Samsung Galaxy Fold teardown shows off internal durability improvements [Gallery]

Ben Schoon | Oct 7 2019 - 8:08 am PT

There’s no getting around the fact that the Samsung Galaxy Fold is a fragile device, but Samsung has certainly done its best following issues early this year. Now, the folks at iFixit have republished their Galaxy Fold teardown, and it reveals several internal improvements.

With its redesigned release, Samsung claimed that it has made several improvements to the hardware of the Galaxy Fold to strengthen it and protect it against debris. There are some visual indicators of this, such as the top display layer being tucked beneath the bezels and also a “cap” over the hinge.

Under the hood, though, there are several other improvements to the Fold. The first of these can be found on the boards inside of the device. While the Fold is far from waterproof, some silicone seals around portions of the internal boards should help give the device at least a chance at living if it were to come in contact with liquids.

Another area of improvement is the display. There’s new adhesive added to the display around the outer edges to keep it in place.

Better yet, once the display was taken off of the Galaxy Fold, iFixit’s teardown shows the added metal layer underneath the flexible and fragile OLED display panel. Even when separated from the rest of the phone, the display is “surprisingly rigid.” Still, Samsung recommends a “light touch” to avoid damaging the display, which is only covered in plastic.

The strong hinge within the Galaxy Fold is also shown off in this teardown with some new protection. There’s a layer of tap protecting the hinge to help keep debris out.

Despite all of these improvements, though, the Galaxy Fold is still going to be fragile. We’ve seen from previous torture tests and even just general use that this phone is going to be easy to break. In this teardown, the back of the hinge is still clearly exposed to the elements. Further, the 2 millimeters of coverage over the OLED panel that the plastic bezels give is less than comforting. Even less so is the “light” adhesive that iFixit thinks may loosen over time.

You can check out the full Galaxy Fold teardown over at iFixit.