 5, and 6, and so far, the latter has only tolerated a whole year in which the store screen is no more than a change of guard.
Zack Ki Danis / Android Authority
Philip 4 suffered unfortunately with our fish tank, so I arranged for repair through my Samsung Care Policy. Due to the insistence on repairing Samsung, the phone was initially gone for five weeks, during which its mother board, screen, occupation, frames, rear glasses and all its cameras were changed. The only part of the phone that remained the same was the cover display.
When the phone returned, problems started. My wife was at work, so I started the phone, intended to sign and restore her data so she could return to it during her lunch break. Imagine my surprise when the phone defaulted the French out of the box and called the “Z Philip 4 Mason Marzella Edition” on the boot loader. It was a special black and white version of the phone, which was only sold in France, and the device in my hand was still sack. Once I started it, the phone was a mess, with constant UI crash, alerts, and an OS construction several months, in which the software update screen is not working.
I called Samsung and learned that the repair center has shined the wrong software construction on the phone after repairing it, and I will need to send it to reflect. A simple software flash looks like something that can be done quickly, but it lasts for three more weeks.
If I am realistic, those two examples are not so bad. My S20 ultra -repair was in the middle of the epidemic disease, which must have participated in a long wait. With Z. Philip 4, errors occur in isolated events. Unfortunately, just things got damaged next year with Z. Philip 5.
Zack Ki Danis / Android Authority
It has been more than a year, and whenever I think about it, my blood boils. In addition to the flip 4, who used to sleep with the fish, my wife and I save my phone. They are always protected by a case and screen protector, and we take them out of these cases at least once a week for clean cleaning. But in February 2024, Philip died 5. He was never dropped or hit, but the screen destroyed himself. The culprit? A seal of rubber on the side of the display, along with the possession, was loose and trapped in the constipation procedure.
Claiming a component is a joke that ‘do not fail’ on the foldable and to pay the full price to repair it.
Instead of removing the phone, we took it to the Samsung store. The employee inspected the device and then told us that when it was clear that the phone was in ancient state, we would need to pay for repairs. According to the Samsung repair guide for Z Flip 5, this component was “engineer for not failing.” The last time I checked, most things are not an engineer to fail, but this is sometimes the same. Thankfully, our Samsung Care Plan means that its price is £ 90 instead of a full repair cost, but nevertheless, it was a low blow.
Pixels break down, but cares for Google
My experience with Google Devices has been the opposite. I owned the Nexus 6, 6P, Pixel XL, 2 XL, and 3 XL, and each of them had to go through the warranty at least twice. My two nexus 6s popped up their back panel, four alliance 6 ps were either bent or removed the display out of the frame, two Pixel XL manufactured dead speakers, one 2 XL got dead display pixels while the other does not want to record the video without any accident. The latter was in the window of his return, so I sent him back and instead found an S10 plus.
This is a terrible track record to make sure, and my Android Authority Compatriots tell me that I am the most unfortunate man on the planet because nothing has happened to their pixels, especially it often. But in the meantime I impressed me: Google’s support really cared for me. I bought all these devices through the Google Store, and replaced each of the new phone or freshly refined unit in less than 48 hours of reporting the problem.
In addition to the support agent, I encourage me to use the charging bricks coming with the phone (6A does not come with one), Google’s support experience was excellent.
Google’s warranty policy, at least in the UK, immediately to minimize the impact on the user. It is to replace the faulty phone. Then the defective device is repaired and fully renewed so that it can be used as an alternative to someone else who claims to be a warranty. This is an effective process that made me feel as a user. Google’s customer support is always friendly and (generally) asks questions and offers defects that are meaningful.
Zack Ki Danis / Android Authority
I had another concrete experience with Google Support in the past few weeks. Pixel 6A battery problems have spread widely, and my grandfather’s 6A has developed a swollen battery. In the UK, phones receive a two -year manufacturer warranty, but it was more than three years old, so Google had no responsibility to do anything. Still, I arrived to help, and in less than 12 hours, a renewed 6A with a new battery and the display reached my door. In addition to the support agent who encouraged the phone to use the charging bricks in the future (6A does not come with one), the support experience was perfect, and in less than half an hour, everything was sorted directly through chat.
Pixels have improved
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
Another thing to consider is that pixels have improved over the past few years. My cousin has been a pixel 6 pro, and he never disappointed him. A friend has 7A and loves it, and I know that in many people there are different models of the Pixel 9 series and they can’t be happy. All manufacturers’ phones will have problems at times, but with the experience of people around me, it seems that Google’s reliability has improved, and consumers do not face problems repeatedly as I did in my early pixel days.
Even with the impression of Android 16, I still prefer an UI. But this knowledge has been disrupted that if something goes wrong, Samsung’s customer support will be a great war.
Complete better reliability with fantastic, excellent customer support, and I have been wondering if I should go back using a pixel. I still like Samsung products. Since the beginning of it, I have achieved the S24 ultra, and it has never allowed me to be disappointed. Android 16’s material expression looks awesome re -design, but I still prefer a UI overall. However, it doesn’t matter how much I love an UI or phone, on which it runs, I always fear that if something goes wrong, it will be a great war with Samsung, and until the company changes it, it is time for me to move forward.
Thank you for being part of our community. Read our comment policy before posting.
