Best Buy Cell Phone Protection Vs Samsung Premium Care
In this guide we'll tell you everything you need to know about the Samsung Premium Care warranty for your Galaxy S8, Galaxy S9, Galaxy S10 Plus, Galaxy Note 9 and more. Then, compare it to carrier insurance and alternatives like Squaretrade. If you're asking yourself, "Is Samsung Premium Care worth it?" or "should I get smartphone insurance?" the answer is yes.
If you're looking for damage or accident insurance for your Galaxy phone we've done the hard work for you. Below we'll briefly explain the benefits of Premium Care then compare it to the competition.
Every new Galaxy phone comes with one month of Premium Care for free. However, once that ends it automatically cancels unless you agree to pay $11.99 a month for protection. It's like insurance but has a whole lot more to offer. Originally, your phone has a standard limited 1-year warranty. Samsung Premium Care extends that to 2-years and gives you tons of additional benefits, not to mention peace of mind.
Premium Care comes with same-day screen repairs, hand-delivered replacements in some regions, not to mention a low deductible and at-home tech support visits. Basically covering any and all situations. In my opinion, Premium Care is totally worth it.
Samsung Premium Care vs Insurance Plans
When it comes to buying smartphone insurance or an extended warranty there are multiple things you'll want to consider. Some of those include how many replacement devices can you get per year, does the plan cover loss or theft, and remember to pay close attention to the deductible.
| Insurance Provider | Cost | Deductible | # of Replacements | Other Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Premium Care | $11.99 per month or $288/2 years | $99 | Up to 3 replacements per year | No coverage for loss or theft |
| Verizon (Asurion) | $11 per month or $264/2 years | $199 | Up to 2 replacements per year | Covers loss or theft |
| T-Mobile | $10 per month or more | $275 | Up to 2 replacements per year | Covers loss or theft |
| AT&T (Asurion or CNA) | $9-11 per month or $216/2 years | $225 | Up to 2 replacements per year | Covers loss or theft |
| Sprint | $17 per month or $408/2 years | $250 | Up to 2 replacements per year | Covers loss or theft, plus 25GB backup service |
| SquareTrade | $129 for 2 years | $99 | Only 1 replacement per year | No coverage for loss or theft |
| Geek Squad | $11 per month or $264/2 years | $150 | Only 1 replacement per year | Covers loss or theft (and transferable) |
As you can see above Samsung's Premium Care is one of the most affordable. While almost every insurance plan costs nearly the same each month, the deductible can vary substantially. That's how much you have to spend (out of pocket) to actually get a replacement. It's worth noting that whole-family plans can get a discount from carriers here in 2020, like Verizon's total plan for $50.
If you shatter the screen on your Galaxy Note 10 and have Premium Care you'll spend $12 that month to have insurance, and then only $99 to get your phone replaced in less than one day. That's $111 to get your phone back up and running in just a few hours.
Keep in mind that not every city has same-day repairs. And if they don't, Samsung will overnight deliver your replacement. So you only have to deal with a cracked screen or no phone for about a day, at the most.
However, that same screen replacement has a $275 deductible at carriers like T-Mobile and around $200 with AT&T or Sprint. Plus, with carriers, you mail your phone away and wait for a replacement, which no one wants to do. Our phones are an invaluable tool we don't want to go without for 3-4 days, if not longer. I once waited 13 days for my Verizon replacement and thought my world was ending — not having a phone.
That said, carriers do offer replacements for loss or theft. So if you break your phone Samsung's Premium Care is affordable, but if you lose it, insurance is a better option.
Read: The Best Galaxy Note 10 Cases
Additionally, it's worth mentioning that SquareTrade is a pretty good option too. It's cheap, has an affordable $99 out of pocket price, although they only allow one replacement per year. If you have a lot of accidents, we recommend Samsung Premium Care.
Premium Care Quick Review
I recently shattered my Galaxy S9+ on a Monday morning while running at the park. It fell out of my pocket at full speed, somehow, and was toast. Sadness. Luckily, I have Samsung Premium Care, and the company quickly took care of the problem and I got a new phone delivered by Tuesday afternoon. Seriously, the turnaround was just one day because I called early enough for it to ship on Monday.
You can use the Samsung+ app on your phone to file a claim, go to premiumcareclaims.com or call 1-866-371-9501 any day of the week to get started. They're open from 9AM to 9PM EST. Make sure you call before 2PM EST if you want same-day shipping, otherwise it'll go out next business day.
Samsung quickly took my information, approved the claim, and shipped an identical replacement device within 55 minutes of the accident. It was still usable, surprisingly, so I just used my phone lightly that night until the new one arrived the very next morning. I paid $99, went to sleep, and I was back up and running in no time. The phone literally looks brand new.
You can use Samsung SmartSwitch to instantly transfer everything from the broken phone to a new one. Fast, easy and painless. Plus, Samsung provides a return label and package for you to easily send your damaged phone back to them. Honestly, this was the easiest replacement I've ever dealt with, and made me thankful I signed up for Premium Care. I don't have a single complaint.
Additionally, Samsung now supports UBreakiFix, which has retail stores all over the United States. Depending on the situation you can take your Samsung Premium Care-covered phone to a UbreakiFix store and potentially get small repairs done the same day, instead of an entirely new phone. This avoids the hassle of transferring all your data.
Other Details
In closing, keep in mind that most carriers actually offer a few different tier levels for protection. So while you can get a cheaper plan from Sprint or Verizon, it's not as useful. Or, you can get insurance from Best Buy's Geek Squad for only 7.99 a month without loss or theft coverage, or $11 a month with it.
And while you can find great options like Verizon Total Mobile Protection, that's not an option for everyone. Plus, it'll no longer be water-resistant, and I worry about those cheap $29 replacement screens being the same quality as a Samsung repair.
Basically, at the end of the day, you'll just want to pay attention to the little details, the fine print, and know exactly what you want or need.
If you're not worried about loss or theft, go with Samsung Premium Care or Geek Squad. If you're looking to get insurance from a carrier Verizon has the best price out of the major four, especially now that they offer $29 screen replacements or coverage for the entire family.
In closing, I have and use Samsung Premium Care. They'll hand-deliver a replacement phone depending on where you live, backup your damaged phone, and restore everything to the new one. Premium Care saved the day for me in 2018, and once more in 2019, and I'll gladly continue to pay the $11.99 a month for the peace of mind.
Best Buy Cell Phone Protection Vs Samsung Premium Care
Source: https://www.gottabemobile.com/samsung-premium-care-warranty-vs-insurance/