C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
- A Korean study has revealed that the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is thinner than actually claimed.
- The study also found that other recent book-style foldables were thicker than advertised.
- This comes after reports that the Galaxy Z Fold 7 was thinner than the HONOR Magic V5, which claims to be the thinnest foldable.
HONOR says the Magic V5 is the world’s thinnest foldable phone, but the company uses a dubious measurement method to make this claim. Now, a Korean study has shown that all recent book-style foldable phones, bar the Galaxy Z Fold 7, are actually thicker than claimed.
The Korean Consumer-Centered Enterprise Association (via Business Korea) measured a variety of recent foldable phones with a micrometer and found that only the Galaxy Z Fold 7 was thinner than officially claimed. Samsung claims the device is 8.9mm thick, but the association measured it at 8.82mm.
There’s bad news for rival foldables, though. The association found that the HONOR Magic V5, vivo X Fold 5, Xiaomi Mix Fold 4, and HUAWEI Mate X6 were all thicker than originally claimed. The Mate X6 was 0.62mm thicker than advertised, followed by the X Fold 5 (0.57mm) and the Magic V5 (0.54mm). This doesn’t sound like much, but it can make the difference for manufacturers claiming they have the world’s thinnest foldable phone. Check out the table below, which shows the claimed thickness in the second column and the measured thickness in the third column.
The report acknowledged that some brands measure their phones without including the inner protective screen layers. HONOR officially measures its device without accounting for inner or outer screen layers. This measurement method is particularly problematic as the inner protective screen layer is considered a permanent part of the phone. Consumers are warned not to peel off this film and that only repair agents should remove it.
Do you care that foldable phones are slightly thicker than claimed?
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I’d still urge you to take these results with a tiny pinch of salt, as Samsung Electronics is listed as a member of this association. Nevertheless, this isn’t a good look for many recent foldable phones. So we hope these manufacturers switch to a more consumer-friendly method of measuring their phones.
This isn’t the only questionable measurement method we’ve seen, either. We recently discovered that HONOR, HUAWEI, OPPO, and vivo weigh their foldables without these inner films. That’s something to remember when brands brag about having the lightest foldable phone on the market.
