Many people still think that foldable phones are inherently much more fragile than traditional panel-based devices. This is despite the fact that foldable phones have had five years to evolve and overcome their growing pains. But the question remains: are foldable phones fragile?
We decided to find out for ourselves, by putting the Honor Magic V3 through a series of durability tests. Let’s see, once and for all, whether foldable phones really are behind slab-style phones in this all-important regard. If you’re ready, grab some popcorn and press play below.
So here's what happened. We tested the water resistance, first in terms of submersion, and then its ability to withstand water pressure. Then we put it in a washing machine to verify a claim Honor made that it can survive something like that without issue. It turned out to be true. Unfortunately, we didn't have a hydraulic press handy to verify the marker's other internal test.
We then froze the Magic V3 in a block of ice, to test its ability to withstand extreme temperatures. The phone passed all of these tests with flying colors. We tried to scratch the plastic protector applied to the foldable screen, and it scratched, very easily, with just our fingernails. This was just the replaceable protector, so it's not as bad as it sounds.
The Magic V3’s hinge probably took the most abuse. We put 5kg of weight on it and it didn’t budge. We then used the phone as a hammer, denting it a bit but without affecting its normal functioning. And finally, we did some drop tests and we won’t spoil them for you – be sure to watch the video all the way to the end to see the results.