Samsung unveiled the flagship Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphones at the Galaxy Unpacked event last week alongside the Galaxy S9 series tablets and Galaxy Watch 6 series smartwatches. This year’s Galaxy Z series foldable phones bring several improvements over the previous generation, but they lack some durability requirements. Like the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4, the new models also lacks dust resistance and retain an IPX8 build. Now, a Samsung executive has reportedly stated that the company is working to add dust resistance to its foldable smartphones.
As per a report by the Korean publication BizWatch, Mijung Noh, Corporate Vice President at Samsung Electronics, confirmed during a press conference that the company is working on adding dust resistance for its foldables. The report quotes Noh as saying “We are well aware of consumer demand for dust proofing, and we are making various efforts to achieve this, but due to the nature of foldables, there are many moving parts, so dust proofing is difficult” (translated from Korean). He reportedly added that consumers have to “wait a little longer” for dust-resistance to arrive for foldable phones.
A dustproof folding phone will surely give Samsung an upper hand over the competitors. The Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5 and last-generation foldable smartphones from Samsung — Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 — all have IPX8-rated build. This year’s models were rumoured to come with an official IP58 rating for dust and water resistance, but that did not happen.
The Motorola Edge 40 and Asus Zenfone 10 have IP68 dust and water resistance. The Pixel Fold, on the other hand, has been certified as IPX8 water-resistant. The iPhone 14 series models have IP68 water and dust resistance score. Meanwhile, the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra and Motorola Razr 40 have a water-resistant IP52 build.
The Galaxy Z Fold 5’s price starts at Rs. 1,54,999 in India for the 256GB storage variant. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 costs Rs. 99,999 for the 256GB storage model. Both models will go on sale in the country on August 11.