Samsung enthusiast rids his Galaxy Z Fold 4 of crease, but don't try it at home
Foldable phones are tricky to make and costly to own. Samsung's premium bendable phone, the Galaxy Z Fold 4, for instance, starts at $1,799 and even though the South Korean company is trying to market it as a tough, unbreakable phone, the truth is that at the end of the day you need to handle it with a certain amount of care. If you are willing to be a little risky though, you can step up the experience.
The Fold 4 is one of the best foldable phones around: it has a large 7.6 inches tablet-like main screen and a 6.2 inches outer display which is wider than Fold 3's for improved usability. It is saddled with more capable cameras and is powered by the high-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chip.
Overall, it's a decent upgrade over the Fold 3, but one thing that Samsung has still not taken care of is the crease that runs down the center of the inner display. The Fold 4 still has a crease and although it's less noticeable now, it could be a deal breaker for some. Samsung insider Ice Universe has proposed an imprudent solution that appears to fix this issue.
The main display features a pre-applied protective film that Samsung says must not be removed. In fact, this is what caused many OG Fold units to malfunction. The protective layer is a part of the display structure and Samsung has clearly warned that its removal may damage the screen.
Ideally, you should not remove the film, and Samsung has used stronger adhesives this time to keep it in place as some Fold 3 users had complained about it coming off on its own. Some of those users also said that their phones continued working normally even without the protector.
Ice Universe has discovered that for some reason, removal of the protective film makes the crease appear lighter, and accompanying comparison images do show a world of difference.
So, if the crease is something that bothers you, you might try removing the film - at your own risk though, as it would be a big risk and not something we recommend. Still, it's interesting to see that the protective film augments the look of the crease.
Things that are NOT allowed: