Going the way above, there's a good chance the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 will be an excellent phone, but the latest leak suggests there's one area where rivals could beat it.
According to a report from South Korean site The Elec(Opens in a new tab)(via The Verge(Opens in a new tab)), Samsung is testing the Galaxy Z Fold 5 to survive 300,000 bends, but will consider it surpassed if The hinge retains 85% of its original strength after just 200.000.
Those are big numbers and in line with Samsung's testing of the Galaxy Z Fold 4, but they're a far cry from the 400,000 folds that recent foldables like the Oppo Find N2, Oppo Find N2 Flip, and Honor Magic have. V are tested.
Most likely, the upcoming OnePlus foldable will also be tested with 400 folds, given that OnePlus is a subsidiary of Oppo.
It's a shame, if Elec's report is true, that Samsung isn't following through, especially since durability remains a major concern with foldable phones, not least because they're so expensive.
In more positive news, this report echoes previous claims that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 will have a new teardrop hinge design. This basically means that the two halves of the phone will fold completely flat, which looks cleaner and should allow Samsung to slim down the Z Fold 5 a bit, compared to the Z Fold 4.
This new design will also apparently make the phone a bit lighter, which is desirable because at 263g the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is pretty heavy. However, the upcoming phone will apparently not have any major spec updates.
Of course, we'd take all of that with a pinch of salt for now. We won't know for sure until the Galaxy Z Fold 5 launches, probably in August.
Analysis: Samsung's foldable flagship could struggle this year
If the above report is accurate, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 could be thinner and lighter than the current model, but with a few more changes.
In the meantime, the competitors may prove more durable, and there are likely to be more, with the much-anticipated Google Pixel Fold and foldable OnePlus due to launch this year. This is in addition to a slew of phones that have already been released or are likely to come from Oppo, Honor, Motorola, and Xiaomi.
All of which would suggest that it's a bad year for Samsung to roll out an iterative update, and our list of the best foldable phones could be set for big changes. Again, the Galaxy Fold range remains the benchmark in this area, so we'll reserve judgment until the latest model arrives later this year.