Galaxy Z Flip teardown video: Samsung is onto something great
Samsung's newest foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Flip, is already grabbing headlines for its industry-first foldable glass screen and a new hinge that can stay open at a number of angles. But that's one side of the story. PBKreviews YouTube channel has posted a teardown video of the $1,400-worth handset, revealing a fairly repairable design, a paper-thin flexible screen, and a sturdy hinge mechanism.
Galaxy Z Flip has an easy-to-disassemble design
All that Samsung learned from the issues of Galaxy Fold has seemingly helped the tech giant in designing the Z Flip. The clamshell-like foldable phone seems repair-friendly, considering you can access most of the parts by simply removing the back covers. All the components are neatly stacked, and the cable management isn't complicated either. However, removing the main screen is not an easy job.
The Hideaway hinge seems pretty durable
The Galaxy Z Flip comes with a new "Hideaway Hinge" that can stay open at a number of angles, thanks to a "Freestop folding technology". The hinge also has a "sweeper technology" that uses microfiber to clear dirt and dust. The teardown video doesn't reveal all this, but it does show us the metal hinge construction and how it is protected by a film.
The flexible glass screen comes attached to the metal frame
Removing the screen is perhaps the trickiest task. It is a paper-thin flexible display that is attached to the metal frame using a plastic border. The video also shows how the hinge keeps the glass screen attached to the metal case, disallowing any gaps that could serve as an entry for dust particles and debris.
Meanwhile, here's a look at the spec-sheet of Z Flip
The Z Flip comes with a flexible 6.7-inch full-HD+ (1080x2636 pixels) Dynamic AMOLED main screen and a tiny 1.1-inch Super AMOLED external display. The handset offers a 12MP+12MP dual-lens rear camera and a 10MP selfie camera. The main camera offers 4K video recording. Under the hood, it has a Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and 3,310mAh combined battery capacity.
