Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 Survives Bend Test Despite Its Thinner Design

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 appears to have fared well during a durability test conducted by a YouTube content creator. The foldable phone's new sleek design and thinner hinges survived bend, sand, and scratch tests. This is significant because the new Samsung handset boasts a thickness of mere 4.2mm when unfolded. On top of this, the South Korean tech giant has used thinner hinges, which have also fared well during the bend and sand tests. Weeks after its launch, Samsung Display also recently announced that the phone can survive over 5 lakh folds.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 Durability Test

YouTube content creator, Zack Nelson (@JerryRigEverything), in his latest video, performed a series of durability tests on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. These tests included burning the AMOLED displays of the new phone, putting loose sand on its inner display and hinges, and bending the phone. He started the video by acknowledging that during his tests, a Galaxy Z Fold series phone had never snapped in half, but since the latest handset in the series is thinner, the case could be different. But to his surprise, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 also successfully passed all but one test.

The highlight, however, was the bend test. Despite having a thinner design than its predecessors, the Galaxy Z Fold 7, when folded, flexed a little but remained functional during the video. Similarly, when unfolded, the handset bent backwards significantly, but the thinner hinges and foldable display of the phone did not break under stress. For context, the latest Samsung foldable phone sports an 8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity Flex Display on the inside with QXGA+ (1,968 x 2,184 pixels) resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 368ppi pixel density, and up to 2,600 nits of peak brightness.

During the sand test, the content creator put a fistful of loose sand on the inner display and hinges of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. Although the display was functional, it did take some scratches, thanks to the soft, flexible display Samsung has been using in its foldable devices. Recently, Samsung Display said that the outermost Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) of the phone's inner display is now 50 percent thicker. Also, the thinner hinges of the handset did make crunching sounds when sand was poured on it, which later stopped.

Coming to the scratch test. The cover display of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 started showing scratch marks at Moh's hardness scale level 6, with deeper scratches at level 7. For context, the handset comes with a 6.5-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with full-HD+ (1,080x2,520 pixels) resolution, 422ppi pixel density, and 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. This indicates that the Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 might protect the phone's screen against scratches from keys and coins, but it might not prevent scratches from knives or steel nails. The inner display, however, showed deep, permanent marks even from a fingernail.