Samsung Display is putting its foldable OLED panels through extreme durability tests at MWC 2026, launching golf balls at folding phones to prove their resilience. The company built a golf simulator that repeatedly strikes the same display area, with thousands of attendees at the show contributing to the test. This follows up on their CES 2026 basketball test, where phones survived being hit by full-size basketballs.

The latest Galaxy Z Fold 7 can withstand 500,000 folds, more than double the previous generation's 200,000-fold rating. Samsung's newest foldable displays feature a 50% thicker Ultra Thin Glass layer, a titanium backplate for rigidity, and a shock-dissipating structure that spreads impact force across the entire display. These improvements helped the phones survive both the basketball and golf ball demonstrations.

While these are simulated environments that don't reflect typical usage, the tests showcase significant progress in foldable durability since the first Galaxy Z Fold broke during reviewer testing in 2019. Samsung remains focused on display strength but still lacks the dust resistance ratings that competitors like Google and Honor have achieved with their latest foldables.