To really test the durability of the hinge of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3, Polish YouTuber, Mrkeybrd, volunteered for a more realistic test of the device. Aptly named, “The Great Folding Test,” Mrkeybrd reached more than 418,500 folds before the phone wouldn’t flip open or closed anymore.
That number is more than double the 200,000 folds that Samsung promised for its Galaxy Z Flip 3, which Mrkeybrd easily surpassed in his human folding test. In the test, the YouTuber also confirmed that the foldable’s touchscreen, speakers, and camera still worked after hitting 418,500 folds.
A more realistic fold test —
There’s a reasonable explanation as to why Mrkeybrd sacrificed his time for this man versus machine challenge. He said that Samsung’s 200,000 flips estimate was reached through laboratory testing, whereas actual people open and close their foldables much differently. That line of thinking eventually led to providing us with hours upon hours of people folding the Galaxy Z Flip 3.
I tuned in for a few minutes here and there throughout this magnificent achievement of human persistence, but I have to admit I couldn’t sit through the entire thing. Mykeybrd was joined by a team of people helping where someone would open and close the Galaxy Z Flip 3 for two hours and then switch out, only for someone else to start their folding shift. The experiment even included dust and water tests to check the foldable’s IPX8 rating.
As noted earlier, the experiment easily surpassed the 200,000 mark with some light fanfare, but the foldable did start to struggle around 352,100 folds. Still, that milestone is much further than what Samsung estimated in their lab conditions.
For the greater good —
For some of us, Mrkeybrd’s experiment is nothing more than a quirky idea turned into entertainment, but for Samsung users and foldable enthusiasts, the test does show the more realistic durability of Samsung’s hinge design.
All that said, I have to give props to this challenge for sheer determination. I do respect Mykeybrd’s decision to actually test the numbers that often feel like companies just spew out. It just so happens that in this case, Samsung’s foldable came out looking even stronger than the company claimed.
