Samsung‘s latest clamshell foldable, the Galaxy Z Flip 5, has turned out to be a lot tougher than expected. A YouTuber subjected the device to a week-long, rigorous durability test and it came out with flying colors. The new Flip survived more than 400,000 folds, double the company’s official rating of 200,000 folds. This is despite it being submerged under the water, heated to over 160°F/70°C, and put in a bag of dust.
This marathon run began on August 2, with the YouTube channel Mrkeybrd pitting the Galaxy Z Flip 5 against the Motorola Razr Plus (known as the Razr 40 Ultra in some markets) in a durability face-off of clamshell foldables. The test was carried out by hand to factor in the varying speed and force humans apply while folding and unfolding the devices in real life. Automated machine tests don’t reflect the kinds of stress people give to their phones.
Unfortunately, the Razr was no competition to the new Galaxy. The Motorola foldable experienced its first hinge failure around 40,000 folds. By around 64,000 folds, its hinge started creaking. It eventually gave out shortly after crossing 126,000 folds. The Razr Plus’ screen broke at that point, and it was officially out of the race. That was shortly after both foldables were put in a bag of dust (at around 100,000 folds).
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 crossed Samsung’s fold rating without any issue
The Galaxy Z Flip 5, on the other hand, continued to go strong without any hinge or display issues. The YouTuber folded and unfolded it underwater after crossing the 200,000 fold mark. The phone remained submerged in water for half an hour, with the tester folding/infolding it almost 700 times during this period. The foldable developed minor hinge issues after that, though the first notable problem didn’t surface until around 223,000 folds.
Even then, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 was still working fine. At 276,000 folds, the YouTuber started folding the phone inside a food heater. The temperature inside the chamber rose over 160°F/70°C, yet the foldable suffered no damage. Neither the hinge nor the display failed catastrophically. The device was limping, but it continued to work for almost 130,000 more folds. Even at 400,000 folds, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 was going fairly strong.
But at this point, the YouTuber decided to cover the phone entirely in flour, eggs, cornmeal, and sugar. That proved to be a little too much and the Galaxy Z Flip 5 gave out shortly. By the time the YouTuber officially called an end to the test, the new Samsung foldable had been folded and unfolded a whopping 401,146 times. Quite clearly, it’s a tough foldable that can survive the everyday stresses and strains of the real world.
2023-08-10 15:08:10