If you have doubts about the newly announced Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 or Galaxy Z Flip 5's durability, then Samsung hopes to squash them with a new video showing off how it tests the toughness of its new foldables.
In the video, uploaded to Samsung's Korean-language YouTube page, we see Samsung's industrial-scale testing rigs, which are quite impressive in their own right. But it will really be up to independent third-party testing to determine how touch these foldables are.
The video's short, but it's filled with a lot of different tests. We see both phones getting opened and closed over and over, with the small print claiming that the two foldables are rated to 200,000 folds.
We also witness Samsung put its two new phones through a tumble test to simulate continuous small drops, as well as full drop tests and steel ball drop tests on the display to see how the phones withstand impact from other objects. However, we don't see what the damage is (or not) from any of these tests up close.
It's not clear what's happening in the environmental chamber test, but we'd assume Samsung's testing how the phones cope with extreme heat and cold. So it's another clip that merely says "we did this."
We also see two sorts of water resistance tests. The Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5's IPX8 rating means they can withstand immersion in up to 1.5 meters of fresh water for up to half an hour. We also see the IPX4 test in this video, which uses jets of water to try and penetrate the phones.
The Galaxy Z Fold 5 also gets a unique S Pen test, since it's compatible with Samsung's styluses while the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is not. This test seems designed to show how accurately an S Pen can draw straight line after straight line on the Z Fold 5's inner display, testing both the strength of the Z Fold's main panel and of the rubberized tip of the S Pen Fold Edition. This isn't really a durability test though.
Samsung has been making foldables for several years already, so we know that the Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip lines are generally reliable as foldable phones go. But foldables are still more vulnerable to damage than a typical smartphone because of their moving parts and softer inner displays. Hopefully the new Flex hinge on these phones — which have less moving parts — will make these devices even more durable this time around.
There are some good reasons to consider investing in the Galaxy Z Fold 5 or Galaxy Z Flip 5. In our hands-on tests, we like the improved, tighter closing hinge and lighter designs of both phones, plus the new larger outer screen on the new Galaxy Z Flip 5 and the greater multitasking potential of the new Samsung Z Fold 5. However, our final verdicts are not yet here, and with competition from the likes of the Motorola Razr+ and the Google Pixel Fold, the Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 have their work cut out.
As for this durability demonstration, it provides some peace of mind but the true test will come from JerryRigEverything on YouTube. We're waiting.
