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Galaxy Z Fold 8’s wider shape still survives bend test, teardown shows off titanium and poor Qi placement [Video]

Durability is perhaps the single-biggest hesitation about folding phones, but Samsung has proven time and time again that its foldables are rather strong and resilient. Despite its wider new shape, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 remains resistant to a bend test, while a teardown reveals some key elements behind the scenes.

YouTuber JerryRigEverything sent the Galaxy Z Fold 8 through his classic durability test and teardown, with the former including the usual bend and damage testing. As per usual, the outer screen scratches like any other glass phone, while the inner panel still takes damage from basically anything.

During a teardown of the device, Samsung’s use of titanium to strengthen and flatten the inner display is abundantly clear, it just can’t do anything about that plastic layer that finishes off the folding display assembly.

Most interesting here is that, despite the foldable being much physically wider, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 still holds up to a bend test. The hinge stays together and the frame doesn’t break despite a more-than-would-ever-happen-in-real-life amount of pressure being applied.

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Another interesting detail in these Galaxy Z Fold 8 torture videos is the placement of Samsung’s Qi charging ring. There are no Qi2 magnets in this foldable, again, but the placement of the charger might provide a decent reason why.

The ring is very low on the foldable, meaning that any magnet accessories would almost surely spill off the edge of the device. That doesn’t really matter for wireless chargers, which are increasingly moving over to Qi2 whether Samsung adopts it or not, but it’s a shame for the sake of things like wallets and battery packs, both of which suffer enough with Samsung’s existing vertical camera layout.

We haven’t tried any proper magnetic alignment yet, but it’s certainly not ideal just in terms of footprint, as pictured above.

The teardown also goes to on to prove Samsung’s titanium backplate – by means of fire – while also completely demolishing the phone. It’s also interesting that, despite Samsung adopting silicon-carbon tech, the batteries themselves make no mention of it, instead just being listed as lithium-ion with nothing special to add.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 is available now.

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Avatar for Ben Schoon Ben Schoon

Ben is a Senior Editor for 9to5Google.

Find him on Twitter @NexusBen. Send tips to schoon@9to5g.com or encrypted to benschoon@protonmail.com.