Erencan YılmazSamsung’s latest foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Fold 7, has performed incredibly well in a recent durability test. It survived the rigorous tests conducted by the famous YouTube tech reviewer JerryRigEverything. The excellent outcome indicates Samsung’s progress in the development of foldable devices, particularly withstanding extreme conditions.
Despite being very light and thin, which led many, including the reviewer, to believe that it would fail the rigorous bend test, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 proved them wrong. This unexpected resilience under intense physical stress marks a significant milestone for foldable technology. It demonstrates Samsung’s commitment to developing resilient and innovative foldable designs capable of withstanding everyday use.
Unyielding Resilience: The Bend Test Triumph
In the in-depth video, renowned tech reviewer Zack Nelson put the Galaxy Z Fold 7 through some rigorous pressure tests, including his signature “bend test”. Previously, no other Galaxy Fold device has ever completely snapped during this test. However, since the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is extremely thin and light, everyone anticipated a different outcome this time around. Nevertheless, the outcome was extremely surprising:
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 was subjected to intense bending pressure, but it did not break. Its primary display also neither cracked nor creased. The meticulously re-engineered hinge functioned flawlessly and remained undamaged. Following the rigorous tests, the phone operated absolutely normally. Nelson, visibly astonished in the video, commented, “This is true black magic.”
Samsung previously qualified the Galaxy Z Fold 7 to survive as many as 500,000 folds. That durability rating theoretically equates to about a decade of non-stop usage if one opens and closes the phone 150 times a day. Outside of its remarkable bend resistance, the phone also fared well in dust resistance testing. Although it only has an IP48 protection rating (i.e., it is not fully dustproof), its screen and hinge mechanism still worked normally and were unfazed even after being subjected to a considerable amount of dust and debris.
The Achilles Heel: Inner Display Vulnerability to Scratches
Although the device bending and dust tests went very well, the review also found a serious issue: its inner display scratches easily. During scratch tests, the outer display, covered by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, exhibited good strength, with deeper scratches appearing only at a 7 hardness level. On the other hand, the flexible material of the inner screen had apparent scratches at a relatively low hardness level of 2.
This means that even slight pressure from a fingernail or a touch by a pen can be enough to damage the delicate inner screen. Understanding this inherent weakness, Samsung provides a free first-year replacement program for the inner screen protector for this model, giving users a valuable layer of protection against normal wear and tear. This offering underscores the equilibrium between breakthrough flexible display technology and the everyday practical requirement for greater protection in real-world use cases.
Source: JerryRigEverything
