What just happened? We're coming up to two months since the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Z Fold 3 arrived, so it might seem a bit strange that Samsung has chosen now to release a durability test video putting the devices through their paces. In all likelihood, it's related to reports of cracks appearing in the Z Flip 3 that seemingly have no cause.
The video, posted on Samsung's website, shows the phones being put through four durability tests: environmental chamber, water resistance, S Pen usability, and folding test. The first of these is to ensure the handsets still work in a variety of climates. Water resistance is self-explanatory. The S-Pen test is to check the performance of the digitizer under the display, and the final test is to confirm they really can endure the claimed 200,000 folds---or around five years of use if folded and unfolded 100 times per day.
The video lasts just over a minute, so it's not exactly an in-depth look at the phones' durability in the same way JerryRigEverything pulls them apart. That particular YouTube channel has already put both the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Galaxy Z Fold 3 through a series of tests, and both did pretty well, showing that while they are more delicate than your standard flagship, they're likely the toughest foldable phones to date.
There have, however, been reports of the Z Flip 3's screen cracking for no apparent reason. 9To5Google writes that it happened to their review unit after a few days of no use. And some Redditors are reporting similar issues with their devices.
If you own a Galaxy Z Flip 3, it's advisable to be extra careful with the phone. We now know that Samsung will make sure that any warranty claims aren't false by checking all acceleration-based free-fall events, which engineers can access when assessing a claim.