Galaxy Fold Folding Durability Claim Put To The Test On Live Streaming

Before being slightly upstaged by the Microsoft Surface Duo, the Samsung Galaxy Fold was arguably the most discussed Android phone in recent days, even weeks. Its re-launch came with the promise of improved durability, which was practically begging to be tested. The scratch-prone surface of the screen has already been established so it is now the turn of the hinge to be tested until something breaks. Amusingly, that test is being live streamed for anyone who has the patience to watch.

Samsung boasts that the Galaxy Fold's hinge can last 200,000 folding and unfolding actions, which is probably going to last more than the lifetime of the phone itself. It is definitely a lot more than what an average user will do so, to truly test that hinge, an automated solution needs to be used.

That's where SquareTrade's new "FoldBot" comes in, folding and folding the Galaxy Fold in succession, though faster than a normal human would, while keeping count, of course. After just over 20,000 folds, a blob appeared on the screen and never recovered. The rest of the screen, however, remained perfectly fine. That was until it reached 120,000 folds.

No, neither the screen nor the hinge broke after that but, based on SquareTrade's math, the average user would have just opened the Galaxy Fold 120,000 times in three years. So SquareTrade moved on to dropping the phone which, unsurprisingly, killed it instantly. CNET, on the other hand, seems to be interested in testing it out to the full 200,000 and beyond, borrowing the FoldBot and streaming the test live for everyone's pleasure.

Are these tests conclusive? While they won't reflect real-world scenarios and accidents, they may at least inspire some confidence in that hinge. Just don't drop the Galaxy Fold or even scratch the screen or it will all be over for your $2,000 investment.