TL;DR
- A YouTube channel is running a live hand-folding test on the Motorola Razr Plus and Galaxy Z Flip 5.
- The experiment aims to decipher just how many human folds the phones can survive.
- Last year, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 outlasted Samsung’s stated limits.
Update: August 4, 2023 (12:37 AM ET): The Motorola Razr Plus vs Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 hand-folding test is still underway. However, it looks like the Moto phone has started to show signs of trouble. Per the YouTubers conducting the test, the new Razr’s hinge had its first issue a little after 43,000 folds. We weren’t there when the testers hit that mark, so we’ll have to wait for their end report to see what was the actual problem. We’ll keep updating this post with the results of the experiment.
Original article: August 3, 2023 (2:16 AM ET): Tech YouTuber Mrkeybrd and his team are live testing the folding mechanism on the new Motorola Razr Plus and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 by hand. The experiment to see which phone breaks first is being livestreamed as of writing this article. The folders are now over 14 hours into their “Great Folding Test.”
The point of the folding test between the two new foldable phones is to see how long they last when humans fold them by hand versus a machine that folds them hundreds of thousands of times during lab tests.
“Smartphone producers seem to think consumers will be impressed by their ratings of 400,000+ folds, performed in a more controlled setting and most likely by a machine designed to fold the smartphone only in the way it was intended. But machines aren’t human,” the YouTubers write on their dedicated webpage for the test.
For your information, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is officially rated 200,000 folds by the Bureau Veritas certification company. Meanwhile, Motorola hasn’t shared any official details about the number of folds the Razr Plus can survive.
Both phones are currently intact in the ongoing human stress test, with over 30,000 folds each.
“Last year we saw humans push the Z Flip 3 past its manufacturer stated limits until it gave out at around 418,500 folds,” the YouTubers note on their website. You can read about that marathon Galaxy Z Flip 3 folding test here.
“This year, once we (hopefully) pass the manufacturer stated limits, we will be subjecting the phones to more varied tests – temperature, water, drop tests – the works.”
