SAMSUNG'S Z FLIP: IS THE PHYSICS BEHIND IT RELIABLE?

Bending glass. You heard it right. On February 11th, 2020, Samsung launched an operating glass-folding phone: The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip. Samsung mentioned this debacle was inspired by a lotus bloom; “the Hideaway Hinge is precisely articulated for a satisfying folding motion — even allowing you to adjust the folding angle.” 

Samsung Z Flip

           How does it work, though? How do the myriad laws of physics support this idea? It’s considerably simple actually. A German manufacturer, who practices in producing glass, has mentioned that anything can bend if it’s thin enough. You wouldn’t be able to bend a solid plank of wood but you’ve never hesitated to twist and bend an aching splinter - but you can only bend so much before it breaks. “You could imagine a metallic spring between every two atoms and the spring elongating when you stretch the two atoms apart,” says Erkka Frankberg, a researcher at Tampere University who studies the explicit forms of glass.

With this, Samsung has debuted a new form of glass; Samsung Ultra-Thin Glass (UTG) and has the intention to sell it to countless manufacturing companies around the world.

Glass is prone to scratches, though, and with it being tens of microns thick, the scratch becomes an even bigger threat. “If a piece of glass with a large enough scratch is bent with enough stress concentrated on a “pre-crack,” says Frankenberg, “it will propagate with the speed of sound and catastrophically go through the whole material.” Says Sean Hollister on The Verge. To avoid this, you should know that you’re not touching the glass of your Galaxy Z Flip when you use it. There is actually a protective plastic covering, shielding the vulnerable glass beneath. Even with this, there’s still going to be some visible scratches because plastic isn’t scratch proof. Just remember to take caution. I mean, who wouldn’t? It’s $1,380 dollars.

This legendary phone does come with some drawbacks. It isn’t waterproof like many of the up-to-date phones and is prone to dust. It contains magnets to secure the flip but you shouldn’t press too hard or the fragile sheet of glass could lose its durability. In addition to the scratch problem, Zack Nelson from the Youtube channel JerryRigEverything uploaded a video showcasing the lack of durability. He mentioned the Z Flip behaved as ‘damaged plastic’ and would scratch with a swipe of his fingernails to the point where the glass would have permanent markings.              Keep in mind, this isn’t the first glass flip phone to ever exist. Motorola launched its new Razr foldable phone this February too, costing $1,499. It’s more than the whopping $1,380 of the Z Flip, but is it worth it? Patrick Holland on CNet reviewed both these phones.              Holland stated they’re roughly the same size in width and height but the Razr has more weight to it. When folded, the Z Fip displays a “Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP” specializing in 2003 and when opened it has a taller 6.7-inch OLED screen. The Razr has only a 6.2-inch display when opened. Both phones close with ease but the Razr has a longer bottom body than the top and a prominent chin. The Z Flip closes and opens with a more satisfying sound, the ability to do it with one hand growing with experience. They both have external displays so you can answer calls or react to notifications even while the phone is folded closed. A small drawback with the Z Flip is that, quoted by Holland, it’s “on a whole other smudge level”. Joe Maring on AndroidCentral stated “The RAZR’s design is cool, but that’s about all it has going for it.” The RAZR was the first flip-phone foldable design, but the Z Flip is something actually worth buying. Not only does the screen for the Z Flip bend, but it allows the user to utilize their phone to the max by using two apps at a time. The technology for foldable screens is still in infancy, though. Why pay for a gadget which would excel in the future? If you’re looking to buy it, maybe wait a while. This is just the beginning of foldable smartphones and in a few months, they could come out with something which would exceed expectations. Still, the physics behind it is pretty cool if that’s anything to go by. This is our first official step into a fully technology-based future.