Skip to main content

Watch Samsung’s Z Flip 5 face an extreme durability test

IF THE SAMSUNG Z FLIP 5 SURVIVES… I'll Switch.

Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Flip 5 foldable phone has been put through its paces in a particularly brutal durability test.

Popular tech YouTuber Zack Nelson of JerryRigEverything performed his usual battery of demanding tests on the new Galaxy Z Flip 5, including scratching, scraping, burning, and bending.

It’s always a little uncomfortable watching a pricey new phone subjected to such awfulness, but Nelson does it so you don’t have to.

Of course, in regular day-to-day use, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 will never experience anything like what the YouTuber puts the device through, but it at least offers an indication of just how robust the device really is.

In the case of Samsung’s Flip 5, the new phone performs well overall. The outer display, for example, uses the very tough Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and therefore performs admirably during the scratch test. However, so that it can fold, the inner display is made of plastic and is therefore more susceptible to dents and grooves rather than scratches.

As usual, Nelson brings out the box cutter and drags it down the frame of the phone to see how it likes it (spoiler: it doesn’t). And be sure to keep watching so that you can cringe your way through the “fun little dirt test” and to see how the Flip 5 handles a naked flame right up against it.

Finally, as is customary with Nelson’s durability tests, he performs his own very unscientific, but rather effective bend test in which he uses his own hands and brute force to see if the device holds up. Now, with foldable phones, you’d think that snapping them in two would be as effortless as breaking a cookie, but the Galaxy Z Flip 5, complete with a newly designed hinge, holds up impressively well and, importantly, remains in one piece.

It has to be said that despite looking very much the worse for wear, Samsung’s $1,000 foldable comes out of Nelson’s durability test pretty well.

The YouTuber is clearly impressed with the Flip 5, and likes it even more after the durability test. In fact, Nelson says he’s considering using it to replace his trusty Galaxy Note 10, though first he wants to see how his upcoming teardown of the device goes.

Interested in the Galaxy Z Flip 5? Then check out Digital Trends hands-on review of the handset.

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
If you like Samsung phones, you need to be ready for July 10
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Fold 4, and Galaxy Z Flip 5 resting on a table.

Although Samsung hasn't officially announced the date, we've gotten more indications about when the next Samsung Unpacked Event will be held.

According to The Chosun Daily, it's going to be Wednesday, July 10, in Paris. The date has long been rumored, so this latest news is unsurprising. Still, it's good to get confirmation from another source on the same date. At this point, it's all but set in stone that July 10 is the day to look forward to.

Read more
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 just got more interesting
A person holding the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, showing the back of the phone.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

We are likely just a few weeks away from Samsung revealing the Galaxy Z Fold 6. And a new leak surfaced today that makes this foldable phone sound even more exciting.

Read more
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 may fix my biggest issue with the Z Fold 5
A person holding the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, seen from the side.

I ordered my first folding smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, in February of this year. I was excited, but I was also more than a little apprehensive. This was an entirely new form factor for me, as I'd never used a folding smartphone before. I'd used phones, I'd used tablets, but I'd never used both of them at the same time.

At the start of my experience, I was worried principally about how much I'd use the phone's headline feature: the big inner display. After all, if I didn't end up using it, didn't that defeat the whole point of the device?

Read more