iFixit Teardown of Samsung Galaxy Fold Reveals Likely Design Flaw

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Others have commented or questioned why Samsung R&D didn’t catch the potential issues with the screen or fold mechanism, but I’d go a bit further and question how anyone at Samsung with even a basic understanding of what a device goes through on a day to day basis would give a green light on a device like this that has very obvious and catastrophic design flaws?

You should ask that same question to every company.

“Early”? You know these were REVIEW units distributed like a week or two before launch, right?

That’s far from early. This wasn’t a beta TEST. It SHOULD have been caught in early betas, but it wasn’t. Remember how many times a beta unit of iPhone was “leaked” in the wild? Apple has real beta testers using their new models for months before launch. Samsung though, apparently secrecy was even more important to them than Apple (which is already legendarily given to secrecy).

Colossal failure for them... there is no “bright side” to this.

Why is there a problem with the definition of "early"? It didn't get to consumers hands. That's as early as you can get with a final product.

 

[raghu8912]

Why some posters are acting like Samsung realesed this to the public already?

It a good thing this and other faults were caught early.

Issues were caught by people reviewing the phone, not Samsung.
If Samsung caught it then its OK, not OK for reporters to report problems.
[doublepost=1556135541][/doublepost]

Didn’t many here refer to the X as a beta/prototype device

Everything on iPhone X worked great, why do you think iPhone X was beta ?
Face ID was great.
No Complaints about OLED Display.
[doublepost=1556135722][/doublepost]

Samsung has to do it first or Apple won't get any screens for their hypotetical foldable device. Of course I am assuming Huawei won't be allowed to supply Apple.

Huawei makes their own Displays now ?

 

[rp2011]

Apple is facing new class action lawsuits everyday. A new one today for the iPhone 4 sleep button from a device from how many years ago. A kid a suing Apple for a billion dollars this week. Perhaps Samsung can get away with shipping defective products, but if Apple sold exploding phones or silly folding class-action-ready iPhones I would divest from Apple immediately. They have enough liabilities to worry about than a gimmick without a market.

 

[raghu8912]

Perhaps this:
iPhone 4 case program.
iPhone 6+ bendgate
iPhone 7 cellular service

Compared to fold issues, all these are minor issues.

 

[rp2011]

Compared to fold issues, all these are minor issues.

Or exploding phones

 

[Exxhara]

I guess the same argument could be made that the iPhone copies Samsung in some aspects, but in this respect, you have to give Samsung due credit for trying something new, even though it is a flawed product, which now it’s their responsibility to make it better moving forward.

It's only because they weren't copying Apple this time. They had to make the product from scratch so they learned the growing pains of product development. Can you imagine if Apple had rushed this product to market?? Samsung fans would've gone crazy saying Apple is dead.

 

[jamesrick80]

Samsung's greatest defense.....THE PRODUCT WAS NEVER RELEASED

 

[bruinsrme]

Issues were caught by people reviewing the phone, not Samsung.
If Samsung caught it then its OK, not OK for reporters to report problems.
[doublepost=1556135541][/doublepost]
Everything on iPhone X worked great, why do you think iPhone X was beta ?
Face ID was great.
No Complaints about OLED Display.
[doublepost=1556135722][/doublepost]
Huawei makes their own Displays now ?

I had the X the first day. I was on the fence based on opinions here and the critics reviews.
On launch day I went and played with the X and walked out with in-hand.
Nothing beta or prototype about it.
Looking back I think apple had the max size ready to go but was somewhat apprehensive to launch in the same period as the 8, 8+ and X.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Issues were caught by people reviewing the phone, not Samsung.

I know that.

 

[modemthug]

Hyperbole should not reign over reason. Taking an unbiased look, the Samsung Fold is a work of modern art, surpassing the likes of antiquated vestiges like the Mona Lisa, David, and Othello. Credit where credit is due. No one wants “productivity” or “creativity” on their phones or computers. We want novelty. If it folds, it’s cool. If it has a curved display, it’s cool. People brandish phones and use them to consume content. That’s all. So stop it, Apple. Clips? Music Memos? Siri Shortcuts? Health? Measure? News? No. Just no. You are embarrassing yourself.

It really shows you what kind of company Apple and Samsung are when one focuses on novelty like folding phones and the other focuses on nonsense like TrueDepth.

Apple is the Lexus of the tech world. Reliable, innovative enough but not over the top, lasts a long time, restrained but handsome styling, premium price for good quality, excellent service after the sale, and an incredibly loyal following.

Samsung is like Volkswagen group. Mega conglomerate with lots of different subsidiaries, reliable enough products, can be innovative, Service after the sale is hit or miss, some models are much better than others.

 

[rp2011]

I would have loved to have seen a video from jerryrigeverything on this device. There’s still hope. But I honestly doubt that this device will be released in June if ever.
People are still focusing on the ingress as the problem, but that’s the least of this device’s problems.

 

[FFR]

Yes i knw m wrting tisfrm my prfeclyfnctional MacBok .
Tks Gd i not a nws r blgwritr .................................................................................................................................................................................... .................... sdfgsdfgsdjfgkjsdfklgjs;dklg< Banging heads on the keyboard.


That was actually Apple's lame excuse for the Factory bent iPad not what Samsung said about the fold

If it was a galaxy fold doubt you would be able to do even that after the first day of use.

a defective design that can’t really fold without breaking, when were you getting yours again.

 

[alphaod]

This is actually a pretty horrible product. I wonder how many people still want this after seeing this teardown and all the reviews.

 

[skottichan]

But wasnt

Only because the reviewers found this flaw.

 

[Guscat]

Compared to fold issues, all these are minor issues.

Compared to Fold issues, all of those were non-existent issues (and for the record, I owned the iPhone 4 and iPhone 7+ and didn't have any problems with either phone).
[doublepost=1556149647][/doublepost]

Apple is the Lexus of the tech world. Reliable, innovative enough but not over the top, lasts a long time, restrained but handsome styling, premium price for good quality, excellent service after the sale, and an incredibly loyal following.

Samsung is like Volkswagen group. Mega conglomerate with lots of different subsidiaries, reliable enough products, can be innovative, Service after the sale is hit or miss, some models are much better than others.

My brother works in the car business. He said VW cars are either great or awful, that may be Samsung.
[doublepost=1556149813][/doublepost]

Personally I think that a tablet I can make calls from, fold, and carry in my pocket makes sense, just like 2-in-ones make sense for many.

As a former military member and blue-collar worker, I can think of a number of scenarios where such a device could be useful.

It may not be a be-all, end-all for everyone, but the argument that it should exist (along other form-factors) is there.

I find it amusing how some of the arguments against the existence of such a device are similar to the ones I remember from when the iPad was first introduced.

I got the original iPad the first hour it came out. I don't remember anyone not being excited about the iPad (and certainly every person i showed it to was excited about it). If anyone wasn't excited about it they were simply an Apple hater.

 

[pmore]

Kind of an unacceptable ‘flaw’ from a $2000 tech device. It Makes you wonder how much quality testing was completed on the Fold during the R&D phase. I don’t know that this entirely damages Samsung’s branding, but it doesn’t look good either for what they were calling the ‘future’.

It is acceptable. It's brand new tech. It's not like their laptops (30 year tech) have design flaws on the keyboard or something.

 

[Krizoitz]

As much as apple pays you.

Nice try at deflection, but you don’t see me posting ridiculous knee jerk defense on every post about Apple the way you are about Samsung. Seriously. This site is primarily about Apple products, yet here you are slavishly defending an indefensible Samsung product. Why? If this were a Samsung focused forum or even a general Smartphone forum that might make sense. But on an Apple forum? It’s nuts.

Meanwhile your lame attempts to reference minor issues with Apple products and compare them to the absolute disaster that is the Galaxy Fold further undercuts your position. This device is an absolutely disaster, full stop. Whatever Apple has or hasn’t done doesn’t change that. The Galaxy Fold fundamentally DOES NOT WORK. It’s differentiating factor, folding is utterly broken. And they were days away from release! That is a catastrophic failure somewhere along the way, engineering, QA, leadership, it should never have gotten to this point! Not even close! It would be one thing if this were a rare event, say 1 in 1000, that would still be really really bad, but at least you could argue it’s missable. But it’s practically every device. The product is garbage. No one should defend it. If Apple pulled the same stunt, releasing a product that fails nearly 100% of the time they’d deserve as much scorn.

 

[Tiger8]

I thought we were over specs as they are generally meaningless. Performance, usability and reliability are all that really matter. I don't care if the Samsung has more RAM or a faster processor. They run different software and have other hardware components that are different making any comparison effectively worthless.

An OLED display on 10e with a small hole vs an ancient LCD with rabbit ears on Xr at the same price point is a major win for Samsung, and this comes from someone who owned iPhones for more than a decade. I love my Xr, but that Thick bezel screams 2010

 

[bruinsrme]

Nice try at deflection, but you don’t see me posting ridiculous knee jerk defense on every post about Apple the way you are about Samsung. Seriously. This site is primarily about Apple products, yet here you are slavishly defending an indefensible Samsung product. Why? If this were a Samsung focused forum or even a general Smartphone forum that might make sense. But on an Apple forum? It’s nuts.

Meanwhile your lame attempts to reference minor issues with Apple products and compare them to the absolute disaster that is the Galaxy Fold further undercuts your position. This device is an absolutely disaster, full stop. Whatever Apple has or hasn’t done doesn’t change that. The Galaxy Fold fundamentally DOES NOT WORK. It’s differentiating factor, folding is utterly broken. And they were days away from release! That is a catastrophic failure somewhere along the way, engineering, QA, leadership, it should never have gotten to this point! Not even close! It would be one thing if this were a rare event, say 1 in 1000, that would still be really really bad, but at least you could argue it’s missable. But it’s practically every device. The product is garbage. No one should defend it. If Apple pulled the same stunt, releasing a product that fails nearly 100% of the time they’d deserve as much scorn.

Wow, I struck a nerve with you.
Well Apple did release a phone that near every unit was affected if you held it.
They did receive “scorn” and we received a free case.

Yeah, I tried the q7-9 disliked them so much Samsung bought a Sony for me.
[doublepost=1556166544][/doublepost]

Compared to fold issues, all these are minor issues.

I guess a phone losing the phone capability/function is a minor issue.

 

[rp2011]

When larger phones first started arriving at store shelves it seemed like the tech media were in a concerted effort to trash them and laugh them off until the market spoke and said they liked big phones. To me it seems like tech media in general is bending over backwards to deflect the reality of the silliness of these things and Samsung. This thing has fail written all over it even if they overcome material physics.

 

[Ralfi]

The fan boi extremism in here is sad to see. People just want to one-up others & are incapable of respectfully discussing things maturely.

 

[jon3543]

I don't see why anyone would want this.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

iFixit today published its teardown of Samsung's Galaxy Fold, offering more details on a potential flaw in the device, which has now been delayed following reports of several broken review units.

Essentially, it looks as though Samsung was so focused on perfecting the folding mechanism on the smartphone/tablet hybrid that it made a major oversight: providing adequate protection against the ingress of debris between the OLED screen and the chassis bezel.

Many reviewers experienced multiple issues while testing the device, including a random bulge appearing on the display, as well as flickering and failing screens. In many cases, the issues were enough to make the $1,980 device completely unusable.

In a statement, Samsung said its initial findings from the inspection of reported issues on the display showed that they could be associated with impact on the top and bottom exposed areas of the hinge. It also said "substances" were found inside the device, which affected the display performance.

As iFixit notes, it will be interesting to see how folding designs manage to overcome these weaknesses in future - if indeed they have a future. Following Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi revealed that they too will launch folding smartphones, and there are signs Apple is looking into the possibility of a foldable iPhone. Apple has filed several patent applications related to folding phones that variously fold inward, outward, and both inward and outward.

Potential point of entry for debris ingress (Image: iFixit)​

As for the Galaxy Fold, the months ahead look increasingly uncertain. One day after Samsung said it was delaying the launch of the hybrid handset, the company announced that it would be retrieving all Fold devices that were distributed to reviewers.

In an email to pre-order customers about the delayed launch, Samsung said that it will update customers with more specific shipping information in two weeks. "Your pre-order guarantees your place in the queue for this innovative technology," the company promised.

Article Link: iFixit Teardown of Samsung Galaxy Fold Reveals Likely Design Flaw

Could see this flaw coming a mile away. Miles away. Years ago.

 

[Ghost31]

Raise your hand if you’re sick of people finding ways to work “but butterfly keyboards hurr hurr” into every thread

 

[ROGmaster]

Admittedly, it was a bit of an embarrassment to announce something and then have to shelve it, but at least Apple tested it and decided it wasn't possible, rather than releasing something that would overheat and possibly burn peoples houses down.

That is the difference between the two companies right there if we really want to involve Apple in this topic.

Be serious.
Apple fully presented Airpower on stage while also setting the expectations for how it will work(I don't know if that would be possible without testing an almost finished product).
The embarrassing part is that they couldn't even make it work in more than 1 year since the official reveal.
You are just trying to see things in a certain way not how they are really like.
[doublepost=1556177013][/doublepost]

I have seen few displays who took damage / were failing, after few weeks with reviewers. So I think your comment about "real life condition" is spot on, as i believe that people would like to use a 2000 $ device for more than a month before the screen starts to fail..

How many phones with foldable screens have you see reviewers test?