According to the "2021 China Smartphone User Survey" data released by Beijing Business Daily at the end of last year, the reason why folding screen mobile phones have not been popularized, 44.64% of the users surveyed believe that the current experience brought by folding screens is not perfect, and the biggest pain point is the crease problem caused by repeated folding of the screen. So the just released vivo X Fold, as the latest folding screen product released by a large domestic manufacturer, how to solve the problem of creases?
Before that, we need to know exactly how the creases of the folding screen are generated.
1. How do creases occur?
We all know that the screen used in the folding screen mobile phone is oled flexible screen, but even if the flexible material, although it can be restored after folding, it is difficult to restore it to the original state one hundred percent. To take a simple example, just like a book that is completely opened and then closed, it is basically impossible to return to the original state of the book.
In detail, after a long period of closure and folding, the screen of the folding screen will have a concave inertia when it is unfolded again, and the position where the two sides of the hinge meet the screen will also produce an upward force on the screen, resulting in an "M" crease in the central part of the screen.
2.How does vivo solve the crease problem?
In response to the crease problem, vivo added the design of the floating plate to the hinge structure. When the folding screen is opened, the floating middle plate rises accordingly, holding up the central position of the screen to achieve support and make the screen more flat; and after folding in the screen, the floating middle plate provides sufficient space for the screen bending, thus playing a role in protecting the screen. This bionic structure similar to a bird's wing is called a floating wing hinge design by vivo.
In addition, for the crease problem, vivo uses UTG super tough glass on the screen material. This is a glass material with a unique staggered structure, which has a unique advantage in the compression resistance of screen folding while ensuring the high transparency performance of the screen. At the same time, UTG glass not only has the characteristics of fast rebound, high hardness and long life, but also increases the outward tension by about 1.3 times compared to ordinary folding screen screens.
At the same time, in order to extend the life of the hinge and improve the stability of the mechanical structure. Vivo X Fold uses titanium alloy, liquid metal zirconium alloy, F53 aviation high-strength steel, carbon fiber board, 18Ni250, 301 hand-torn steel sheets in the hinge of 174 parts, a total of six aviation materials. This makes the vivo X Fold more flat, lighter, stronger, and able to withstand external shocks from many different scenarios.
According to the official introduction, the vivo X Fold can still control the crease at a relatively good level after 300,000 folds. According to the high frequency of folding 80 times a day, 300,000 times is also enough to use for more than ten years, which is for ordinary consumers.
3. The actual performance of vivo X Fold creases
Due to the time relationship, we can not simulate the actual crease performance of the vivo X Fold after a long period of use, but we can give a crease experience after a week of use, although it does not fully show the advantages of the vivo X Fold floating wing hinge design, but it can also give a relatively objective evaluation.
The red line is where the crease is located
You can see that after a week of use, the inner screen of the vivo X Fold is fully expanded, and there is almost no sign of creases. This is true even from a side-by-side view of death. However, if you look closely according to the location of the crease, you can still see the crease on the screen. However, compared with some of the folding screen products released earlier on the market, it can still be seen that the floating wing hinge + six-fold aviation material has a better effect on the solution of the crease problem.
A few final words
From the user's point of view, vivo X Fold is indeed a more mature folding screen product that can be selected on the market at present, not only has a good "crease experience", but also as the flagship product of the vivo system, the comprehensive experience of vivo X Fold is also quite satisfactory. From the perspective of the industry, vivo uses the floating wing hinge + six-fold aviation material as the answer sheet for the "crease examination", which also provides a reference answer for the development of the subsequent folding screen. We also have reason to believe that it will only be a matter of time before folding screen products are popularized to the public.