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The Galaxy Z Fold 7 shows off an impressive design that helps it stand out as one of the best foldables you can buy. However, this design comes with some downsides that, honestly, are going to make repairing the phone a lot more difficult than it should be.
I used to work at a Samsung repair store and usually, Samsung phones were simple enough to fix. Many people could do the base repairs themselves if they were brave enough. However, in a recent video, iFixit revealed the inner workings of the Z Fold 7 and even a seasoned repairman would balk at the process.
Z Fold7 Teardown! Beautiful, Fragile, and a Repair Nightmare - YouTube
The new Z Fold is not a phone that the majority of people can fix at home. The complexity and, in some cases, danger of damage to the parts should dissuade anyone from attempting a repair.
For that reason it’s imperative to know how to protect your new Galaxy Z Fold 7 to allow you to put off a repair for as long as possible.
What makes the Z Fold 7 so hard to repair?
Repairing a phone is, at its core, pretty simple when you know how to do it. However, it is also very easy to do something wrong and end up causing more damage to the device.
When it comes to the Z Fold 7, the two biggest risks are the batteries and the inner display.
The first thing that concerns me is the pair of lithium-ion batteries in the phone, split across both halves of the device. These batteries are impressively thin, but that comes with its own major risk when trying to remove them.
Firstly, Samsung appears confident that repairers can remove the batteries easily with the included tab pull system, but that’s never really been the case. Even with a healthy amount of alcohol (for the glue, not you) it still requires a fair amount of force to pull them out.
This can lead to the battery bending in the process, which thicker batteries can usually take without too much issue. The thinner a battery is, the less durable it is, which leads to an increased chance of the inner layer being pierced or breached.
If this happens, then the chance of a fire is much higher. Battery fires are no joke. Not only are they difficult to put out, the speed at which they occur can take people by surprise.
Removing the battery is only one issue; the other is down to just how fragile the inner display is. As you can see in the video, removing the outer rim is a tedious process and will likely lead to damage to the phone's chassis.
This is bad enough, but the inner screen is by no means durable, so you can’t just take a working one out and put it back in. Even if you do have a new screen, placing it in a damaged chassis is asking for issues, as any warping, dents or deep scratches would likely break the new screen.
As such, you may have to fully replace the chassis as well, adding further complexity and expense to the repair.
What can we do to protect the Galaxy Z Fold 7?
It is important to note that the Galaxy Z Fold 7 isn’t without its strengths, and the phone is more durable than you would expect.
In his recent breakdown of the Z Fold 7, JerryRigEverything showed that the phone can take a surprising amount of punishment, and the outer display does match typical flagship phones when it comes to scratch resistance.
Not only that, Samsung has claimed that the phone can handle 500,000 folds before the hinge starts facing problems.
However, there are still some steps that you can take to keep your new phone safe and to make sure you avoid the repair shop for as long as possible.
First, up is something that I have always recommended: Make sure you get a case for your phone. We have a breakdown of some of the best Galaxy Z Fold 7 cases, with options for all tastes. This will help protect the outer display and the chassis from any damage that could impair the device.
You also want to make sure that you keep the battery healthy so that you avoid needing to have it replaced. The main thing to do is to avoid completely draining your phone or charging it fully every time.
Instead, you want to keep the power level between 20-80%, which you can enable through adaptive charging in the settings. It's equally important to be aware of extreme temperature changes, since being too hot or too cold can affect performance and cause damage over extended periods of time.
The inner display is slightly more difficult because it’s softer than other screens and can show scratches from even a fingernail. Thankfully, the 6.3-inch outer display does mitigate this, with the increased size making it slightly more useful than on other Samsung foldables.
Really, though, the best thing you can do for the inner screen is just be careful when handling it, and keep the phone folded when not in use. Thankfully, if you do cause damage, Samsung does offer one free replacement of the inner screen protector, while subsequent replacements cost around $19.
Hopefully, these tips will help you keep your phone safe, but let us know if you’ve had any issues with your device. Alternatively, if you’ve already tried to repair the Galaxy Z Fold 7, let us know how it went and what your experience was.
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