In summary
- Flip 7 survives bend test
- Also subjected to dust and scratch tests
- Inner display as soft as ever
Samsung’s new compact foldable flagship phone, the Galaxy Z Flip 7, has been put through a famous torture test – and acquitted itself relatively well.
YouTuber JerryRigEverything has built its name running the latest smartphones through a gauntlet of deliberate scratch, bend, and impact tests. Following the Galaxy Z Fold 7, it’s the turn of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 to be systematically dismantled.
The biggest takeaway here is that the Flip 7’s restructured Armour FlexHinge lives up to the billing, surviving three concerted attempts to bend it the ‘wrong’ way with only a somewhat disconcerting ‘pop’ or two to show for it.
Of course, both the thinner Fold 7 and the thicker (but technically inferior) Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 also survived this bend test, so it’s not a massive surprise.
The positive result tallies with our own experience of the phone. In his review of the Flip 7, Anyron wrote: “I also really appreciate how robust the aluminium hinge feels.
“I haven’t exactly been careful when opening and closing it, aiming to simulate the effect longer-term usage, but it didn’t show any signs of weakness whatsoever”.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 sand and scratch tests
Elsewhere, the Flip 7 was a little more relenting, though still fairly tough. We noted in our review that the Flip 7 remained vulnerable to small particles with its IP48 rating, and the video puts this to the test.
Coating the back of the phone in sand and operating the hinge produces some horrible grinding sounds, but the Flip 7 seems to remain functional.
The vulnerable cover display stands up to the same basic level of scratching as the main displays of most modern non-foldable flagship phones, which is what we want to see.
By far the weakest component here continues to be that squishy internal display, picking up scratches with minimal encouragement from the tester’s fingernail. It’s an established issue with all foldables at this point, but it’s still worth pointing out.