Does Galaxy Z Flip 3 break easily?

Update: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 durability just tested — here’s how tough this foldable is.

Watching a brand new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 bent backwards against the hinge is horribly unpleasant. But these durability tests must be done, for science, of course.

Zack Nelson, who runs the YouTube channel JerryRigEverything (opens in new tab), has done exactly that. The YouTuber is known for putting just about every flagship phone through his round of stress tests, which includes burning phones with lighters, slashing exteriors with blades and bending frames. Well, after taking a crack (opens in new tab) — literally — at the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, he's now on to the Z Flip 3.

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Nelson notes at the top that the internal display on the Z Flip 3 has some warnings for users. These warnings include not pressing on the screen too hard, keeping the phone away from coins and keys, keeping it away from dust, saltwater or alcohol, and to not remove the protective film on the internal display. Of course, Nelson ignored pretty much all those warnings. 

Using the Mohs scale of the hardness test, the external display on the Z Flip 3 starts showing scratches at level 6, with deeper scratches coming in at level 7. This is expected of Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus. On the internal display, however, it's a completely different story.

The internal display on the Z Flip 3 uses ultra thin glass, or UTG. It's a material that has to be softer by definition so that the phone can properly bend. The screen is then layered with a plastic screen protector up top. At level 2, the screen began showing grooves. This means that a hard press from a fingernail could mark or damage the screen. 

Using a blade, Nelson was able to easily scratch through the armor aluminum exterior. And like nails on a chalk board, Nelson scraped away at the purple colored anodizing. 

Using a lighter, Nelson put a flame against both the small external display as well as the bendable internal screen. Surprisingly, both lasted surprisingly long before showing damage. It took around 30 seconds for damage to show on the internal display. And really, the pixels were mostly fine. But the heat did melt the plastic screen protector.

In the dreaded bend test, Nelson used this thumbs to bend against the phones hinge, trying to fold it in the opposite direction. Surprisingly, he wasn't able to snap the phone in half, but it did come out a bit deformed. It goes to show that Samsung has done an impressive job in making the Z Flip 3 a resilient device.

The original Galaxy Z Fold had serious problems with dust and Samsung had to tweak the design. Well, with the Z Flip 3, Samsung has largely solved the dust issue. Nelson caked both the front, back and hinge of the Z Flip 3 with dirt and stunningly, nothing got into the display itself.

So, for anyone worried about breaking their Z Flip 3, it's a lot stronger than you'd might expect.

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Imad is currently Senior Google and Internet Culture reporter for CNET, but until recently was News Editor at Tom's Guide. Hailing from Texas, Imad started his journalism career in 2013 and has amassed bylines with the New York Times, the Washington Post, ESPN, Wired and Men's Health Magazine, among others. Outside of work, you can find him sitting blankly in front of a Word document trying desperately to write the first pages of a new book.