With every flagship smartphone launch, the new devices are subject to bend tests, drop tests, and other durability tests. YouTuber JerryRigEverything (Zack Nelson) is known for his scratch and bend tests, and he did his usual routine with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. This time, something went wrong.
When Nelson bent the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, it broke on the first test, and the second test damaged the battery and engulfed his studio in smoke. Nelson bent the smartphone backward in a way unlikely to occur in normal use, but it’s also the first time that he’s had a battery rupture.
“Surprisingly, in the decade that I’ve been durability testing phones, I have never had a smartphone explode before,” he says. “The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the first phone to go up in smoke.”
He goes on to explain that he’s subjected every mainstream smartphone from the last decade to the exact same tests, but this is the first time he’s had a failure that set off his fire alarm. At the end of the video, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is a smoking, charred mess, and Nelson suggests not putting an open 10 Pro Fold in a pocket.
According to Nelson, Google’s line of foldable Pixel smartphones have had the same antenna line design issue for the last three years. Every one bends at the antenna line, and this time around, the layers of the battery were pinched together, resulting in a short circuit that caused a thermal reaction.
iFixit told The Verge that while the battery fire is dramatic, it’s “not necessarily a sign that something is wrong with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold design.” The battery does not appear to have been discharged before the bend test, and iFixit said that short circuits can happen if you break the insulating layers of a battery. Google has not yet responded to the incident.
The Verge also points out that Google has had other battery issues this year. The company updated the Pixel 6A to address a potential battery overheating risk, and also updated the 4A to improve the stability of the battery’s performance.
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