this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2025
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I switched from OP 9 Pro to a Z Fold 6 to get the best of both worlds - a small, TV remote-like phone by default and a square-ish tablet for media and multitasking. Couldn't be happier.
At the same time, I do understand people who thought the width of Samsung's Folds is too small - my first consideration was OnePlus Open anyway, but upon actually holding it in store, I realized that Z Fold 6 is just more comfortable for me to hold closed.
I work for a company that repairs these. The Flip and Fold phones have been riddled with issues since day one.
They're literally plastic screens. Over time the crease on the screen where the hinge is will get so deep that Samsung's required "screen protector" will no longer adhere. If you close the phone and the hinge decides to break, you can never open it a full 180 again. If you accidentally open it all the way too fast, you will literally rip the screen off the frame. The weak point is hinge which could lead to a thick black line across, or upper or lower portions malfunctioning. One day you may open the phone and it's unresponsive to touch. Screens randomly fail all the time and either display static or nothing at all.
Samsung knows the failure rates and how they're problematic. Any physical damage on the phone will void your warranty. If it's the tiniest scratch, warranty void. Not kidding. I see Samsung deny them left and right. If you remove the pre-applied screen protector and replace it with your own, warranty void. They literally record how many times they've been dropped. If the count exceeds an acceptable value, warranty void.
In terms of outright failure across all phone brands and models, the flips and folds are #1. Behind that is the A series. But those are cheap so it's expected.
Please purchase insurance for it if you can. It will save you at minimum $400 on a screen repair.
These are all good points and indeed I considered them. I'm curious though, how many 6th gen foldables have you had to repair yet? I know their 4rd gen was the most problematic and 5th, 6th got new hinges again.
There's virtually no improvement. We see a 6th gen at least once a week. That's no different than the 5th gen. I will admit the 4th gen is the least reliable of the last three generations mentioned here.
Every single generation of flip or fold, someone has came in after release day with a dead screen. The issue has always been a result of the hinge damaging the screen. The opening action alone is enough to damage cables or the panel itself.
Because screen replacement involves replacing the entire frame (we transplant the board only), we have to have the correct color frame in stock. If we don't, it's just a matter of whether or not we can order the correct color. And if we can't you're sending it to Samsung. They do not allow us to order the special/exclusive colors.
As a note here: flip and fold models have a battery on each side. If you're unfortunate and have a battery expand on the side that has an outer screen and it cracks, you're replacing the frame and outer screen. The batteries come with the frame. Samsung does not allow individual replacement due to how the batteries are paired.
Yea the plastic screens is why I didn't like the "fold"/"flip" phones.
The other reason being that due to them being flagships, they also don't have MicroSD card slots.