Samsung Display’s foldable OLED passes 500,000-fold test

A Samsung Display official promotes Bureau Veritas' verification of its OLED panel’s durability after passing a 500,000-fold test in this handout photo, released Tuesday. Courtesy of Samsung Display

Samsung Display’s foldable OLED for Galaxy Z Fold 7 has passed a 500,000-fold test, the equivalent of about 10 years of normal usage, as average users open their phones about 100 times a day, the company said Tuesday.

The panel was tested and verified by global certification company Bureau Veritas. For the new panel, Samsung Display raised its durability testing standard from 200,000 to 500,000 folds for the Galaxy Z Fold 7, 2.5 times its previous benchmark.

According to Bureau Veritas, the test was conducted over 13 days at 25 degrees Celsius and the panel remained fully functional after 500,000 folds.

Folding a panel 500,000 times while maintaining function means the phone would last more than 10 years for average users and over six years for heavy users who fold and unfold more than 200 times a day. The result demonstrates that the durability of foldable panels is no longer a limiting factor for the lifespan of foldable smartphones, Samsung Display said.

For the new panel, the company used a shock-resistant structure, inspired by the design of bulletproof glass and comprising multiple layers of strengthened glass and plastic film, to absorb and disperse impact energy.

Applying this concept, Samsung Display increased the thickness of its outermost glass by 50 percent and introduced a new high-elastic adhesive to offer over four times the recovery performance compared to the previous material.

“As foldable OLED enters its seventh year of commercialization, we’ve achieved another meaningful breakthrough in both durability and design,” said Lee Ho-jung, head of Samsung Display’s Mobile Display Product Planning Team.

“This new panel not only builds consumer confidence in foldable OLED durability but also underscores the technological advantage that makes Samsung Display distinguished in the industry.”