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Last updated: October 12th, 2023 at 16:05 UTC+02:00
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Allstate Protection Plans, a company that offers extended warranties and accidental damage protection plans for electronics and other consumer items, has performed a breakability test on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, iPhone 15 Pro Max, Galaxy Z Fold 5, and Pixel Fold, and the results are quite surprising. While most people might be thinking that the foldable phones might not have fared as well as the traditional ones, that fortunately isn’t the case.
In the first test, the company dropped all the phones from a height of six feet with their screens facing downwards. In this case, the outer displays of the foldable phones were facing towards the ground rather than the inner ones. Unfortunately, none of the devices came out unscathed. The screens of all four phones were shattered badly.
Since the foldable devices have an inner screen as well, Allstate dropped the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Pixel Fold with the main screens facing downwards from the same height. Surprisingly, the foldable displays of both phones survived the test. That is, the screens didn’t shatter. Instead, they suffered minor frame damage, scuffing, and screen dents. So, you could say that the Galaxy Z Fold 5 had one undamaged screen after two drops but the iPhone 15 Pro Max had none after a single drop.
The company then dropped the Galaxy S23 Ultra and the iPhone 15 Pro Max with their backs facing downwards. While the back panels of both phones were shattered, the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s camera lenses were also damaged, which wasn’t the case with the Galaxy S23 Ultra. So, Apple’s phone, in spite of being made from titanium, isn’t as durable as the one from Samsung in the right places.
All phones were dropped using a machine that’s made specifically for doing this task. However, the test wasn’t performed in a controlled environment. So, there could be differences in the angles and the speeds at which the devices fell on the ground. Therefore, the results might not be absolutely accurate or reflect the real-world durability of these devices.
That being said, the test shows that Samsung has made its foldable devices almost as durable as the traditional ones, which is quite an achievement. Samsung is also expected to use titanium for the construction of the Galaxy S24 series smartphones. It would be interesting to see if the upcoming phones turn out to be stronger than the Galaxy S23 or not.
I’m a computer science engineer living in Hyderabad, India, who has a keen interest in automobiles and consumer electronics. My journalism career kicked off in 2017 with MySmartPrice where I wrote news, features, buying guides, and explanatory articles about technology among other things, and reviewed many products, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, PC components, smartwatches, audio devices, wearables, and smart home products. Since then, I have worked for 91Mobiles, Apple, and Onsitego, before finally landing on SamMobile.