Pixel 10 Pro Fold Durability Test Goes Up In Smoke. Does It Really Matter?

I recently had a brief hands-on time with the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold here in India. What impressed me more was the software and its seamlessly integrated AI conveniences. The hardware isn't terrible by any stretch of the imagination, though not nearly as sleek as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. The phone has also been well-received by experts in the tech community. But earlier this week, the phone was subjected to a bend test by a popular YouTuber, and it went up in flames, apparently owing to battery-related mishaps. Now, this is a pretty serious incident. Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 was put on a no-flight list owing to fire hazard concerns not too long ago.

In this signature durability test video on the JerryRigEverything channel, YouTuber Zack Nelson tried to test the phone's hinge and how much reverse pressure it can withstand. The hinge gave up at one point, expectedly, but instead of the parts falling apart, the phone suddenly started leaking thick smoke. Nelson notes that this was the first time that such a fire hazard had unfolded during his brutal tests.

Now, batteries catching fire is a serious safety hazard, and it usually happens when they are old, swollen, or physically tampered with. Smartphone makers explicitly advise against exposing batteries to sharp objects or high heat. Chad Johansen from CPR Cell Phone Repair told The Washington Post that if a phone's battery is put under pressure, it can lead to fire or explosion. If you look at the Pixel 10 Pro Fold video in question, it's evident that the phone was put under extreme pressure, something that is not the intended use case, nor a normal way of using a foldable smartphone.

Now, does the Pixel 10 Pro Fold ending up with a damaged battery and a cloud of smoke mean nothing? Well, that's certainly a cause of concern. So far, that hasn't happened to a foldable phone in Nelson's durability test videos, so Google certainly has some answering to do. Does that mean Google's latest foldable phone is an accident waiting to happen? Unlikely. I've had the fortune of using the foldable phones ever since the first one — the notoriously fragile Samsung Galaxy Fold — came out. 

https://t.co/fyTKU9lPQl https://t.co/jd1IJHySkE

— JerryRigEverything (@ZacksJerryRig) October 14, 2025

Ever since, I've used over a dozen such smartphones from different brands, and I've never run into a situation where I thought that the phone was going to end up in flames. Or it started billowing toxic smoke. On the contrary, I just returned to using the OnePlus Open, a phone that was launched two years ago and has spent nearly 20 months sitting in my drawer. The battery is working just fine without any alarming heat build-up. But there's another reason I wouldn't stress too much over the viral video. Foldable phones are not intended to be folded backward. 

If anything, they must be handled with care, because the hinge parts and the flexible display panel are fragile. There's a reason why smartphone brands explicitly reveal how many folding-unfolding cycles their device can handle. Nelson's durability test videos don't reflect how a foldable phone is used by an average person. Plus, if I were spending nearly $2,000 on a phone, I wouldn't have the courage to see how far it goes when bent backward — certainly not when a replacement screen is going to cost me nearly as much as my trusty MacBook Air.