The Galaxy Z Flip 4 has received a couple of design and build quality upgrades over the previous generation. It features Gorilla Glass Victus+ instead of Victus and sports a redesigned hinge. The phone has retained an Armor Aluminum frame and IPX8 water resistance rating, but the bigger question is whether or not it's just as resilient as the Galaxy Z Flip 3 released last year.
Samsung's new Galaxy Z Flip 4 was featured in a recent JerryRigEverything durability test video, and the results aren't all that surprising. The cover screen scratches at level 6 with deeper grooves at level 7, and users can still dent the foldable screen with their fingernails if they're not careful.
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 is surprisingly resilient against dust, despite the fact that it doesn't have a dust-resistance IP rating. The hinge design does a fantastic job keeping foreign objects and particles away from the internal mechanism, but speaking of the hinge, it doesn't seem to be quite as solid as it was last year.
Can the Galaxy Z Flip 4 bend the wrong way?
Last came the bend test, and although the Galaxy Z Flip 4 has a redesigned hinge that takes less internal space, it still seems strong enough to prevent the phone from breaking in half when pushed forcefully from the other side.
The phone does bend a bit, much like the Galaxy Z Flip 3 under similar circumstances, but alarmingly enough, an internal component near the hinge appears to snap or pop out when enough force is placed on the hinge from the back. However, even after all the abuse, this Samsung phone can still function without issues, even though it's a little bent at the end of it all.
In short, both the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Z Flip 4 can survive JerryRigEverything's durability and bend tests in a similar fashion, but the Z Flip 4 sounds like it might suffer from more internal damage in the process. Either way, it's still impressively strong given its foldable structure, and in fact, it's even tougher than some standard, non-foldable phones from other brands.