Galaxy Z Fold 3 owners complain that the screens are cracking for no reason, just as warranties...

[midian182]

In brief: Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold folding phones have come a long way since the first iteration of the device, especially the excellent Z Fold 4. But a significant number of owners of the previous generation Z Fold 3 are reporting cracks, lines, and dead pixels appearing in the folding screen for no obvious reason, and many of the devices are out of warranty.

Samsung's community forums, Twitter, and Reddit, are filled with stories of users encountering problems with the Galaxy Z Fold 3 screen, from cracks forming for no apparent reason to thick black lines appearing in the crease and slowly getting more prominent. Virtually all of the users say these problems were not caused by accidental drops, impact damage, or heavy-handedness.

Credit: u/Snoo_23916

Released in August 2021, Samsung said the Galaxy Z Fold 3 could be folded 200,000 times, which equals 100 folds per day for five years. But many owners are claiming this to be far from accurate. PhoneArena notes that one Redditor, who claims to have only opened the phone about 2-3 times per week, said their handset cracked along the center fold after 15 months of careful ownership. Another who suffered the same problem said Samsung asked $800 for an out-of-warranty repair.

Credit: Mizderrung

Even phones that break in their warranty period could end up costing users if Samsung decides it wasn't the result of software or hardware defects. One person said their Fold 3 developed a crack in the fold after just three months, but Samsung is asking $700 to repair it as the company claims to have found an impact point and dead pixels caused by a fall, something the owner insists never happened.

Avoid🚫🚫 @SamsungUK@Samsung Z FOLD 3
only 5 months old and the screen is starting to slowly crack, down the crease after opening and closing, not good for a phone meant to fold!!
Both @EE & @Samsung are not helping a simple warranty issue here,
Crap service & trying to charge pic.twitter.com/OI3rooCulF

— DC WORLD (@_DCWorld) May 3, 2022

Early reviewers discovered screen issues in the original Galaxy Fold before it launched, causing Samsung to delay the release by months. While foldables are a lot more durable these days, folding devices remain more delicate than standard handsets. But no device that cost almost $2,000 at launch should be breaking for no reason around a year or so after purchase.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/97631-galaxy-z-fold-3-owners-complain-screens-cracking.html

 

[psycros]

"But no device that cost almost $2,000 at launch should be breaking for no reason around a year or so after purchase."

Apple: "First time?"

 

[Neatfeatguy]

You bought a phone with a folding screen.....

What did you expect to happen? Morons.

 

[Nobina]

Just send it to Samsung for repair and pay $800, what's the issue?

 

[letsgoiowa]

I expect the Fold 5 is going to have a better time with its "water drop" hinge that should eliminate the crease and make folding much more consistent. I've had my Fold 3 for 4 months (I think?) and the screen protector is popping off a teeny bit in the top crease and it won't open 100% flat like it used to. I got it for $600 so I was ok taking the risk, but if it develops a problem like this, I'm just going to buy an S20 FE again.

 

[p51d007]

Take a piece of metal. Fold it in half. Open it. Repeat...after a while it will break.
Same with these folding screens.

 

[kira setsu]

I expect the Fold 5 is going to have a better time with its "water drop" hinge that should eliminate the crease and make folding much more consistent. I've had my Fold 3 for 4 months (I think?) and the screen protector is popping off a teeny bit in the top crease and it won't open 100% flat like it used to. I got it for $600 so I was ok taking the risk, but if it develops a problem like this, I'm just going to buy an S20 FE again.

day1 fold3 owner here, if that screen protector peels anymore than it already has...take it off, took mine off after a year and havent had an issue,

once it starts to peel it'll add stress to the screen and probably break it in enough time.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

LOL I'll take "what is material fatigue" for $1000 Alex!

Cell phones are DISPOSABLE. Stop spending four digits on trash. And especially stop buying SamDung trash. Swollen batteries, cracked screens, failing appliances made with cheap plastic, TVs that blow their caps, all just out of warranty, of course.

 

[Benchsalyst]

You bought a phone with a folding screen.....

What did you expect to happen? Morons.

I would say , you bought a Samsung , more over at 1700 € what ...
And I always had a samsung until my phone which was bought in 2018 .

 

[Benchsalyst]

LOL I'll take "what is material fatigue" for $1000 Alex!

Cell phones are DISPOSABLE. Stop spending four digits on trash. And especially stop buying SamDung trash. Swollen batteries, cracked screens, failing appliances made with cheap plastic, TVs that blow their caps, all just out of warranty, of course.

I would reproach more prices and maybe the planned obsolescence

 

[Neatfeatguy]

LOL I'll take "what is material fatigue" for $1000 Alex!

Cell phones are DISPOSABLE. Stop spending four digits on trash. And especially stop buying SamDung trash. Swollen batteries, cracked screens, failing appliances made with cheap plastic, TVs that blow their caps, all just out of warranty, of course.

I had a Samsung Sync Master 226CW (I think was the model number) monitor that I got 14+ some years ago. It was 1680x1050 monitor and it looked amazing compared to any other monitor for sale at Best Buy. So I got it and it worked great!

I used it for about 5 years when I started having issues with the screen going black or flickering off/on after starting it up if the monitor wasn't in use for a while. Usually after a minute or two and things warmed up the monitor stayed on 95% of the time, that 5% it would go to a black screen and a quick push of the power button would get the screen image to come back on. I eventually got irritated by the functionality of it and my step-dad (having been an electrician for many years) suggested it's probably a capacitor problem.

Looked up the model on line and sure enough, folks posting about bulging caps on the power board around 3-5 years after ownership. I found a shop on Amazon that sold sets of capacitors for monitors and they had mine listed so spent $18 (shipping included) on capacitors and about 90 minutes of my time pulling the monitor apart, removing all the caps on the power board and putting the new ones on. After that the monitor ran like new and I used it for maybe another 2 years. I then gifted it to my younger brother (he was on some 900p monitor and he wanted something better, but didn't have money to buy anything) and he used it for another 5 years before finally retiring it. In all, the monitor worked longer on the better caps I put on it than the ones it came with from the manufacturer.

The only Samsung item I've purchased since then has been my S8 that's been in my life for almost 5.5 years now. The battery is showing its age, but still works well enough for my daily phone. I haven't had any real big issues with Samsung as of yet, but I wouldn't doubt it if folks had issues with capacitors on their TV/monitors based on the experience I had.

 

[Uncle Al]

What's the matter .... never heard of planned obsolescence?

 

[Mr Majestyk]

I always said right from the release of the first version, I wouldn't even consider one until the 5th or 6th generation. I shudder at the nightmare waiting for people stupid enough to buy Google's folding phone when it arrives. Google QC is non-existent.

 

[quadibloc]

Normally, I would suspect serious malfeasance on the part of the smartphone manufacturer, if the screens of phones suddenly started cracking just after the phone was out of warranty.
Since these are folding phones, however, it seems that the only thing that happened was that they figured the term of the warranty just about right.
Would anyone really expect that a display screen that gets bent when you put your phone in your pocket, and flattened out when you use it would last for years and years? The technology just is not there. Semi-rigid clear plastic materials, when flexed many times, will fail in a process similar to metal fatigue, and that has not been resolved by the development of any fantastic new materials.
There are clear plastic materials that could last for years and years of being flexed. Like Saran Wrap. But that is far too soft and fragile to use for a display.
I think it's time to reconsider folding phone designs that are based on the phone having two screens, with a hinge design and bezel design intended to make the gap between the two screens, when the phone is unfolded, a small one. I know that's inferior to a true folding phone, but it's the best we can do with adequate durability at this time.

 

[Digitalzone]

I had a Samsung Sync Master 226CW (I think was the model number) monitor that I got 14+ some years ago. It was 1680x1050 monitor and it looked amazing compared to any other monitor for sale at Best Buy. So I got it and it worked great!

I used it for about 5 years when I started having issues with the screen going black or flickering off/on after starting it up if the monitor wasn't in use for a while. Usually after a minute or two and things warmed up the monitor stayed on 95% of the time, that 5% it would go to a black screen and a quick push of the power button would get the screen image to come back on. I eventually got irritated by the functionality of it and my step-dad (having been an electrician for many years) suggested it's probably a capacitor problem.

Looked up the model on line and sure enough, folks posting about bulging caps on the power board around 3-5 years after ownership. I found a shop on Amazon that sold sets of capacitors for monitors and they had mine listed so spent $18 (shipping included) on capacitors and about 90 minutes of my time pulling the monitor apart, removing all the caps on the power board and putting the new ones on. After that the monitor ran like new and I used it for maybe another 2 years. I then gifted it to my younger brother (he was on some 900p monitor and he wanted something better, but didn't have money to buy anything) and he used it for another 5 years before finally retiring it. In all, the monitor worked longer on the better caps I put on it than the ones it came with from the manufacturer.

The only Samsung item I've purchased since then has been my S8 that's been in my life for almost 5.5 years now. The battery is showing its age, but still works well enough for my daily phone. I haven't had any real big issues with Samsung as of yet, but I wouldn't doubt it if folks had issues with capacitors on their TV/monitors based on the experience I had.

I still have Samsung SyncMaster 206BW. The colors got little bit washed out, its just subjective perception. Still working and stays in family. But I easily found the comments on bulging caps too.

 

[toooooot]

What's the matter .... never heard of planned obsolescence?

It is not planned obsolescence. We simply dont have materials that could sustain countless bending without degradation.
There is this alloy that us often used for making flexible wires. If you try to break it, you have to bend it for a long time before you can take a piece off. These screens are surely can take a lot of folding, but they are 100% guaranteed to break.
The right question to ask people complaining is what they thought before buying it? Did they just expect these to last five years or what? 1 year is a good period for this new technology.

 

[MaxSmarties]

That’s happening when you make something that folds for the sake of it