Lawsuit claims Samsung used faulty rear camera glass on Galaxy S20 series

Damien Wilde | Apr 30 2021 - 2:32 am PT

Samsung is in the firing line yet again as a new lawsuit claims the tech giant used faulty or poor-quality glass coverings for the rear camera setup on Galaxy S20 series devices.

Now it’s worth noting that this problem is fairly rare, but that hasn’t stopped law firm Hagens Berman (via XDA) from taking the case and accusing Samsung of “fraud, breach of warranty and violations of several consumer-protection laws.”

Some owners have experienced issues with the glass covering rear camera module. It appears to just shatter or crack spontaneously without drop force or any other pressure applied. Reports were circulating on places such as the Samsung Community forums and on social media shortly after launch of the defect, but it has escalated and been amplified to this recent camera glass lawsuit.

“Samsung sold its Galaxy S20 as a high-end option for consumers, with a ‘professional’ grade camera, charging upwards of $1,600 per device, only to have them suddenly lose a major aspect of their functionality,” said Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman and attorney for consumers in the class action.

If your camera is affected, it essentially leaves your camera useless and will render any IP-rating null and void. Hagens Berman’s lawsuit suggests that there have been “hundreds of online reports” of “spontaneous shattered, cracked and broken rear camera glass” on Samsung Galaxy S20 devices. It’s hard to fully determine how widespread the issues is, but Samsung has acknowledged the issues, even admitting that consumers “were not at fault.”

A substantial number of devices are said to be affected including the Galaxy S20/S20+/S20 Ultra 5G, Galaxy S20+ 5G/S20 5G, S20 Ultra/LTE, S20 FE, and S20 FE 5G. If you are based in the US and have issues with your device and the rear camera glass, then you can join this lawsuit filed against Samsung by filling out a form on Hagens Berman’s website.