The Galaxy Z Fold 7 uses Samsung Display’s foldable OLED panel, and Samsung Display has announced that it can endure over 500,000 folds. This is a 2.5x improvement compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which is rated to endure at least 200,000 folds.
Samsung Display said that the durability test for the Galaxy Z Fold 7’s OLED panel was conducted by inspection and verification firm Bureau Veritas. Rated at up to 500,000 folds, the panel can operate for over ten years of daily usage for normal users. For heavy users, the phone should last at least six years if they fold it for 200 times a day.
This major durability improvement was achieved byredesigning the OLED panel’s structure that was inspired by bulletproof glass, a 50% thicker Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) protective layer, highly elastic adhesive, and a lightweight titanium support plate. This structure absorbs and disperses external impact to significantly improve the panel’s shock resistance while making the whole panel thinner.
In the image above, you can see the Galaxy Z Fold 7’s foldable OLED panel, UTG protection layer, titanium backplate, and the screen protection film. You can watch the phone’s foldable screen and new hinge in action in our video below.
French firm Bureau Veritas conducted the Galaxy Z Fold 7’s OLED panel durability test over the course of 13 days at a temperature of 25°C (77°F). Most other Chinese smartphone brands have been advertising durability metrics of their foldable phones using the data obtained from their internal labs. So, Samsung’s durability metrics are more reliable, as its metrics are from a third-party testing firm.
Hojung Lee, the executive vice president and head of Samsung Display’s Mobile Display Product Planning Team, said, “As foldable OLED enters its seventh year of commercialisation, we’ve achieved another meaningful breakthrough in both durability and design. This new panel not only builds consumer confidence in foldable OLED durability but also underscores the technological advantage that makes Samsung Display distinguished in the industry.“
