Galaxy A80 Flipping Camera Is Built For Abuse

These days, smartphones compete on two major aspects. One is the number and quality cameras on their backs and the other is the lack of bezels on the front. Samsung presented a rather unique and at the same time odd proposal to solve both of those in the Galaxy A80 that combines popup cameras and rotating cameras in an unusual way. Novelty, however, sometimes comes at the cost of stability and especially durability, which is something for JerryRigEverything to put to the test.

The Samsung Galaxy A80 combines old and new designs to solve some of the problems caused by reducing bezels around screens. On the one hand, it uses the more recent popup camera mechanism to hide the front camera behind the screen. On the other hand, it also uses an older rotating camera to use the same high-quality cameras on the back for taking selfies.

There is reason to worry about the durability of this construction. The OPPO Find X had a similar mechanism, sans the flipping camera, that pushed the whole top of the phone to reveal the camera. That phone ended in a grisly death in the hands of the YouTuber due to the structural weakness introduced by the popup mechanism.

The good news is that the Galaxy A80 didn't suffer the same fate. In all scratch, burn, and bend tests, the smartphone survived nearly unscathed. The glass back did seem to detach a bit but didn't break or completely fall off. Additionally, the camera mechanism itself is pretty durable, no matter how much force is applied.

In other words, the Galaxy A80 is a very interesting smartphone that won't easily break. Given its price point, the mid-range phone is a rather tempting option for those who may not care that much about high-end and expensive flagships. Along with the likes of the newly announced Galaxy A50s, Samsung's Galaxy A series is poised to give not only competitors a run for their money but could even pose problems for the Galaxy S line.