Samsung is apparently logging all acceleration-based free-falls of the Galaxy Z Flip 3. So whenever you take it for repair, the company engineers would refer to this data to determine whether the damage is caused by some manufacturing defect or due to your mishandling of the device. And if they found out that you had dropped the phone from a height greater than one meter, they could refuse to repair the phone for free even if it is under warranty. There don’t necessarily have to be any visible cracks or scratches on the outside. At least a couple of Galaxy Z Flip 3 users have reportedly confirmed that the engineers at authorized Samsung service centers are checking the free-fall logs of the device before repairing it (via @FrontTron). The first user had their foldable’s inner screen cracked along the hinge. The engineers determined that the phone had dropped from dangerous heights at least three times. The last drop was ten hours before the crack started appearing. Samsung eventually decided to repair this clamshell folding phone for free because the phone was less than 14 days old. But not everyone might be that lucky. After all, three falls from heights greater than one meter aren’t safe for any phone. The second Galaxy Z Flip 3 who had their phone’s free-fall logs checked by Samsung engineers had taken the phone for repair after the hinge got loose. Luckily for them, they hadn’t dropped the phone.
Samsung is getting cautious against false warranty claims
False warranty claims are not unknown. It happens many times that users drop their phone and something inside gets broken. And if there aren’t any major dents or marks on the outside, they may go on to claim a warranty to get the phone repaired for free. Samsung is now taking some precautionary measures against this practice. By logging the free-fall data of the device, the company can tell exactly when the user had dropped it. It’s unclear whether Samsung is taking the same approach to stop false warranty claims for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 as well. But it shouldn’t be surprising if it does. We will be keeping a tab on this matter and let you know as and when we have more information.
