Zack Nelson, the YouTuber behind JerryRigEverything, has built a reputation for torturing smartphones to see how far they will go. When he finally got his hands on a Pixel 10 Pro Fold, everyone was curious about how it would do, given Google’s previous attempts with folding phones. Nobody could have predicted that the Pixel 10 Pro Fold would establish a new low in the world of foldables, with a battery explosion.
Nelson’s test began seeming all too familiar. He unboxed the phone, examined the design, and immediately saw the same flaw that had doomed the last one: the placement of the antenna lines right at the hinge, essentially in a location where it is likely to be weak in his bend test. Guess what happens every time he runs the bend test with the last few Pixel Folds? They snapped at the hinges. Even though you’d think they’d have learned from their failures, it appears that Google made no effort to fix it.
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The bend test did not alleviate his concerns; when he bent the phone against its normal orientation, it cracked in the same area as the rest. And that’s when things got serious: when Nelson attempted to straighten out the phone, the battery decided to die in a shower of smoke and flames. He’s been testing smartphones for ten years and has never seen this happen. The thermal runaway, which is simply a fancy way of saying that the battery overheated and began to burn out, was captured on camera. The fire alarm in the backdrop just added to the drama of the situation. This is a severe safety hazard that dates back to the historic Samsung Galaxy Note 7 recall a couple years ago.
However, the explosion was only the tip of the iceberg; other events did not go as smoothly. Google claims that the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the first foldable to receive an IP68 rating, indicating that it can survive both water and dust. Nelson decided to put it through some further testing to see how well it held up. So he decided to throw some dirt into the hinge and see what happened. The consequence was a really unpleasant crunching sound as the hinge simply crushed away against the particles. The display may be able to withstand dust, but the hinge will not.
Scratches revealed a familiar story about the Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s durability. The Victus 2’s outside screen, protected by a thick Gorilla Glass, is quite scratch-resistant. The inside screen, however, is a different story entirely; a tiny fingernail scratch has already ruined it – not something users would anticipate on a flagship. Heat testing further highlighted (or, should I say, further exposed) how delicate the inner screen is, with pixels dying after only 15 seconds of exposure to a lighter flame. The exterior screen fared much better, lasting a full 25 seconds without revealing any evident damage – albeit this is hardly a consolation.
Google’s marketing promises that the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is a tough beast that can be folded in and out for a decade. However, Nelson’s test results indicate that this is simply not true. Compare that to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7, which passed Nelson’s test despite having a slimmer frame. This simply shows Google’s flaws with the Pixel 10 Pro fold. This phone’s failure is more than simply a technical setback; it’s a clear missed chance for the company to make a significant impact in a crowded market for foldable phones.
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