Folding phone screens: tougher than ever before

They’ve had their skeptics, but the truth is the latest folding screens are tougher than you ever imagined. We break down the new developments that make these incredible innovations so sturdy and reliable.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen some incredible advancements in tech. And folding screens have to be near the top of that list.

But as impressive as they are, the technology can be a lot to wrap your head around.

When you see the Samsung Z Flip or Z Fold work its magic, it feels like the screen just shouldn’t be able to flex like that. But Samsung’s years and years of research and development have created screens that fold effortlessly down to something small enough to fit in your pocket – in the case of the Flip family. And the latest iterations – the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G and Z Fold3 5G – have taken toughness and durability to the next level, giving us a family of foldable phones that can handle the toughness of everyday life.

So, how exactly do manufacturers create this incredible technology?

What is the Z Fold made of?

Image credit: Supplied

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold series is the most famous phone with a foldable screen – and with good reason. The latest release folds out to an impressive 7.6 inches, delivering a tablet-like experience on a device that fits comfortably in your pocket, assuming, as with any other phone, your pants aren’t too tight and you aren’t trying to fit them into one of those teeny tiny pockets that pop up from time to time in women’s clothing.

But how exactly do Samsung pull this off?

Here’s where things get a bit tricky. Instead of glass, the screen on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold series is made of  Ultra Thin Glass   that can handle the strain of being folded   thousands and thousands of times.

The other secret to its bendable screen is that underneath this layer is an OLED (or organic light emitting diode) panel.

As the name suggests, OLEDs are self-illuminating. This means that unlike other screens, such as LED, they don’t need a backlight to illuminate them. This makes it much easier to make them fold.

The newest iteration, the Z Fold3, uses an innovative new panel called the Eco 2 OLED – proving that Samsung aren’t resting on their laurels. This new OLED saves power, giving users 25% more battery life when compared to the previous Folds.    

And it doesn’t matter who you ask: more battery life is always a good thing.

Are there any foldable screens actually made of glass?

Anyone who’s ever dropped a bottle of soft drink, or accidentally smashed a window with a poorly timed cover drive, knows that glass is a fragile thing.

So being able to actually fold it seems like something that defies science.

But Samsung proved us all wrong when they made the Z Flip, which featured the first foldable screen to be made of glass.

It sounds unbelievable, but the explanation is actually quite simple. By making the glass panel really, really, really thin, and then also using a layer of plastic to cover it, Samsung were able to pull off what seemed impossible.

Dr. Mathias Mydlak – who works at Corning and Schott, the producer that makes the screen for the Z Flip – went into more detail for website The Verge, telling them “All the materials we know of that are very rigid can be bent to some extent.”

“If you think of wood, a 2x4 cannot be bent, but if you chisel a very fine piece of it – the same is true for glass.” he explained.

The glass is then covered with a thin plastic layer. Samsung called this masterstroke the Infinity Flex Display, and the result was a screen that was even more durable than what you’d find on other foldable phones.

So, are screens on folding phones reliable?

That’s the million-dollar question.

And it’s a fair one: when foldable screens first came out, people were perhaps a tad sceptical as to whether they could handle the strain of day-to-day use.

That’s especially true if you’re phone obsessed. You could be opening and closing the phone dozens of times a day.

But a couple of years into folding screens, and Samsung has well and truly proved the doubters wrong.

The manufacturer spent a long time working out the kinks and making sure that both the Z Flip3 and Z Fold3 can handle whatever you throw at it.

But no matter what number you go by, there’s one thing for certain: you’d have to be using your Z Fold3 or Z Flip3 a whole lot before you ran into any trouble.

So stress less about your phone breaking, and start getting excited for all the possibilities that having a larger screen in the Galaxy Z Fold3 invites.

What’s next for folding screens?

As the materials become tougher, tech becomes even more reliable and bigger screens become cheaper, folding screens are going to become even more mainstream.

And we can’t help but wonder where things are going to go next.

And just as excitingly, there are plenty of uses for folding screens outside of mobiles. Imagine a watch with a screen that curved around your wrist. And what if we thought bigger than a phone? How would tablets and laptops look with foldable screens? Gamers could also get in on the action, with portable consoles potentially evolving to boast a fully foldable screen.

But until then, Samsung have given us plenty to get excited about, with two phones that are as tough and durable as they are technically incredible.

Reading about the tech behind folding phones is great. But holding your very own? That’s another level of awesome. Pick up a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G or Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G and discover just how incredible they are for yourself.