Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Hands-On With Samsung's New Galaxy Fold
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Kudos to Samsung for their commitment to solving the issues, and seeing that display working while half-folded is so cool. I'm a Samsung disliker, but they have my attention here.
I do think folding screens are going to be part of the future. You can bet on that.
I do think folding screens are going to be part of the future. You can bet on that.
My opinion is that the tech is not applied correctly. This type of screen is not for you to open and close it to make it pass like a book, but to wrap it around capricious shapes.
Just picture a thin tapered shape like a Magic Mouse wrapped completely and seamlessly with this. The screen goes all the way from the front to the back. You can have wallpapers that span all the body of the phone to make its looks more dynamic and alive, like a cuttlefish pulsing colors and stripes. Instead of having a phone with just one body color, you could have water ripples that react using accelerometers depending on how you move it... if mics and cameras were to be placed creatively, you could have a device that doesn't have a a back and a front and that only adjusts to how you grab it... stuff like that.
Just picture a thin tapered shape like a Magic Mouse wrapped completely and seamlessly with this. The screen goes all the way from the front to the back. You can have wallpapers that span all the body of the phone to make its looks more dynamic and alive, like a cuttlefish pulsing colors and stripes. Instead of having a phone with just one body color, you could have water ripples that react using accelerometers depending on how you move it... if mics and cameras were to be placed creatively, you could have a device that doesn't have a a back and a front and that only adjusts to how you grab it... stuff like that.
For what it's worth I think the Galaxy 10 looks better than the latest iPhone and has a better overall set of features. I'm an Apple fanboy but I don't blindly rate their products superior to all other competitors.
I can see how this foldable device could serve a niche market, but overall it looks like an expensive novelty device for the average user.
I have zero desire to have a brick-style phone that folds out into a tablet - whether it comes from Apple, Samsung, or any other company.
If the screen which is the most fragile thing in this gizmo costs $149 to replace, what is the rest of the $2,000 buying you?
Nothing wrong with trying something innovative and make an attempt to push technology forward. Someone has to be brave!
Waiting for all the people slamming the $329 iPad for not having a laminated screen to come in here and tell us why having a flimsy, cheap feeling display is OK on a $2,000 device.
That’s what your R&D labs are for.
All these sad people bashing this thing...
Samsung is trying to invent something completely new, of course the first version will be meh, but it's a start. Give it 3-4 years and it'll be great.
Samsung is trying to invent something completely new, of course the first version will be meh, but it's a start. Give it 3-4 years and it'll be great.
no, we shouldn't applaud companies for throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks.
I strongly suspect that it has as much to do with the litigiousness of the US market that they are allowing for. You just know that sooner or later Apple or Samsung will be facing class action suits for something regarding these products
"shell out $1,980 for a device that can convert from a phone into a tablet. "
Well there were quite a few people here that shelled out 1500 for a phone with a 3rd camera.
This one folds in half and has quite a bit of innovation.
Well there were quite a few people here that shelled out 1500 for a phone with a 3rd camera.
This one folds in half and has quite a bit of innovation.
The drawback to a device like this, isn’t just the technology, but I think it’s the price. I mean, average consumers are having difficulty paying for a $1000 smart phone, let alone a $2000 folding display? I just don’t see it really being for the ‘masses’, it will probably be for a very niche demographic. But I understand that all new-edge’ technology, especially something new like this, carries a hefty price tag. I Just think if a product like this is meant to flourish ‘long-term’, the price needs to be more reflective for a higher adoption rate, and I don’t think this device is ‘price point friendly’.
“Interesting” is the right word for it. It’s feels like a proof of concept more than a device that’s ready for the mad market. Looking at this, one can see how the future might look, but this particular device seems too flawed to want to use on a daily basis.
You are comparing the devices from totally different categories. You could have continued with: it's screen is bigger than any other smartphone out there, it's size is smaller than any tablet.
Is iPad a folding smartphone or something? What's your point? Galaxy Fold is the best folding smartphone on the market (simply by virtue of being the only one). Yes, it has obvious issues. We'll see if the tradeoffs are worth it for [some] people.
Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you have to do it.
No it isn’t...its a pain to use...I’ve tested one and it’s a terrible design that STILL allows dirt to enter the hinge. There already a video showing the hinge grinding from dirt.
The front screen is awful, the screen is covered in plastic, you can see the bend, the software is buggy as hell, it’s heavy, WAY too thick, and it creates more problems than it solves.
The only thing interesting is how this ugly thing is the best Samsung could do and decided to release it anyway.
Last edited:
As innovative as my 3D TV--also a Samsung. And of course the Lenovo Yoga that transform from a tablet to laptop. And let’s not forget Microsoft Surface desktop, which every major design and animation studio now uses over anything made by Apple. This is where innovation matters. A bendable phone. Arguably a more useful feature than ProMotion, TrueTone, Cerberus camera montrosity, ugly notch. Thankfully my mother said she’ll help pay for this Samsung Fold but this phone will solve many of my life’s problems.
This strikes me as more of a proof of concept, but I wouldn’t be surprised if in 5 years we all wonder how we ever did without folding screen devices.