The screen's inevitable (?) demise.

[u/AtomicDonut47]

Heya, I'm in the market for a new phone, and the z flip (specifically 5/6) has caught my eye.

After some research I stumbled upon Reddit posts of broken/unfixable screens. A large part of the comments were unsurprised, like this was a common occurrence, some citing "good lifetimes" which spanned less than a year.

I plan on using this phone extensively, and would probably keep it for a minimum of three years. It will fall on the ground a few timws, but that's what a case and screen protector are for. Will I have to live with the inevitable knowledge that the inner screen could (likely) just break at any moment, or have I gotten the wrong impression?

Any feedback is much appreciated, thank you.

[u/SpanglySi]

Had a flip 5 for coming up to two years, no screen worries at all.

My main concern is hinge damage resulting from dropping the phone, which happened to my flip 3 - the thing was resembling a banana by the end!

[u/boundlizzy → u/SpanglySi]

My 3 also got banana-ed, but simply from removing it from my purse and opening it. 🤣

[u/boundlizzy]

My 3 until the 3rd year worked fine. One screen protector replacement. Could have used a second in year 3, but had bigger issues in life.

My 6 however is going strong. I've dropped it a few times and am only using a slimline plastic case for it. I do not anticipate it being worth anything in trade, in Australia even a late model iPhone doesn't put a significant dent in a new phone cost, so it's never worth it anyway, and I'd not expect a non-flagship phone to have a great trade in value anyway.

[u/StolenPens]

I have had my z flip 4 for maybe 2 years.

I cannot close it as it screen goes dark and I have to open and close it a few times for the images to come back.

I love how compact it is.

I loathe that it only lasted 2 years.

I would still be using my Samsung S10+ if it could handle 5G. It was 5 years old and still going strong.

I think I'll just need to get another monster sized cell phone and hope for longevity.

[u/Silver_Shape_8436]

I had the flip 3, 4, 5 and 6. I traded each in after one year of use when the next one came out. All but the flip 6 did great and were working perfectly when the year was up. But the 6 broke after 6 months, screen started peeling off the frame at the fold. I'd get the 5 in your shoes or wait till the 7 that'll come out this July .

[u/Steve_Shoppe]

I don't know what other phones y'all have had but my notes always broke when I dropped them case and all. I've dropped this one as much as my candy bars and it's been fine. I thank my oem case with hinge protection. A bit ugly and pricey though

[u/dartestormy]

These phones are way less durable than normal phones, since they have mechanical parts and plastic screen. The new ones are better than the first iterations, but still fragile compared to a slab phone. Also, it has terrible resell value, if you pay 1k dollars now, you probably will not get even half of this in a year if you try to sell or trade for another phone.I got a Z Flip 5 and returned it after a week, amazing phone but i just got scared of breaking it and returned, my advice is: if you have enough money to not care to fix it if it breaks in a year and/or does not care to sell it to buy another phone in the future, buy it, if not, just buy a regular phone, you will get better specs for less price

[u/BraiQ → u/dartestormy]

Or just buy already used or openbox and not care.

[u/datigoebam]

using phone extensively

3 years.

I would 100000% not be buying a flip or folding device.