Samsung’s foldables impress at making durability fears irrelevant
Durability has been a longstanding concern for customers thinking about buying a foldable smartphone. It’s with good reason. This is a new form factor for customers and they’re not quite as confident in its durability as they are with conventional phones. Since foldable phones have also been on the higher end of the price spectrum, it’s understandable why customers may not be willing to part with their money too quickly.
Samsung has been working hard to dispel the notion that you can’t use foldable phones as your daily driver. It has made incredible improvements over the past few years to give customers the confidence that their foldable phones are capable of withstanding the test of time. This has included launching the world’s first water-resistant foldable phones, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Galaxy Z Fold 3.
Countless people are still rocking these devices that are almost two years old now without any trouble. The Galaxy Z Flip 3 has been my main device ever since it came out in 2021 and has been used quite rigorously ever since. I’m glad to see that the device has held up very well to the demanding nature of my use. Yes, the battery could be better, the cover screen bigger, and the cameras a bit more advanced, but that’s just nitpicking. Not to mention the fact that much of this was addressed last year with the Galaxy Z Flip 4.
Durability is what this opinion is about, not what Samsung’s most attainable foldable series does or doesn’t have. So far, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 has continued to impress me with how capable it is of holding up its own in different environments and with exposure to moisture in particular.
I used the Galaxy Z Flip 3 to capture photos, videos, and hyperlapse clips extensively on a recent visit to the Swiss Alps. On more than a few occasions, it either slipped out of my hand or dropped from whatever elevated platform it was perched on that it effectively became buried in snow until I fished it out.
Naturally, there was a moment of panic every single time that this happened, as I was sure the tiny snowflakes may end up releasing moisture inside the device once they melted. Indeed, my Galaxy Z Flip 3 went through considerable exposure to moisture because of this, but I’m glad to see that it handled that like a champ.
There were also multiple occasions on which I’ve used the device to capture videos while it was snowing quite heavily in temperatures of around -10°C. Not that there wasn’t any other device to do all of that was, I was genuinely curious about how the Galaxy Z Flip 3’s durability claims will play out in this extreme environment. Once again, I was left impressed even as the device was left for hours in damp and snow-covered clothes.
My device is almost 18 months old at this point. It has been dropped on more than one occasion and the hinge has been used thousands of times. Degradation of the mechanism and the water-resistant coating can be reasonably expected after such a long period of continuous use. It has evidently held up very well and I’m confident that the device will keep up its top-notch durability for quite some time.
We have come quite far from the original Galaxy Fold, which many felt was just a novelty and couldn’t hold up to the rigors of daily use. Our co-founder Danny Dorresteijn’s unit didn’t just survive, rather it held up very well during a holiday to Egypt. It’s great to see Samsung’s foldable phones going from strength to strength.
The only way to go is up from here. It’s inconceivable that future foldable phones from Samsung will be any less durable. Even as the company potentially introduces new foldable form factors that Samsung Display has shown concepts of, we can be sure that ensuring longevity and durability will remain a driving factor being the product decisions Samsung makes for foldables.
