If you were concerned about the structural integrity of foldable glass displays before, this article is only going to reinforce your concern. On Sunday, PhoneArena received an email from a Galaxy Z Fold 3 owner whose screen cracked for seemingly no reason. The user claims she never dropped the phone, and yet an enormous crack has appeared down the center of the display.
The Galaxy Z Fold 3 owner told PhoneArena that she got in touch with Samsung shortly after the screen cracked. Samsung referred her to a uBreakiFix electronics repair store, which then offered to repair her screen for $800. That’s $400 less than what Samsung is charging for a new Galaxy Z Fold 3 would cost on its website right now.
Most concerning is that this isn’t an isolated incident among Galaxy Z Fold 3 owners.
Last month, a Redditor shared a similar story about their Z Fold 3 cracking along the fold after 15 months of “careful ownership.”
“15 months in, opened the screen to show a friend who was interested and heard a cracking sound as it was nearly fully opened run along the centre fold. (Phone was not dropped),” wrote the Fold owner. “The right-hand screen no longer responds to any input, the left-hand does. Just saw the price to repair and that is shocking. Pretty gutted as loved the phone and in all honesty, I rarely opened the phone, maybe 2-3 times a week if that.”
Back in November, yet another Z Fold 3 owner reported a cracked screen. They had only owned the device for three months, and it cracked right down the seam when they opened it. The owner claims that Samsung offered to repair the phone under warranty, but upon receiving the phone, Samsung found an “impact point” and charged the owner $700.
Given that Samsung is at the forefront of the folding phone revolution, stories like these aren’t going to convince skeptics to give the new form factor a chance.
