Samsung recently unveiled its newest foldable smartphones, the Galaxy Z Fold5 and the Galaxy Z Flip5. While these devices do not feature major upgrades in specifications, they’ve managed to garner significant attention due to an intriguing feature, namely the Waterdrop Hinge, or as Samsung has termed it, the “Flex Hinge”.
What exactly is the Waterdrop Hinge found on the latest Samsung foldables?
The Waterdrop Hinge (Flex Hinge) is quite an innovative development in the realm of foldable smartphone design. It gained popularity through the OPPO Find N series. When you fold the phone, the hinge forms a sleek, water-droplet or teardrop-like cavity, thus addressing the rather irritating gaps usually associated with traditional hinges.
This hinge not only enhances the phone’s aesthetic appeal but also increases its durability, shielding the internal components and the foldable screen from the realm of everyday use. Unlike your typical single-axis hinges, the Waterdrop Hinge flexes across multiple dimensions, giving the phone a slim and streamlined appearance.
What makes Samsung’s Flex Hinge Revolutionary?
First off, the biggest advantage of the Flex Hinge is that it is a “no gap” hinge.
The Flex Hinge successfully combats the gap issue common with older U-shaped hinges, which could allow dust and debris to infiltrate and damage the internal display. However, the new hinge offers a seamless design that delivers enhanced protection for the device.
Moreover, it addresses the creasing issue they faced with their earlier foldable devices. It reduces the stress on the display, resulting in a smoother and crease-free experience.
The Galaxy Z Flip5 and Z Fold5 are slimmer than their predecessors making them more compact and portable. The hinge design also allows the device to lie flat and offers a secure hold within a range of 75 to 115 degrees. When fully opened, the phones provide a standard angle ranging from approximately 178.5 to 181.5 degrees. While third-party accessories might impact the range of motion, careful handling can prevent any issues.
The Flex Hinge also enables Samsung foldables to be adjusted at different angles, unlocking new software applications and features for users to explore.
According to Samsung, users may experience a slightly loose feel when opening and closing the device and occasionally hear or feel some noise during operation. These characteristics are not defects but rather inherent features of the improved, smoother motion facilitated by the new hinge.
How does the new Samsung Flex Hinge work?
It features a new dual-axis hinge mechanism comprising three parts:
- flexible panel
- mechanical hinge
- display surface
While flexible OLED panels and folding mechanics have been widely adopted and are widely used in the industry, the display surface presents challenges due to its sensitivity to contamination, which affects both the cost and reliability of foldable devices.
The Waterdrop Hinge design has folding points on both sides of the waterdrop shape. This reduces the tension on the display. This creates compressive stress when the panel is folded, which keeps the display panel from getting damaged.
Simply put, the new hinge works like folding a piece of paper around a pencil. It makes sure the display folds neatly, keeps its shape, and does not put any tension on the screen. This unique method boosts the durability and reliability of foldable devices.
What are the benefits of the Samsung Flex Hinge
Slimmer Design with Greater Portability: The Galaxy Z Flip5 and Z Fold5 feature a slimmer and more portable design, thanks to the new hinge technology. The Z Flip5 is thinner than the Z Flip4, measuring 15.1mm when folded (vs. 17.1mm for Flip4). Similarly, the Z Fold5 is slimmer than the Z Fold4, with a folded thickness of 13.4mm (vs. 15.8mm for Fold4). The updated hinge contributes to a more compact and convenient form factor for both devices.
Improved Motion: The Flex hinge technology provides a smoother and improved motion compared to previous models in the Z series. This may result in the hinge feeling slightly looser when opening and closing the device.
Reduced Gap when Closed: The new hinge technology allows the screen to close completely, virtually eliminating the gap between the two halves of the device.
Flex Mode: The Flex mode is designed to function within a standard range of 75 to 115 degrees. Operating the hinge outside of this range may impact its ability to securely hold its angle.
Reduced Crease Size: The Galaxy Z Flip5 and Z Fold5 have a new hinge design that may make the crease on their screens appear slightly larger compared to previous models. However, the depth of the crease is reduced, resulting in a flatter appearance when the screen is unfolded.
Fully Opened Angle: The standard angle when the Galaxy Z Flip5 and Fold5 are fully opened ranges between approximately 178.5 to 181.5 degrees. However, third-party covers and accessories may affect the range of motion, so caution should be exercised when using them to avoid excessive force when opening or closing the device.
A New Standard for Foldable Phones
Interestingly, the technology behind the Waterdrop Hinge isn’t entirely new. It was first seen on the Motorola Razr 2019 and was later used by a number of Chinese companies. In fact, OPPO popularized this hinge through their Find N series foldable and now we can see almost every company launching their foldable with this hinge.
Despite Samsung holding the patent for the Waterdrop Hinge as early as 2016, it didn’t immediately integrate this hinge into its devices. The company seems to have taken the time to watch and learn from what others did. Even though it faced problems with the U-shaped hinge at first and eventually made it better, it looks like the Waterdrop Hinge’s slimmer profile was too hard to resist.
Now, with the inclusion of the Flex Hinge in the Galaxy Z Fold5 and Flip5, Samsung has kept pace with the trend. The Waterdrop Hinge promises a smoother display and a thinner body, which is a big step toward a more seamless foldable experience. As we wait for the next generation of Samsung foldables, we can expect more upgrades and improvements in terms of specs.
The development of the Waterdrop Hinge clearly illustrates the dynamic nature of the smartphone market, where innovation and competition consistently drive progress. As technology continues to evolve, foldable smartphones are becoming more sophisticated, durable, and user-friendly.
This certainly makes for an exciting era in the tech world, and it’s going to be rather intriguing to see what the future holds for foldable devices. After all, we might see more than 100 million foldables being shipped globally within the next five years!
If you are interested to read more about foldables and the Chinese market, you might want to check out why foldables are so popular in China right now, where Samsung along with brands like OPPO dominate.