In a durability and bending test and subsequent disassembly by JerryRigEverything, the hinge is still not the weakest point of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

The Gorilla Glass Victus 2 display (Actua) is “sensitive to level six scratches, with deeper grooves susceptible to level seven scratches,” while the inner display made of ultra-thin glass (Super Actua) is “sensitive to level two scratches” and fingernails can also cause damage.

The exterior of the phone is made of a “high-strength aerospace-grade aluminum alloy,” including the surface of the hinge. The actual inner workings of the hinge are made of “multi-alloy steel.”

When it comes into contact with dirt and sand, we hear the hinge start to creak because there is no dust protection (IPX8).

A closed bend test shows no issues for the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, but the problems arise when it is opened and bent from the back. Although the left and right rear panels meet and cover the back of the hinge, “there doesn’t seem to be much resistance.”

The problem is the case’s antenna wires next to the hinge, which happened last year. In this bend test, it’s the pair on the cover screen side, with the display popping off the case rather than breaking. The hinge itself, meanwhile, survives, like the original.

In comparison, Samsung’s Z Fold 6 survived a similar test in which the two halves locked together and ultimately avoided catastrophic bending.

The video continues with a teardown that iFixit also did yesterday. Underneath the cover screen is the larger battery, while the other half contains the smaller cell and the motherboard around it. As with the slab-style phones this year, the USB-C port is on its own board to make repair easier.

We see the vapor chamber underneath the battery and the Tensor G4, with an interesting observation from Zach: “The majority of the thermal heat dissipation is from the back or inside of the device when the screen is closed. It flows from the processor into the large vapor chamber and then into the middle of the Fold, which is an interesting development because in the middle of the phone there’s this foldable plastic screen that I don’t think is particularly good at dissipating heat…”