Foldable smartphones encounter a certain craze on the market. However, we can think at first they are more fragile than a classic device. A YouTubeur did the test for us and here is his verdict.
Samsung may promise increased resistance to its new Galaxy Z Fold7, some have not resisted the urge to test it. The Korean content creator tech·itembarked on an extraordinary challenge: to fold and manually unfold the phone 200,000 times … You read that right. All broadcast live on Youtube, between August 1 and 5, 2025. Result? A technical marathon, some incidents along the way, and a smartphone that has held out, despite everything.
Samsung announces 500,000 folds… and he wants to check
Officially, Samsung ensures that the folding screen of the Galaxy Z Fold7 can support up to 500,000 folds, against 200,000 for the previous generation. At the rate of a hundred folding per day, this would represent more than ten years of use – in other words, that, according to the brand, the device would make the soul for software reasons before the hinge yields.
Except that tech·it preferred to check it for itself, without machine, and under human conditions. For several days, he therefore chained and repeated the openings and closures, until reaching the symbolic bar of the 200,000 folds. An extreme test, which in no way corresponds to normal use, but which makes it possible to observe the real sustainability of the mechanism.
What happened during these 200,000 folds?
If the Galaxy Z Fold7 remained functional at the end of the test, several incidents have punctuated this challenge:
- Between 6,000 and 10,000 folds : a forced restart of the phone, which was then repeated about every 10,000 folding.
- At 46,000 folds : appearance of persistent squeaks at the hinge.
- At 75,000 folds : punctual flow of an unidentified black liquid from the hinge (phenomenon which will not happen later).
- At 175,000 folds : breakdown of the speakers.
Despite this, the screen has indeed remained intact and fully functional. The hinge has become more flexible: the “free maintenance” mode still works even if it has lost its initial elasticity.
A spectacular but not representative test
This type of test, although impressive, is not representative of the real use of a foldable smartphone. Chaining thousands of folds over a short period requests the hinge in a much more aggressive manner than in the scale of several years with conventional use.
On the other hand, this challenge has the merit of partially reassuring users: even subject to intensive treatment, the device remains usable. That said, the incidents noted suggest that the figure of 500,000 folds advanced by Samsung could be a little optimistic, especially in real conditions where dust, humidity and micro-shocks are added to the equation.
Source : Tekit | Tech · IT
