Samsung's recently announced Galaxy Z Flip foldable clamshell smartphone is undeniably great. It has a beautiful 6.7-inch foldable Samsung AMOLED display with a tiny hole punch housing the 10MP selfie camera, dual primary cameras at the rear and capable internals including a Snapdragon 855+ SoC and 8 gigs of RAM.
Perhaps the only thing that wasn't too likeable was the tiny secondary screen next to the main cameras which is, nevertheless, practical and it won't be wrong if we call it "the world's smallest viewfinder." The design is quite premium and the phone looks great since it has a glass back and an "Ultra Thin Glass" layer on the folding display, or does it?
Galaxy Z Flip durability test
The Galaxy Z Flip was rumoured to be the first folding smartphone in the world to come with Samsung's new 'Ultra Thin Glass' display which really sounded like a real breakthrough and everybody started believing Samsung's claim ever since the phone got announced last week. Well, that was until YouTube durability specialist Zack Nelson from JerryRigEverything conducted a durability test on the new foldable flip phone from Samsung.
Samsung claimed that the Galaxy Z Flip used glass instead of plastic on the screen. Until now, every foldable smartphone, including Samsung's own Galaxy Fold and Motorola's Razr have used plastic display which allows for superior bendability but can be easily scratched with even a fingernail. The Galaxy Z Flip's claim that it had glass which is more resistant to scratches had us hoping that that the phone would hold up better in long-term usage.
Is Samsung deceiving customers?
But when Zack started his "scratch test" where he used a Moh's pick to test the scratch resistance of the phone on a scale of 1 to 10, the Galaxy Z Flip's purported thin glass starts scratching at a level 2 with deeper grooves at a level 3, which is the common scratch resistance of plastic displays. Glass on the other hand starts scratching at level 5 or 6 onwards. The video isn't confidence inspiring at all, and the YouTuber can be seen mocking Samsung's claim saying that it cannot claim whatever it has used as glass as customers will have the perception of glass which is somewhat deceiving.
The YouTuber was able to induce marks using his fingernails and also poke the Moh's pick into the display and damage the pixels which led the screen to develop lines of dead pixels.
Hybrid Plastic Polymer with bits of glass
Zack says that Samsung shouldn't have marketed whatever they've used on the screen as "glass" and suggests that it could be a plastic polymer mixed with glass fragments but it simply shouldn't be called glass. He says that it's almost like mixing mud with chocolate chips and calling it chocolate chip cookies.
Samsung could have, like Zack suggested, used a "hybrid plastic polymer" mixed with microscopic bits of glass in its trademarked Ultra Thin Glass used on the Galaxy Z Flip, but calling it Glass is just an overkill.
Apple's Sapphire glass claim
To recall, Apple had claimed that it used Sapphire glass on the glass covering the camera lens of its iPhones, but it was found to scratch at a level 6 with deeper grooves at level 7 just like conventional glass, whereas Sapphire should not scratch until a level 7 or 8. But Apple did mention that it was a mix and not pure sapphire. Perhaps, Samsung should have mentioned that its Ultra Thin Glass was not purely glass but a hybrid plastic with glass fragments.
Nevertheless, the Galaxy Z Flip is still a very amazing phone for those who want to make a statement and the fact that it is still about $100 cheaper than the Motorola RAZR and a full $600 cheaper than Samsung Galaxy Fold at $1,380 makes it an even better deal for those who are looking to own a piece of future technology now.
