Samsung’s Galaxy Fold can handle over 200,000 folds, but apparently that is not the case. Within 48 hours of giving the device to numerous media outlets, a flood of reports have come out about the screen breaking, and breaking in different ways. Not a good look for Samsung.
The Galaxy Fold is a first-generation smartphone, it is a brand new form-factor and it is innovative to a degree. But the issues that we are seeing with the Galaxy Fold, less than 48 hours into users actually being able to use it, is pretty astonishing. And very bad.
These phones aren’t just breaking, but they are breaking in many different ways. Which means that there are a lot of issues going on with the Galaxy Fold, unfortunately. For instance, The Verge’s review unit has a big white line down the crease in the middle and another one from the middle to the right-side of the phone. Which looks pretty ugly, to say the least. And it also has a bulge on the crease, which is something that should not be happening. Obviously that’s something that many people won’t notice, but it’s still there. And it shouldn’t be. It could also cause more issues down the line, like dust getting between the display and the plastic over the display.
Then you have others from Bloomberg and a few other publications, where half of the screen is just not turning on anymore. Now, Marques Brownlee (MKBHD on YouTube) is saying that this is because he was attempting to remove what looked like a screen protector. Spoiler: it was not a screen protector. But rather the plastic that allows the screen to actually fold. This is a bigger deal, because most consumers will remove that plastic piece, as it does look like a screen protector, but Samsung has no instructions telling the user not to remove it, or you’ll damage your new $1980 device.
Yes, these are first-generation issues, and issues that Samsung will be solving in future generations. But with this smartphone costing $1980, plus taxes, these are issues that users should not have to deal with. It’s worth mentioning that those that pre-ordered the Galaxy Fold have not received them yet. These are all from reviewers and media influencers (who are getting the phone for free, in exchange for coverage and reviews).
The Galaxy Fold doesn’t start shipping until April 26. But the way that these reports are rolling in, that may or may not be the date that these start shipping now.
Samsung has had issues with smartphones before, we all remember the Galaxy Note7 debacle. But this is pretty insane. Considering most are using these phones for less than 48 hours and in some cases, less than 24 hours and it’s already breaking. On the bright side, the Galaxy Fold is not exploding, so it is at least a safer device than the Galaxy Note7 was.
So far, Samsung has not commented on the issue. They likely won’t comment for a few more days, once they are able to figure out what’s going on and get things squared away.