Galaxy Z Fold 6 durability test hints at dust troubles, and it caught on fire too [Video]

Ben Schoon | Jul 31 2024 - 2:25 pm PT

Durability is perhaps the single biggest concern around foldables and, in a new test, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6 has a slightly worrying durability concern.

Oh, it also caught on fire too.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 offers the company’s most advanced foldable hardware to date, even though that’s still a fair bit behind that of the competition. And, in our review, we were quite impressed with the over fit and finish and experience. However, it’s always hard to truly test the durability of a smartphone, and even more so a foldable, unless you’re will to basically tear the thing apart like JerryRigEverything.

In a new durability test, the infamous YouTube channel host Zach takes the Galaxy Z Fold 6 through a series of torture tests to see how the device can hold up. These go far beyond the scope of real-life use, with fire applied to the display, a mound of dust purposefully thrown into the hinge and display, and lots of scratching and bending too.

For the most part, Galaxy Z Fold 6 holds up reasonably well, but there are two causes for concern here.

The first is the dust test. Samsung rates the Galaxy Z Fold 6 at IP48 for resisting solid and liquid objects. The “4” there isn’t high enough on the scale to handle dust, but one would expect some improvements. Rather, it’s found in this test that Galaxy Z Fold 6 actually lets a bit more dust into the hinge compared to the last generation, with uncomfortable sounds coming from the hinge after the dust is let in.

Somewhat more worrying, though, is that later into the video, the Fold 6 actually starts to catch on fire.

This is not because the device was subjected to even an exaggerated durability test, but rather because it was being torn apart. Quite literally, the teardown process was taking apart the layers of the display one by one until, unexpectedly, the smoke starts coming out of the device and there’s visible embers. This has nothing to do with the battery, but rather it seems to be a ribbon cable that was damaged during disassembly. But it’s noted that this didn’t happen with prior generations.

Samsung and fire. It’s an unfortunately… memorable, combination, but the alarm bells don’t need to be ringing just yet given the context in which this happened.

As far as durability is concerned, Samsung is touting its new “Galaxy Z Assurance” on the Fold 6 this year, which ensures that Fold 6 buyers get one free screen protector replacement and discounted screen repairs for two years.