With Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Flip 6, tech YouTuber Zack Nelson of JerryRigEverything has just done what he does best, that is, completely wreck a phone to test its level of durability.
It’ll be a tough watch for those who find it hard to witness expensive pieces of carefully designed technology being scratched, scraped, burned, and bent to (near or total) destruction. But it’s kinda fascinating, too.
After noting a few differences between the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and its predecessor (eg. four earpiece slits instead of three, a more squared-off design, and perhaps less of an internal screen crease), Nelson gets to work with his tool kit … and his finger nails, which demonstrate that dragging them across the main display can leave unsightly and permanent marks.
Less than halfway through the durability test, out comes the box cutter, an implement that no phone holds up to particularly well, and nor would you expect it to. With unnerving enthusiasm, Nelson drags the blade over all parts of the phone, creating deep scratches across the frame while making a noise that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
Next, its the fire test, where the YouTuber holds a naked flame to the display to see how well it holds up. In this case, it was about 14 seconds before the screen started to show signs of degradation.
While pointing out that the IP48 rating for the Galaxy Z Flip 6 means that it’s protected against objects 1 millimeter in size and greater, Nelson pours what is essentially a sackful of rubble onto Samsung’s smartphone before proceeding to repeatedly open and close the device. It doesn’t appear to suffer in any major way, though folding and opening phone does get a bit noisier.
Next up is the YouTuber’s famous and famously unscientific bend test where he uses his bare hands to test the structural integrity of whatever device he happens to be putting through the mill. Bending a foldable phone may sound pointless as it’s built to do exactly that, but it’s not designed to be forced in the opposite direction. Impressively, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 stands up to Nelson’s outward bending, and it remains intact.
The rest of the video shows the YouTuber ripping apart the exterior of the Galaxy Z Flip 6 to get a better look at its innards. By the end, the phone is pretty much unrecognizable, though it should be noted that overall it handled this particular durability test pretty well.