Earlier this week, we started to
test the Samsung Galaxy Fold. After just two days, the
internal display broke completely. The left side would either flicker or turn off completely, while the right side did the exact same. We asked Samsung what was going on,
and Samsung said that some reviewers had removed a protective film
on top of the display. But we never did that. Our phone was left the same way it was
when it came out of the box, but it just stopped working on its own. So, Samsung took the unit back
and we're waiting for a replacement.
But in the meantime, we just wanted to
show you what it was like to use the Galaxy Fold before
our review unit broke. Smartphones have gotten boring. Screens get sharper and cameras get
a little better, but ultimately people are still holding onto their devices
for 3 to 4 years. To buck this trend, Samsung's launching a
new form of product, the Galaxy Fold. At $1,980, the Galaxy
Fold isn't for everyone.
That's what the Galaxy S10 is for. This is a $2,000 look at what
future phones might eventually look like. And tech enthusiasts are excited about it
because it is the first foldable phone you can actually buy. And the display is a lot of fun. There's a tiny little window screen on
the front that I don't really like, but when you open it up, there's a
form factor more akin to a tablet, which is great for watching movies,
playing games, reading the news and even running three apps at
the same time side-by-side. The crease that runs down the
middle is definitely visible at times, though not when the screen is really
bright or really dark, and you can feel it, but it's still really cool
to see a taste of the future.
The Galaxy Fold is
really spec heavy, too. It has the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon
processor, plenty of storage and really good cameras. There are six of them. But it doesn't have
everything the future holds. It's not water resistant or dust resistant,
so you don't want to get anything in the hinge. The form factor might seem a
little silly, especially because it's really bulky. It's sort of like stacking two
phones on top of each other. But we have to remember that Samsung
introduced the Galaxy Note, and at that point, everybody gawked at
the size of its screen. Now, most of our phones have screens
that are larger than the original Galaxy Note. So Samsung was really onto something. Ultimately, the Galaxy Fold is a proof
of concept for early adopters who want the latest technology and to show
it off before anybody else has it. If you aren't in that group of
buyers, and you probably aren't, you're better served by a smartphone and a
tablet for when you need a bigger screen. The Galaxy Fold is a cool idea, an ugly
phone, and a taste of what we might see in the future.