Motorola and Samsung both have foldable phones. The former has the new Razr and the latter has the Galaxy Z Flip. And they share one thing in common. They both suck when it comes to durability. Which is unsurprising as the Samsung Galaxy Fold failed in epic fashion when it came to durability.
Let’s start with the Galaxy Z Flip teardown which was published by iFixit today. In this teardown, iFixit among other things, tests the dust resistance of the phone. Something that Samsung said when they announce the phone was a non-issue because “nylon fibers crafted by micro-height-cutting technology to repel dirt and dust” were used in the phone. But when iFixit tested that, they found the following:
The “sweeper technology” brushes performed hilariously poorly in our dust test. Though the test wasn’t exactly demonstrative of real-world use, the amount of dust trapped in the brushes (very little) wasn’t exactly confidence-inspiring.
On top of that, the screen unsurprisingly did not perform all that well either being easy to scratch. In short, this was their conclusion:
Unless you’re an Instagram influencer living in a pristine apartment who needs the newest hotness, this phone is probably not for you. It’s more of a novelty luxury item. And maybe that’s okay? All new technology has to start somewhere—let’s hope this one either matures quickly or perishes swiftly.
Ouch.
Now onto the Motorola Razr. Back in the day you were living like a boss if you had the original version of this phone. And clearly Motorola is trying to channel that with the new version of this phone. iFixit did a teardown on one. And here’s what they said:
Motorola’s nostalgia-stoking Razr officially wins the award for most complicated phone-based contraption we’ve ever taken apart. We’re impressed with the numerous feats of engineering that Moto pulled off to resurrect their iconic clamshell.
It won’t win any awards for serviceability, but just bringing this impossible gizmo into existence was such a tall order that we’re not surprised serviceability didn’t make it into v1.0. It’s fun to see how they made it happen (if not so fun to tease it all apart).
So it did better than the Galaxy Z Flip. That was until Jerry Rig Everything got his hands on it and….. See for yourself.
The fact is that these are version 1.0 products. Meaning that you should not go near them. If you must have a foldable phone to impress your friends, save your money and wait for them to mature and become more durable so that you can actually use them like you would use a non foldable phone. Assuming that they do mature and become more durable because I believe that this is a fad that will pass. Which is why I am not jumping on this bandwagon.