If you’ve ever woken up to find your otherwise pristine Galaxy phone now has a neon green stripe cutting through the screen, you’re not alone — and you might be in luck. Samsung is quietly expanding its free display repair program to cover the still-great Galaxy S23 lineup, adding 2023’s flagships to the list of devices eligible for no-cost OLED replacements (Source: SammyFans).
A free fix is the right answer
Especially for a mostly unavoidable problem
The “green line” problem isn’t new for Samsung. We’ve been covering this story since the Galaxy S20 era, when users started reporting vertical lines appearing out of nowhere, often right after installing a software update. While Samsung has never explicitly linked updates to the defect, OLED experts point out that temperature spikes during installation can exacerbate existing weaknesses in the display’s wiring, causing a single sub-pixel column to fail — permanently.
That’s an expensive failure. Out-of-warranty OLED replacements typically cost up to a quarter of the phone’s original price, and for years, customers had to swallow that cost. In 2023, Samsung followed OnePlus’s lead in offering free green-line fixes for older models like the S20, Note 20, and S21 families. S22 owners were added later. Now, S23 users have joined the club.
Terms and conditions may apply
Don’t get too excited
But here’s where the fine print comes in: the policy only applies in India. Samsung India has set the program’s cutoff date at September 30, 2025, and it covers the Galaxy S21 series, S21 FE, S22 series, and S23 series. That means if your phone is eligible and develops the green line, you can walk into an authorized service center and get a new display without paying a rupee — as long as there’s no evidence of physical or liquid damage.
For everyone else, this isn’t much more than another reminder that OLED screens, while gorgeous, can fail in frustrating ways. OnePlus, Oppo, and Vivo have all dealt with similar “green line” headaches, and several have run limited-time repair or trade-in programs in select markets.
If you are in India and own one of the covered Galaxy devices, it’s worth keeping the repair program’s expiration date in mind. That green line can appear suddenly, even on a phone that’s been babied since day one. And while Samsung’s free fix won’t help users outside India, it’s still the most comprehensive green-line replacement policy the company has offered yet — even if it comes with some decidedly regional boundaries.
