The Google Pixel Fold launched to strong reviews earlier this week, but it seems that some early adopters are already dealing with broken displays on Google’s first foldable device.
Over on Reddit, some people are posting photos of their inner screens breaking after a single day of use. User floatingOnTheFourth posted a picture earlier today of the inner screen cracked down the middle, with cracks moving from the center outward.
User crazymojo83 posted a photo earlier this week of a similar issue, with cracks spreading from the middle of a Google Pixel Fold. The user said that a case, with accompanying photos, was made with Google and that it would take 24 to 48 hours for the company to reply. Luckily, the reply came within the day and crazymojo83 posted an update saying that it indeed looked to be a defective display and that Google would ship over a replacement.
CNET has two review samples sent courtesy of Google and neither has exhibited display cracking issues, but Ron Amadeo of ArsTechnica posted a story earlier this week saying his Pixel Fold’s screen became damaged due to a small speck of debris. Because the Pixel Fold’s screen protector for the internal display doesn’t cover the entire OLED display underneath, Amadeo posits that the pressure from the the small speck led to his screen breaking. He also attributed this to the Pixel Fold folding completely flat, with no bumpers or railings that would’ve allowed for a few millimeters of space in the closed position.
Google didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Issues with inner foldable displays aren’t unheard of. Other foldable phones, like the Samsung Galaxy Fold and Flip series, have also run into issues of inner-screen peeling and other hinge-related breaks. Early press samples of the first Galaxy Fold had so many issues that Samsung delayed the launch of the device.
Even though Samsung has been in the foldable game for four years, and is about to launch its next-generation foldable phones next month during its Samsung Unpacked event in Korea, users on the Galaxy Fold subreddit continue to report problems with their Galaxy Fold 4 and Galaxy Flip 4 devices. It also seems that Samsung has become less willing to service Fold 4 devices with the same urgency it did with its earlier models, according to the commenters.
Samsung didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Foldable screens present a difficult engineering problem. The fragile displays don’t have a layer of glass covering them, like on a traditional smartphone. Instead, manufacturers opt for Ultra Thin Glass, a superthin glass that allows for folding at extreme angles. On top of that, manufacturers add a plastic screen protector from the factory to protect the UTG further. Even then, if bits of material get under the plastic screen protector or UTG, they can put pressure on the screen, causing damage.
Google is making Pixel Fold replacement parts available on iFixit, if you want to try fixing any phone breakage issues yourself.
