Durability has always been a key concern when it comes to foldables, so Samsung uses a fleet of robots to ensure that everything works as expected – it did it last year and again this year for the new Galaxy Z Flip5 and Z Fold5.
Next up, the water resistance trials – Samsung tests both IPX8 (submersion up to 1.5m/5ft for 30 minutes) and IPX4 (using nozzles to spray the phones with water). There’s a temperature and moisture test, then it’s back to surviving impacts in a drop test.
To wrap things up there are two display tests. The first is exclusive to the Galaxy Z Fold5 as it involves drawing with the S Pen. The last one is done to both – a steel ball is used to whack the display repeatedly to make sure it survives even outside of the protection of the clamshell design.
It starts with the open and close test, putting the phones through 200,000 cycles (as verified by Bureau Veritas). Then comes the tumble test – the new Flex Hinge design includes a dual rail structure, which helps dissipate the force of an impact.
Don’t miss our hands-on review with the Z Flip5 and Z Fold5 (the Tab S9 slates and the new Galaxy Watches too). For the foldables, we also have a hands-on video.