In less than a year of normal use, our Galaxy Z Fold 3 protective film pulled itself

As usual, I’ve recently unfolded my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 to get an important task done, and I heard a crack. At first, it worried me a lot and I started thinking that the cover display has been broken due to rough handling or that any internal part got damaged.

Meanwhile, I noticed that a vertical line is gradually extending downside covering the crease of my Galaxy Z Fold 3 smartphone. Then, I got that the crack sound was from protective film and it got automatically pulled in less than a year of normal use.

We use Samsung devices for reviews, tips and tricks as well as new features, however, it’s a very bad experience that the protective film of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 got damaged in just 10 months of normal use. Well, we have the Care Plus advantage but it raises a big question about the durability of foldables.

When inspected closely, I noticed that there was a fine line running down the middle of the phone near the crease, as if the pre-applied protector had been stretched or pulled. While a bubble was spotted nearly the crease on the top of the display months ago, the protective film is now wholly suffering the same issue.

In the first attempt, I used to gently press the protective film so it can be applied again, but it didn’t work and the film still maintained a gap from the crease area of the display. Later on, I reached a nearby Samsung service center to get the protective film replaced and got an appointment for Monday for inspection purposes.

So far, various users reported having the same issue as their Fold 3’s official protective film got pulled itself or bubbles have started to appear. Currently, we are in touch with Samsung and waiting to see what happens next, and dreaming that the service center may offer a free replacement.

Image: Galaxy Z Fold 3 protective film pulled

We hope the bubble or peel-off issue won’t occur to Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Flip 4. For Fold 3, the company claimed that it switched away from the TPU material it used on the Z Fold 2 to a new PET film while also using a stickier adhesive, which was designed to prevent bubbles, however, it didn’t improve anything.