Last week, several Galaxy owners took to the internet to complain about seeing a distracting green line going down their phone’s screen. It was unclear if Samsung would address this issue or ignore it. As it turns out, the tech giant is going to help people fix the problem, but it’s not making it easy.
Industry insider Tarun Vats on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) recently spoke to an “official Samsung support channel” on WhatsApp. And they told Vats that the company will replace the display as well as the battery even if the “warranty has expired” – so long as you meet certain requirements.
First off, Samsung will only repair certain models. They include most of the Galaxy S20 series (the S20 FE is excluded), most of the S21 line (minus the S21 FE), the Galaxy S22 Ultra, Note 20, and Note 20 Ultra”. Other models mentioned in the initial reports, like the Galaxy Z Flip 3, are not included in the support offer. Second, the smartphones must’ve been purchased within the last three years. Three, there cannot be any other physical or water damage to the device. And lastly, you must be living in India. Taurn Vats spoke to Samsung India’s customer support channel confirming it is the only branch offering the fix at the time of this writing. Also, users in the country have until April 30 to take advantage of the deal.
Repeated problem
While Samsung’s apparent offer to help is good news, it’s still disappointing that the program is so limited although it does make sense. India has run into the green line problem before. Back in July 2023, the exact same support channel offered to replace screens if people ran into green, pink, or purple lines. If you look through the recent complaints, many of them come from India. Of course, Galaxy owners in other global regions are experiencing the same issue. India, for whatever reason, seems to be a bit of a hotspot for the glitch.
No one knows exactly why this is happening. One theory claims it could be a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Forbes in their coverage points out how phones released in 2020 and 2021 from multiple manufacturers have seen the green line. You can find posts on Apple’s forums from iPhone users running into the problem to this day. Forbes states the green lines are likely the result of lower-quality screen materials brought upon by “manufacturing delays related to the pandemic.”
No word if Samsung plans to expand its repair program to other countries. It’s unknown how widespread the green line issue is and if it’s a big enough problem to warrant expansion. We reached out to the company for more information. We’ll update this story if we learn anything new.
In the meantime, check out TechRadar’s list of the best Samsung phones for 2024.