A detailed disassembly of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 exposes a persistent issue with dust ingress at the hinge, despite the device’s water resistance and improved materials, raising concerns over longevity and practical use.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 may be its most polished foldable to date, but a teardown has highlighted a familiar weakness: dust. While the phone’s IP48 rating provides solid protection against water, it does not make the device dust-tight. The “4” in the rating covers only particles larger than 1mm, leaving fine dust and sand free to enter more exposed parts of the handset. Samsung itself advises users to keep its foldables away from sand and dust.
During disassembly, testers introduced UV-reactive powder with particles around 0.04mm into the hinge area. That is far smaller than the threshold covered by the certification, and even ordinary beach sand, at roughly 0.16mm, can still work its way into the mechanism. After repeated opening and closing, the hinge began to creak and grind, and the device no longer opened smoothly.
The results reinforce a long-running problem for foldable phones. Their hinges remain vulnerable because they must move while staying slim, which makes complete sealing difficult. Samsung says the Fold 8’s hinge is rated for 500,000 folds, and the handset uses materials such as Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3 and Flex Titanium display technology to improve durability. But those gains do not remove the basic limitation of the IP48 class, which is water resistance rather than dust proofing.
There was one positive finding: the powder did not appear to reach the internal electronics. Batteries, circuits and the main board came back clean, suggesting the body sealing did its job reasonably well. Traces were seen around the edges and near the camera area, but the main failure point remained the hinge itself. For buyers, the message is clear: the Galaxy Z Fold 8 may be one of Samsung’s best foldables, but fine dust still poses a practical risk.
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