The waterdrop hinge allows a foldable phone to fold flat and is believed to be the reason why the screen’s crease is also less visible. With the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2, the hinge has also been credited for allowing the foldable phone to be thinner, as well. One would think that Samsung, being an expert in displays, would have already employed such a design by now. Apparently, the company looked into it but ultimately decided against the option.
Display Supply Chain Consultant’s Ross Young revealed (via SamMobile) that Samsung did test something similar to a waterdrop hinge design during its R&D phase. It found out, however, that adopting this kind of hinge would mean dropping Samsung’s prized IPX8 rating for something that’s just “water-resistant.” Considering Samsung’s policy of making expensive phones rightly waterproof, that just wouldn’t do. We first heard rumbles about this topic from etnews back in March 2022.
To be fair, Samsung may have chosen the correct trade-offs, at least for now. Despite not being exactly pretty, the hinge Samsung uses doesn’t take away any critical functionality and isn’t less durable than waterdrop hinges. The crease is still a problem, but every iteration seems to improve the situation bit by bit. This just shows that we still have a ways to go before we have the perfect, flat-folding foldable phone, and Samsung hopefully hasn’t given up yet on making sure that happens. The rise of other foldable phones is also a good motivator for Samsung not to rest on its laurels and instead keep pushing the envelope until it develops the perfect combination.