What Display Daily thinks: Apparently, it isn’t a grain of sand that irritates an oyster and makes it create a pearl, it is an intrusion by a foreign body of some sort, or bacteria. But, let’s not give the grain of sand the brush-off here because it could be what hurts foldables the most as they gain in interest and find their into consumer hands.
That may be an exaggeration. There isn’t enough data to make any concrete assessment on the dust-resistance of foldables, but there is enough discussion to make buyer’s foldable-shy. It also seem as if it could be a big opportunity for whoever can get the first realistic ratings for dust-resistance for their foldable displays.
Foldable phones have a 50-70% premium price point, and there is a world of bloggers and influencers who do nothing but talk about smartphones, relying on their relationships with smartphone makers. No one wants to rock the boat here. Foldables are the post-iPhone era devices. You just have to ask the question, how long before the IPX8 rating becomes a cause concern for consumers? Is it not an issue or, is it not an issue because the early-adopters are enthusiasts who will tend to work around teething problems?
The issue is worth tracking.
Samsung’s IPX8 Rating for the Fold and Flip Irks the Internet
I used The Verge and Android Police as the two main sources of information on this topic. And, if it is on these two sites, the discussion is spread out across most tech sites.
The Verge reported that Samsung is addressing the issue of dust resistance in its foldable phone lineup. TM Roh, the president of Samsung’s mobile business, was said to have recently spoke about the company’s efforts to make its foldable phones more resistant to dust, during a press conference following the Unpacked event. Roh acknowledged the consumer demand for dust-proofing and assured that Samsung is actively working to achieve this goal.
The challenge of dust resistance in foldable phones arises due to their moving parts. Unlike traditional rigid phones that often come with an IP68 rating, indicating resistance to both dust and water to a healthy degree, Samsung’s foldable phones are rated IPX8, which denotes full submersion in water but lacks any dust resistance. However, the company has incorporated brushes in the hinges to help keep dust out, even though it does not reflect any formal dust resistance rating.
Android Police, which tends to be a little more favorable to Samsung, says the current rating of IPX8 does not necessarily indicate that Samsung’s devices are completely devoid of dust resistance. Manufacturers may choose not to test their devices for dust-proof qualities, but that doesn’t mean the device is vulnerable to dust. The IPX8 rating may suggest the manufacturer’s focus on water resistance, which in this case, implies the device’s capability to withstand continuous immersion in water.
Reporting on smartphones is very similar to reporting on AMD versus Intel or AMD versus Nvidia GPUs, it is tribal and subjective, often dependent on the personal preferences of the people writing a blog post or posting a video or posting on social media. It is a distortion of the broader market in some ways because there is an ecosphere of dependencies built around the success of new phones, and new form factors. The environment feeds off of speculation of what is yet to be, and being ahead of the pack on a story or rumor about a technology. That could be the case with the kerfuffle around Samsung’s foldables and dust-proofing, but I doubt it. It looks like there is something to keep an eye on here.
