Samsung Galazy Z Flip: More Fragile than Porcelain Cup

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Durability Test – Fake Folding Glass?! [Video]

Video uploaded by JerryRigEverything on February 16, 2020

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip: More Fragile than Porcelain Cup

What are the critical disadvantages of modern smartphones? They are fragile and too large to fit in a pocket. Samsung tried to address the second problem while overlooking the first one. Their new folding phone Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is a curse for butterfingers.

The hardware part is fine. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip features octa-core Qualcomm SM8150 Snapdragon 855+ (7 nm) and Adreno 640 (700 MHz). Of these eight Snapdragon Kryo cores only one features the frequency of 2.95 GHz. Three cores have 2.41 GHz and the other four ones just 1.78 GHz. 256 GB of internal storage, 8 GB of RAM and dual front and back cameras with only HDR and panorama for extra options would have landed the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip somewhere among mid-level models but for the form-factor. Once again the phone body design becomes critical for success. The touch interface killed the sliding and folding phones we enjoyed back in the 2000s, and to tell the truth, I missed them. Not enough to pay $1539 for a cellular that can’t stand a scratch, though.

Yes, JerryRigEverything put his hands on a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and found out that even a finger nail can leave a dent in the screen. The specifications say, the phone display is covered with Gorilla Glass 6, so how can that happen? Samsung engineers had a primary goal – to make a flexible phone, remember? One of the ways to make the glass flexible is to make it as thin as possible! Naturally, the thin glass bends well but it also can be punctured and scratched very easily and the plastic film added for better protection won’t save the day. So, if you drop your new Galaxy Z Flip open, you’ll have to shell out $499 for flex display screen replacement. However, you can save about three hundred bucks if you buy the phone before December 31, 2020. Then the screen replacement price will drop to $119.

JerryRigEverything put his hands on a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and found out that even a finger nail can leave a dent in the screen.

Screen and glass back panel replacements are the only repair options you have. Apart from the display, the phone has another serious drawback – the hinge. The hinge is touted as the state-of-the-art folding mechanism to survive thousands of fold-open cycles. Minuscule fibers are said to brush the hinge every time a user opens the smartphone and in the ad they really look great. But… there’s always a “but”. The guys from iFixIt did a simple shake’n’ bake test with purple powder. The next time they opened the Galaxy Z Flip with some clacks and the hinge worked very poorly. As the teardown revealed, the said hinge was caked with dust! It’s a fiasco, Samsung! Of course, in real life it will take more than a minute to cripple the mechanism with the dust, but it’s doomed to happen sooner or later. Just think about all these lints and crumbs in your pocket or clutch bag! My previous flip phone back in the 2000 lived for five years, Galaxy Z Flip may not survive six months.

On the other hand, it doesn’t have to. The year 2021 will certainly see the next generation of folding smartphones from the Korean maker, and other companies will join the game. Probably, in three years the flip touch smartphones will be robust and cheap enough for purchase. For now, though, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is a shiny toy for Instagram influencers and geeks.