Google’s Pixel 11 Pro Fold Fails Durability Test, Raising Design Concerns
Google’s new foldable smartphone, the ‘Pixel 11 Pro Fold’, has come under serious scrutiny over its durability shortly after entering the market. The phone’s structural weakness was exposed in a recent durability test conducted by the popular technology-focused YouTube channel ‘JerryRigEverything’.
The test was conducted by the channel’s lead presenter, Zack, who had tested the durability of Samsung’s ‘Galaxy Z Fold 8’ around two weeks earlier. While Samsung’s device successfully passed that test, Google’s latest foldable failed to impress.
Repeating the Same Design Flaw
As usual, the test began with a scratch test to assess the display’s resistance to marks, a flame test in which the screen was exposed to intense heat, and a test involving dust and sand to examine the hinge’s resistance to debris.
However, the major failure occurred during the ‘bend test’, in which the phone was forcefully bent backward by hand. Under pressure, the phone broke in the middle across the antenna line.
Analysts said Google has repeated a similar design flaw across four consecutive generations of its foldable smartphones. Because the body is structurally weaker around the area where the antenna is positioned, the devices have repeatedly broken at the same point when subjected to pressure.
Front Glass Comes Completely Loose
The latest test revealed not only a fracture across the antenna line but also another serious structural problem. Under extreme pressure, the front glass of the Pixel 11 Pro Fold completely separated from the main frame and came loose.
It is worth noting that last year’s ‘Pixel 10 Pro Fold’ was completely destroyed at the very end of its durability test after its battery was damaged and began emitting smoke. Although no similar fire-related incident occurred this time, the structural weakness of the new model was clearly exposed.
Repeated design flaws in a premium smartphone with a high price tag are putting Google on the back foot in the increasingly competitive foldable-phone market.
//DBTech/BMT/OR//
