Mechanics die before display: Double-hinged smartphone in stress test
In a continuous test by Korean YouTubers, the hinge of the double-folding Samsung TriFold shows wear and tear earlier than promised by Samsung.
An example of the double-hinged Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold smartphone shows mechanical problems earlier than Samsung promises in a continuous test by a Korean YouTube channel. In livestreams, the YouTubers from OMG_Electronics fold the phone manually; they have only attached sensors to count the folding operations.
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During operation 61,212, the left hinge creaked, and at 120,157, the right one did. And since operation 144,984 on the eighth day of the livestream, the left hinge is showing wear: it no longer opens fully on its own, but only with some pressure, and it doesn't stay completely closed, but springs open slightly. The TriFold did not suffer a total loss as a result: the display itself functions perfectly; once the hinge is opened, it stays open, and fortunately, the defective left hinge holds the inner third of the display, so the force of the right hinge is sufficient to keep the smartphone closed. In fact, the livestream continues and counts over 168,000 closures without further incidents.
(Image:Â @OMG_electronics)
Samsung promises 200,000 closures, and the 145,000 from the tireless OMG_Electronic team are in a similar range, especially since the team is not particularly careful with the TriFold. In everyday use, additional danger comes from objects, for example, sand in hinges or pens that get pushed between the display thirds in a backpack. Furthermore, practicality is likely to suffer if the right hinge shows the same defect, as the TriFold will then no longer close completely and objects can easily slip in between.
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At 100 openings per day, the 145,000 operations correspond to about four years of use. Or, conversely, Samsung's promise of seven years of updates and 200,000 hinge movements corresponds to 78 closing operations daily.
Samsung introduced the TriFold at the beginning of December for South Korea; a date for Germany has not yet been set. When unfolded, it has a 10-inch display. It is the second double-folding smartphone, after the Huawei Mate XT, which is also not available in this country. (jow)
