Samsung touts its foldable phone display durability after Apple's doubts

Samsung touts its foldable phone display durability after Apple’s doubts،

Apple may have rolled its eyes at the perceived durability of the foldable displays Samsung provided it for testing. Ahead of its first device with a foldable screen that would replace the iPad mini, Apple reportedly tested a number of foldable panels and was unimpressed with Samsung's screen which broke after a few days of testing.

If true, it could delay the launch of the mini-sized foldable iPad until Apple waits for the next generation of such panels, but now Samsung is determined to prove just how tactile the current crop actually is.

Samsung foldable screen is the first to obtain a military-grade certificate

Samsung screen just announcement that its 7-inch foldable display installed in phones like the Galaxy Z Fold 5 became the first such display to pass MIL-STD 810G testing of the military standard recognized by the US Department of Defense.

So-called U.S. military specification (MilSpec) tests place the devices to be evaluated under extreme temperature conditions or subject them to intensive use aimed at simulating the daily wear and tear they would experience if intended for military service.

In the test, the foldable panel operated normally even after the exterior of the panel was frozen into 6mm thick ice by spraying water in a minus 10 degree environment, and this state was maintained for 4 hours. There were no performance issues during a test in which the device endured an environment of -32 degrees Celsius and +63 degrees Celsius for two hours straight, and repeated temperature changes as well abrupt three times in 12 hours.

After dropping devices equipped with Samsung's foldable panel 26 times from waist height and at different angles, the organization hired by Samsung Display for testing discovered “no problems with the product during external activities by rotating the product at a speed that would apply up to 10.5 times the force of gravity,” or the acceleration tests that the military performs on airplane and helicopter components.

Besides the Galaxy Z fold 5, Samsung has installed the first MIL-STD 810G certified foldable display with plastic substrate in its recently demonstrated prototype Flex In-N-Out device that made an appearance at the CES show last month. Regardless, the fact is that foldable phone screens have come a long way since the first foldable screen debacle that let debris get into the hinge and under the panel.

Samsung now faces stiff competition in the foldable phone space from virtually every major Chinese manufacturer, and it will quickly need to step up its game in a market it single-handedly popularized. As for the foldable iPhone, Apple's need seems quite distant and it has plenty of time to wait to see where the wind blows in terms of price and durability of foldable displays.