Samsung says Galaxy Z Fold 6 paint is peeling due to unofficial chargers

What you need to know

• Some Galaxy phones are experiencing paint peeling, mainly due to third-party chargers with poor grounding, as per Samsung.
• Users on Reddit are reporting paint issues on Galaxy Z Fold 6, revealing metal beneath.
• Using an EMS massager with the device might also cause paint problems, hinting at issues with power flow management.

Samsung says some third-party chargers are causing the paint on some Galaxy phones to peel and blames poor grounding in these chargers as the cause of the damage.

A wave of online reports, mainly on Reddit , claim that some users are noticing premature paint peeling on Galaxy Z Fold 6 devices, revealing the metal beneath—a disappointing flaw for such a pricey device.

In a support page , Samsung says that using a high-speed third-party charger with bad grounding can cause leakage current. This can mess with the anodic coating and lead to minor paint peeling.

Basically, a non-genuine charger messes with the paint’s protective coating, weakening the adhesive and causing peeling. Samsung says this mainly happens with low-quality chargers and shouldn't be an issue with Qi-standard ones.

However, Samsung's mention of the Qi standard, which is for wireless charging, seems odd since the problem is with wired charging.

Samsung’s fix is to suggest users charge their devices in a specific orientation to reduce the risk of damage.

More to the point, Samsung wants to nudge users to stick with genuine Samsung chargers, adding another cost on top of the already hefty price of the phone.

Quite intriguingly, Samsung adds that using an EMS massager with the device can cause similar issues, hinting that the problem might lie in how the device handles certain power flow setups.

Nevertheless, Samsung says reputable third-party chargers that follow industry standards are usually safe. But the South Korean tech giant warns against counterfeit or low-quality chargers, which could damage the device by causing electrical leakage that corrodes its metal parts.

This issue is highly likely to raise doubts about Samsung’s choice to leave out the charger from the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and other devices, often pushing users towards cheaper third-party options.