Home
News
You are here

Some Samsung Galaxy S III units are dying young

98comments

By Alan Friedman

Published: Dec 21, 2012, 2:15 AM

Add as a preferred source on Google

Some Samsung Galaxy S III units are dying young

Is this your Samsung Galaxy S III?

Something bad is happening to something good. A number of Samsung Galaxy S III handsets are crashing for no reason, and won't reboot. This horrible, horrible thing is happening about 150-200 days after activation and Samsung is doing the right thing by replacing them under the warranty, no questions asked. Even if your phone is rooted and you've installed non-standard firmware, the Korean based manufacturer will replace your phone.

One Samsung Galaxy S III owner whose phone passed away, speculates that the NAND is becoming corrupted which ends up with it failing. Samsung is said to be aware of the issue, but has yet to comment on it. While Sammy has played "mum," some working in the Samsung warranty call center have heard of the problem, saying that it has happened a lot lately.

"The XDA thread has 56 pages (so far) of people whose mainboards have suddenly died. The devices seem to last between 150 and 200 days before failing. Samsung are replacing them under warranty whether or not people have rooted the devices or installed non-standard firmware.

There's speculation that the NAND is becoming corrupted and failing. Worryingly, Samsung are replacing the mainboards with the same revision so this may just be putting the problem off for another 6 months or so.

It happened to my S3 last week and I've never rooted or installed anything other than the official 3UK Samsung firmware, first ICS then JB. Samsung haven't officially acknowledged that there's an issue, but both the guy I spoke to in the authorised repair centre and the chap in the Samsung warranty call centre have said they've seen this issue a lot lately.

Tl;Dr - S3 mainboards dying for no reason, Samsung replacing mainboards for free, but no new hardware revision so it might just happen again."-Post on Reddit

Have any of our loyal readers suffered through this experience with their Samsung Galaxy S III? One minute it is a working high-end smartphone powered by the latest technology obtained by Samsung, and the next minute it is a brick. Let us know how it happened and whether or not Samsung took care of you by sending out a replacement.

source: Reddit via AndroidAuthority

$20 /mo

$25

$5 off (20%)

Offer Ends 6.1.2026 at 11.59pm ET. New members get $5/mo off the $25/mg Visible plan, $35/mo Visible+ plan, or $45/mo Visible+ Pro plan for the first 12 months. Promo code FRESHSTART required at checkout.

Buy at Visible

View Full Bio

Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.

Read the latest from Alan Friedman

Some Samsung Galaxy S III units are dying young

Get Visible as low as $20/mo for 1 year. Limited time offer with code: FRESHSTART