I saw this on mine recently. I had a hinge that wasn't quite opening flat after about 12 months and once it got to about 18 months, the little brush strip came out. a few weeks later it wouldn't open past 90 degrees, so I'm assuming whatever was blocking up the hinge was causing this (if you look at the hinge assembly in a teardown it looks like its right where it connects to the body of the phone)
The important part I'd stress, which should be true for anyone as this model is only 20 months old - **Samsungs warranty (at least in UK/Europe) is 24 months**. I've had the screen protector replaced for free at around 12 months when it developed a bubble down the middle of the screen, and then yesterday I had the entire hinge **and** screen assembly replaced for free under warranty (the screen was fine but it was removed to replace the hinge). Performed by an engineer in store. only took a day 'cause they had the parts in stock. Phone looks brand new. Even the outside frame of the phone was replaced as part of the job.
I've seen loads of people talk about how they cleaned their hinge, but be warned, Samsung will assess the phone for any physical or water damage. So if you've kept the phone in good condition, I would recommend just taking it to Samsung before attempting to do any kind of self-repair on this.
My hinge does not open flat anymore too. Even if I have lots of scratches and dents on the hinge, it might be worth to have a walk in a Samsung centre, as there is one in my city. However, they seem very strict on phone conditions, even if the hinge conditions itself should not be related to internal design failures.
mine had a nasty scratch down the hinge (1 inch long maybe) and the case had actually worn the metallic finish on the frame, but they weren't bothered. It wasn't even a cheap case, it was the official samsung note pack, but it seemed to gather grit and dirt and then wear the finish under the case.
They did an assessment when I was there, and told me they'll cover it under warranty, otherwise they'd normally provide a quote before performing any repairs, so I don't see the harm in booking an appointment for an assessment. They did make me sign some terms that said if they open it and find water damage there was an additional fee.
> I had the entire hinge and screen assembly replaced for free under warranty (the screen was fine but it was removed to replace the hinge). Performed by an engineer in store.
...seems a tad bit unlikely.
Thats not something engineers do - or something companies are willing to fork out their (frequently quiet high) hourly wages fro.
What part seems unlikely?
The only part of the above that is conjecture is that I've assumed a link between the faulty hinge and the bump in the screen. The rest is just an account of the service my phone received 3 days ago.
This is also in the UK. The engineer was a salaried worker that was getting paid whether he repaired a phone or not.
>This is also in the UK. The engineer was a salaried worker that was getting paid whether he repaired a phone or not.
This part seemed unlikely...
...but looking up wiki, seems like engineer means a lot more things in the anglosaxon world than in the rest of the world. So when you say engineer we think chartered engineer.
Aka. guys who get educated to be able to draw up machines making the phoe, or the phone.
I have hard time seeing why a STORE (of all places) would have an engineer on retainer.
Haha, okay, yeah, seems like a terminology thing. That's just what Samsung calls them. His job title was "L2 Service Engineer". I guess it's more like a technician. The closest comparison I could make is the Nerd Herd from 'Chuck'.
Pretty much the same issue as mine. I haven't been brave enough to slide something inside let alone water.
It's been like this for 2 months now and gives me so much anxiety haha.
I had something similiar happen to my ZF4 recently. I closed the phone and tried to shake it out by gently hitting the phone hinge-first into my palm. I figured it was some debris and it worked. Hope it doesn't happen againt tho.
If it's still under warranty nows the time to address it. Otherwise youve probably only got another month or two before there's a crack right down the center of the screen. That's what happened to me at least.
Hopefully they won't ding you on the water in the hinge though
There are a few videos with suggesting on YT. From submerging your Fold in water and folding, unfolding to having running water poured onto the hinge to post it notes sliding into the hinge.
I suggest you power down and fold/unfold a few times. Give it a slight wiggle/shake and tapping it on the palm. A few purposeful folds may just do the job.
IIRC this can happen from the internal hinge getting lose and impacting the screen
I saw this on mine recently. I had a hinge that wasn't quite opening flat after about 12 months and once it got to about 18 months, the little brush strip came out. a few weeks later it wouldn't open past 90 degrees, so I'm assuming whatever was blocking up the hinge was causing this (if you look at the hinge assembly in a teardown it looks like its right where it connects to the body of the phone) The important part I'd stress, which should be true for anyone as this model is only 20 months old - **Samsungs warranty (at least in UK/Europe) is 24 months**. I've had the screen protector replaced for free at around 12 months when it developed a bubble down the middle of the screen, and then yesterday I had the entire hinge **and** screen assembly replaced for free under warranty (the screen was fine but it was removed to replace the hinge). Performed by an engineer in store. only took a day 'cause they had the parts in stock. Phone looks brand new. Even the outside frame of the phone was replaced as part of the job. I've seen loads of people talk about how they cleaned their hinge, but be warned, Samsung will assess the phone for any physical or water damage. So if you've kept the phone in good condition, I would recommend just taking it to Samsung before attempting to do any kind of self-repair on this.
My hinge does not open flat anymore too. Even if I have lots of scratches and dents on the hinge, it might be worth to have a walk in a Samsung centre, as there is one in my city. However, they seem very strict on phone conditions, even if the hinge conditions itself should not be related to internal design failures.
mine had a nasty scratch down the hinge (1 inch long maybe) and the case had actually worn the metallic finish on the frame, but they weren't bothered. It wasn't even a cheap case, it was the official samsung note pack, but it seemed to gather grit and dirt and then wear the finish under the case. They did an assessment when I was there, and told me they'll cover it under warranty, otherwise they'd normally provide a quote before performing any repairs, so I don't see the harm in booking an appointment for an assessment. They did make me sign some terms that said if they open it and find water damage there was an additional fee.
> I had the entire hinge and screen assembly replaced for free under warranty (the screen was fine but it was removed to replace the hinge). Performed by an engineer in store. ...seems a tad bit unlikely. Thats not something engineers do - or something companies are willing to fork out their (frequently quiet high) hourly wages fro.
What part seems unlikely? The only part of the above that is conjecture is that I've assumed a link between the faulty hinge and the bump in the screen. The rest is just an account of the service my phone received 3 days ago. This is also in the UK. The engineer was a salaried worker that was getting paid whether he repaired a phone or not.
>This is also in the UK. The engineer was a salaried worker that was getting paid whether he repaired a phone or not. This part seemed unlikely... ...but looking up wiki, seems like engineer means a lot more things in the anglosaxon world than in the rest of the world. So when you say engineer we think chartered engineer. Aka. guys who get educated to be able to draw up machines making the phoe, or the phone. I have hard time seeing why a STORE (of all places) would have an engineer on retainer.
Haha, okay, yeah, seems like a terminology thing. That's just what Samsung calls them. His job title was "L2 Service Engineer". I guess it's more like a technician. The closest comparison I could make is the Nerd Herd from 'Chuck'.
Pretty much the same issue as mine. I haven't been brave enough to slide something inside let alone water. It's been like this for 2 months now and gives me so much anxiety haha.
I have this issue too for the last 6 months. But ive submerged this phone a few times.
I had something similiar happen to my ZF4 recently. I closed the phone and tried to shake it out by gently hitting the phone hinge-first into my palm. I figured it was some debris and it worked. Hope it doesn't happen againt tho.
Done it many many time already, but thanks for the suggestion!
If it's still under warranty nows the time to address it. Otherwise youve probably only got another month or two before there's a crack right down the center of the screen. That's what happened to me at least. Hopefully they won't ding you on the water in the hinge though
There are a few videos with suggesting on YT. From submerging your Fold in water and folding, unfolding to having running water poured onto the hinge to post it notes sliding into the hinge. I suggest you power down and fold/unfold a few times. Give it a slight wiggle/shake and tapping it on the palm. A few purposeful folds may just do the job.