The users of Samsung Galaxy Z fold and Z flip phones have taken to Facebook to complain about screen delamination on their phones.
Samsung Galaxy Z flip and Z fold (Credit: Wikipedia)
The Z fold and flip phones are both foldable phones. They are a throwback to the days when foldable mobile phones like the Motorola RAZR flip ruled the world.
To understand this issue, we need to know what screen delamination and foldable phones are, and the relationship between both.
Read: Smartphone displays explained
What is Screen Delamination?
Screen delamination is defined as damage to a screen caused by repeated stress.
It is usually categorized as a failure mode. A failure mode is the way in which a component of a device failed “functionally” on the component level. In this case, it is a mechanical design failure.
That would lead to the question, what kind of stress affects a Samsung Z fold or Z flip?
Foldable phones
Foldable phones are simply phones that can fold and open like a book for example.
They make use of very thin flexible OLED displays that can be bent or folded. This bending or folding can happen to the glass without fear of breaking the screen.
Foldable phones could open up to take the form of a tablet (Z Fold) or close into the form of a clamshell (Z Flip).
Other designs include the wraparound design (Huawei Mate X) and the tri-fold style.
How does Screen Delamination happen?
The screens of foldable phones have to be opened and folded most of the time.
This opening and folding movement puts stress on the glass and causes the layers of the screen to separate. This separation causes a mica-like surface to appear on your screen.
A lot of Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and Z Fold phones have suffered delamination, resulting in a bad looking screen and an unpleasant user experience.
Possible solutions
There is no solution to this problem unfortunately. The thing here to note is that foldable screen technology is still in its infancy. As a result, such technology will definitely have teething pains.
Taking the phone to a Samsung repair shop for a screen replacement, may temporarily fix the issue. But it always comes back after a while.
Takeaway
The first generation of foldable phones has been plagued with issues concerning not only their very high prices but also their durability.
Purchasing a phone for more than $1000 and having ugly lines appear on the screen is no fun. Especially for doing what a phone is supposed to do, which is folding and opening.
My advice is, hold off on buying these phones till the technology matures.
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I’m on vacation and this delamination has just started. And, is advancing very quickly. So, what the heck is Samsung saying??? My flip is only two years old!
You’re actually one of the lucky ones. I know people who had this delamination problem under 8 months. Samsung have so far being mute on this specific problem.
I’ve had my Z4 for about a year when it started to delaminate. I don’t like that Samsung has been silent on this issue and that they released very expensive phones that have this problem. They certainly could have put the equivalency of several years of use and folding of these phones in testing them and should have been aware if the problem, yet they released them for their customers distress. Shame on Samsung. There should be some amount of restitution even if the phone is past warranty. Does this problem exist on other brands of foldable phones?
Information on other brands are rather thin at the moment. This is because majority of people use Samsung and do not really trust foldables from other brands.
I have had 2 phones do do this. One was a flip 3 and after a year the delamination started. I replaced the phone after paying a deductible and received a flip 4 and with in a year it started doing it again. I will not pay another cent for a phone that is obviously defective and no warning about this problem was issued at the time of purchase. On a side note ever one that I know who as these phones have experienced the same problem. This is not a user mistreatment but a defect in the phone and they should be replaced at no charge or purchase price returned.
Nailed on bro.
I have a Z Fold3 with the same problem. I have I had this phone for 3 years and finally tired of looking at the worsening delamination problem. I was just about to go trade it in for the Z Fold5 but after going online and reading a lot of the reviews on these foldable phones, especially the Samsung Folds, I have decided to go for any other phone but the Folds. No more!!! Good job Samsung.