Hey.

One of our readers asked a question that puzzled me: “Is Fold really as flimsy as it seems?” For me, the Galaxy Z Fold2 is the main device that I use every day and for many hours. He is with me everywhere – on trips, in the car, in the rain and snow, in my pocket with other smartphones. He fell a dozen times, a couple of times neat people were in such a hurry that they knocked him out of their hands and were afraid that the device flew to the asphalt. Although some did not even apologize and preferred to rush further on their very important matters.

In a conversation with friends, he told about the reader’s question as an anecdote and immediately received an answer: “But he really does not give the impression of a reliable device, the halves fold in the same place, the screen will break sooner or later.” You have no idea how nostalgia blew from these comments, because something like this sounded all the time when clamshells appeared – unreliable, one half will surely break off, and a skiff will come to your phone. In those days, the same Samsung made demonstration performances at exhibitions when they asked girls to stand on an open clamshell to prove that even a person’s weight is unable to break the hinge. This was not done with all models, but the experiment invariably made an impression and convinced that the clamshell would not break with normal opening.

I see people’s fears as reflections on the fact that there are moving parts in the apparatus, there is something new in it, which obviously arouses concern. Flexible screen? It will surely break, because by constantly folding and unfolding the apparatus, you will definitely damage it. Hinge? The same story, it will become unusable when something hits it or just a blow happens. Some say this with confidence and say that Fold is not adapted for real life and it is impossible to use it, you almost need to stop breathing when you open it. Where these fairy tales come from is absolutely incomprehensible to me.

Let’s see what exactly has changed in the Fold2, how this smartphone has matured and what has changed since the first version. I’ll start with the question that triggers the biggest concerns, the qualities of the hinge and the likelihood that the halves can come off. Let’s see what a prototype mechanism looks like.

The hinge is made of metal and is located at the bottom and top of the case. Let me remind you that Fold2 can be opened to any angle and the halves of the device can be fixed. The first Fold knocked in halves when closing, here the movement is much softer, since there is no automatic movement adjuster and new modes of using the device have appeared.

The hinge itself looks like this, the metal and all the mechanics are perfect, it works the same both in frost and heat (both have been tested).

See how you can close the device with one hand, it won’t be difficult.

In theory, dust can get inside the case, which will clog into the hinge and prevent it from working as it should. The company’s engineers have created special micro-brushes so that with each movement any dust particles are brushed off, that is, this is a self-cleaning mechanism. But the case is made so sealed that dust initially has no chance of getting inside, but rather an additional layer of protection.

I didn’t have any problems with the hinge on the first Fold, which I used for almost a year, everything worked as on the first day, although the device dropped, and a couple of times it was hard. It still works today. With Fold2, as you already know, I have had similar stories, a couple of times the hinge was felt when opening after falling closed. The feeling is as if the device has broken down, not a smooth habitual movement, but with a little effort and an unusual sound is heard. This is also protection against falls, the hinge is not rigidly fixed; if it falls, it could hit the body and cause damage. This is similar to phones from the past, when they were designed with the battery knocking out the removable cover. In modern smartphones, the impact during a fall is compensated for by the chassis of the devices, and the load is redistributed. And here these techniques are used to the fullest, but the potential problem with the hinge was solved in advance. Therefore, if you dropped the Fold2, then, opening the device, simply put it in order, you won’t experience any problems.

For the first Fold, the company tested the hinge and the entire mechanism for 120 thousand openings / closings. Improving the design of the Fold2, this number increased to 200 thousand. This is the minimum number for which the design is designed, that is, you can use the device for at least five years. The engineers suggested that a person can open their Fold about a hundred times during the day (I get less, but sometimes even more).

The difference between the first Fold and the second in the design of the hinge is huge, if the halves of the first Fold moved in a closed state, the structure was not monolithic, then the Fold2 has no backlash and does not make a single sound.

I chose the bronze Z Fold2 for myself, as I like the satin finish of the glass, it is matte, and there are no handprints on it. But I don’t really like the protruding camera module, so I used a case, it is put on only on the back of the device. The case leaves the Fold2 unbalanced, but overall pleasant.

You can use a film for an external screen, but I don’t see much sense in this, some kind of collective farm turns out. If you don’t look closely at my device, the external screen is exactly the same as on the first day. For the first time on the market, the device uses Corning Gorilla Glass 7 (Victus), the glass is drop-resistant, and it really is. The device fell down and the screen down when closed, nothing happened to it, although my heart stopped at such moments and I picked up the device in cold sweat. The glass is said to withstand a drop of XNUMX meters.

Since I carry the phone with other objects, I throw it into the armrest in the car, where anything can be found, it is often adjacent to other smartphones in my pocket, the wear of the outer surfaces is noticeable. I have such an attitude to all devices, I do not think that they need to somehow be protected and shaken over them. I treat it carefully, but without aspiration.

The curvature of the outer screen is not bad, but it fades over time, although this is only visible upon close examination. In the photo, everything is much worse than in reality.

There are a lot of small scratches on the fold of the external screen, they are not annoying, and they are simply not visible in everyday life. But for those who know exactly what they are, this will be annoying. It’s easy to check how nervous this will make you – if you know that there is a small scratch on the bumper of your car and it makes you madly angry, then in the case of a phone you can expect the same reaction. I don’t understand people who paint, change bumpers when they have small scratches on them, it always seemed to me that the bumper exists exactly for this – to collect scratches and protect the car body.

On the back is Gorilla Glass 6, which is also durable and survives drops. For him, the manufacturer claims falls from a height of a meter (from the waist), fifteen times in a row the device can withstand impacts. There is no need to try, since every fall is stress for the phone and you may simply be out of luck, the theory of probability has not been canceled.

Let’s talk about flexible screens and how they break. There are many scary stories, each of them is replete with details. I read this fabulous opus: “I opened it, I just opened a fucking fold, and the screen broke.” An attempt to obtain a photograph from the sender of this tale was met with complete disregard. As well as an attempt to send him to a service center, where this problem would be solved instantly. I cannot boast of a torn screen, as well as the fact that I have it damaged. Alas and ah, my life is boring.

There is a factory film on the Fold2 screen, the manufacturer himself created confusion, since he suggests not to remove this film, moreover, during the first year you can replace one film with another for free at the service center. The film creates a feeling of softness of the screen, there is no feeling of glass, which is located under it. And the film collects fingerprints quite well; during snow or rain, drops settle on it, and when dry, they leave stains.

But the good news is that you can wipe the film or remove it from the machine. This will not affect the warranty in any way, and all the precautions are an attempt to blow on the water, to provide additional screen protection.

For several months of using the Fold2, I had no problems with the screen. I don’t carry the device in my pocket with bank cards, they don’t get into the gap between the halves. The screen is exactly the same as on the first day of use. I didn’t peel off the film for exactly one reason: I want to look at a replacement at a service center and chat about how often people come with this question.

The design of the Fold2’s main screen used the know-how that we saw in some Motorola, where the screen was made indestructible. This is a sandwich of several layers, each of which is different in density, soft alternates with hard. For a flexible screen, this was done for the first time, which, upon impact, reduces the likelihood of damaging it (does not remove it at all, but increases the chances of the screen’s survival).

Another point that shows Samsung’s confidence in the design of the device is the provision of Galaxy Z Premier service with this device. The set of services includes a dedicated support line, with all questions you can contact a separate phone number. But more importantly, Samsung Care + is one year’s added damage protection. In any non-warranty case, when you drop and break your device, it will be repaired for you without question. You will need to pay 6 rubles, this is the cost of the franchise upon the occurrence of such an event, then order repairs with delivery to the service (valid throughout the country, periods from 500 to 3 days, that is, the courier will pick up at any point and return to the specified address). In Moscow and St. Petersburg, you can simply order a mobile service, and then it will arrive at the specified point, in fact, the device will be repaired in front of you. Repair covers not only screen replacement, but, for example, a broken case. It turns out that you are additionally protected from all fears that something may happen to your device and through your fault. Since the Z Fold7 is expensive, such insurance should remove some of the user’s fears and problems.

Around everything new and unusual, fairy tales constantly arise that depict horror – in the case of the Z Fold2, this is the unreliability of the design, a very delicate inner screen and similar concerns. But this is exactly what fairy tales, there are no real stories behind them. While writing this article, I talked a lot with service centers, looking for sufferers who broke their devices and who happened to have one of those stories that are told by anonymous users on the network. But I did not find these stories in real life, alas. And my personal experience shows that everything is in order with this device.

PS I am slowly completing the review, but rather already the experience of long-term operation of the Z Fold2 and decided to put some of the questions into separate materials so as not to make the review itself endless. Fears in absentia about the reliability of the design and flexible screen are so common that this material will come to the court of those who are considering such a device for purchase.

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