Getting an iPhone or Galaxy fixed isn’t hard, but what if you have some other phone: can repairers fix other phones, too?
If you see a broken iPhone, you probably know just how easy it is for its owner to get that mobile repaired if they wanted, and the same is true for other popular phones. While fixing a broken phone screen or repairing another phone failure is pretty easy for many people, and something you should do given how sharp broken glass can be, not everyone has that luck.
Phone repair places aren’t exactly low in number in the world, but the number of phones they’re equipped to fix quickly might not be quite the same. The reality is most are set up to handle the popular phones of the world, and there’s a good chance you know what those are before even reading this article.
Apple’s iPhone likely hits that top spot, and thanks to the similarity of parts through the various iPhone generations, makes it easier for phone repairers to have the parts needed to fix a phone when it comes in, but it’s not just iPhones out in the world.
There are also phones by Samsung, Oppo, Google, LG, Huawei, Realme, Alcatel, TCL, Nokia, Motorola, Vivo, and a few other mainstays that people might have in their possession, such as Sony, HTC, and heaven forbid a BlackBerry. So what happens when they need one of these replaced?
“The majority of phone repair stores will naturally focus on repairing the most popular brands of smartphone and tablets,” said Sam Walker, CEO of Fix2U. He told Pickr that in Australia, that basically covered Apple and Samsung, which made up roughly 80 percent of the local smartphone market, and that repair stores would not only have those parts on hand, but would be competitive, too.
“Most repair stores will be open to repairing less popular phone models, such as LG or Alcatel. They’re more than likely to have the knowledge and experience to complete the repair work, however the problem comes with the availability of repair parts, as they are unlikely to be holding the necessary parts on hand to do your repair,” he said.
“As a result, the turnaround time for the repair is going to be a couple of days rather than a couple of hours, as they’ll need to order in the repair parts especially – and this is assuming their suppliers are in turn holding ready stocks for that model.”
How do you know if a repairer will fix your phone?
It may sound obvious, but if you’re not sure whether a repairer will touch your phone, consider asking. Call up, email, or if you’re nearby, drop in and ask the repairer whether they have the parts needed to fix your phone, and how long it will take.
While repairers will likely keep stock of the popular phones, the parts for a phone that is less popular aren’t actually interchangeable with the parts for a popular phone.
Your phone has a screen, and glass and a battery and other pieces that may seem similar to another phone, but it’s not like Lego, and you can’t just make one part work on another phone, so check with the repairer first.
There’s also the matter of cost, because that, too, may end up being different.
“You may also end up paying a slightly higher price for the repair, due to the extra effort the repairer has to put in to do a special order for the repair parts, and the fact that there is less competitive pressure on pricing for repairing the less popular models,” said Walker.
That means that a phone that isn’t as popular might end up costing a little more to repair, which might mean you’re a little more careful overall with your current phone, throwing it into a case and giving it a screen protector to help ensure you don’t get to that point of paying more for a repair job later on.
