Foldable Phones — The Samsung Galaxy Fold Review
The Samsung Galaxy Fold introduced at MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2019 was set to launch in late April 2019 (it had been canceled) to much hype. It was not the first form factor to introduce a foldable design, but one of the early ones. It also has competition from Huawei and Royolle, both smartphone makers as well. I was not too excited at first because I wasn’t a fan of the idea. Then the more you read about it, and then finally see a demo, you start to think it does appear to be useful. Folding makes sense when you want a smaller display that can later be made bigger. It is basically a smartphone that folds out into a tablet. The concept looked promising so it was made available to early tech reviewers.
The concept is quite unique. It introduces a new form factor that can fold into the pocket. The Galaxy Fold was meant to be used as a smartphone and a tablet, though it appears users will use it more as a tablet. There are actually two displays on the Galaxy Fold. The outer display is a 4.6" HD+ Super AMOLED panel with a 21:9 aspect ratio. The inner/main display of the Galaxy Fold is a large 7.3" QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED panel with a 4.2:3 aspect ratio.
The Galaxy Fold has a hinge, similar to the fulcrum hinge design of the Microsoft Surface Book. I am not a fan of the way it looks, but to Microsoft it was a purposeful design for how you can open and remove the Surface screen. For the Galaxy Fold it aims to provide a folding mechanism that is solid and not easily broken when repeated many times over.
Early Reviews
The results were not good. Though the Galaxy Fold made available for testing was not the final product, it had issues from the beginning. Many thought that the Galaxy Fold came with a protective screen which they tried to peel off. That was horribly the wrong thing to do since that protective screen was part of the display and should not be removed. Others reported the appearance of a crease in the center of the Galaxy Fold where the phone folds on its hinge.
Tech YouTuber MKBHD points it out on Twitter when he had to return the review model because he also made the mistake of trying to peel off the protective screen. Reviewers who tried to remove later realized that it affects the main display due to damage to the electronics that are a part of the screen when it was peeled.
Other reviewers like Unbox Therapy were not able to do a proper review. The video is from their final time with the Galaxy Fold before it was recalled by Samsung. They also reported on screen issues, the noticeable crease and the huge form factor.
The Problems
A lot of issues were reported, and they appear to be mostly related to the durability of the device. This can be grouped into the “Foldgate” issues of the Galaxy Fold. The clicking sound it makes when folding can be annoying. It also seems that the crease also affects the display with some reviewers seeing a bulge starting to appear near the center of the display. It is speculated that it could be due to debris that is getting inside the hinge, which does not fully close the Galaxy Fold.
The Galaxy Fold uses a flexible OLED display. You cannot use glass to manufacture this type of screen since that is not a suitable material for folding. When it comes to durability plastics are much better and flexible too. However, it does not seem to be all that durable with the creases and bulges that reviewers have been talking about.
Samsung is making it clear that the screen does not have a protective layer that can be peeled off. It is a part of the actual display. It does look like an ugly screen protector though, so this had some reviewers assuming it can be removed. According to Android Central:
“it’s actually part of what keeps the Fold working and should not be removed under any circumstances.”
Another issue some reviewers encountered with the display is it starts acting up after several uses. This may be a result of the electronics not being durable enough under force or stress when the display is folded. That shows there is a durability issue that needs to be looked into. The screens on the Galaxy Fold might just be too fragile to handle all the pressure applied to it when used as a daily driver. That of course, is a major issue.
Samsung has claimed that the Galaxy Fold’s hinge has been tested to open and close 200,000 times. Yet having any mechanical part is always a point of failure at some point. These parts are prone to damage that it doesn’t take 200,000 folds to encounter the first problem. An unlucky user may encounter one as soon as they use it, when the factors are there that can cause the hinge to fail. I am more concerned about the display at this time. Will the display continue working properly after x amount of opening and closing? This is the big question mark that has no conclusive answers since it is such a new device and form factor.
In terms of other specs it seems to have features worthy of the flagship branding. Samsung has crammed 6 cameras into this device. It also has a 4,000+ mAh battery capacity which will be needed to keep this device powered for a long time. AMOLED displays at full color and advanced features are not exactly energy saving. The cost alone (estimated to be close to $2K) is enough to warrant its luxury device status.
Do You Need A Foldable Phone?
At the moment, I would pass on a foldable phone. The reason is because there are much better alternatives out in the market right now that are not only cheaper but have tried, tested and true performance. Samsung has canceled its April release date due to the issues reported by reviewers. Samsung will need to tweak a lot of things on the Galaxy Fold to get it working properly, so the next release date will be the retail product final version.
Durability is my primary concern. With moving parts, comes greater potential for failures. This is why I am not too eager to use smartphones that have plenty of mechanical parts because those are very prone to failure. You also never know when its going to fail and when it does fail it will happen when least expected. You will get more utility for your money on a standard non-foldable smartphone while the foldable phone is still in its early version.
The selling point for the Galaxy Fold was the fact that it can be folded from a large display to a smaller one. Galaxy Fold is also huge if you look into its size specifications. When unfolded and opened, the display has a diagonal length of 7.3". When you fold it, it looks even more bulkier and it is just not that easy to fit into your pockets. Users demand smaller bezels, thinner form factors and a lighter weight body. Instead the Galaxy Fold is not exactly like that. Some people may actually be fine with the Galaxy Fold when not opened and they can fit it comfortably into their pocket, purse or bag.
With a more durable design in the folding mechanism that addresses the bulge problem, there is still room for improvement. This is just the beginning and it seems Samsung used early reviewers as a test group for quality assurance. The problems are clear and once Samsung fixes them we can see a final product ready for release. Is this the future of smartphones? There are other vendors offering their own foldable phone design, which may or may not be better than the Galaxy Fold. If it succeeds and satisfies customers more than disappointing them, it will lead to greater demand.
Note: This is an opinion from the author. Please do your own research always to verify facts and information.
