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Samsung Retrieving Defective Galaxy Fold Review Units as it Works to Fix Display Issues Before Launch

Rafterman said:
The "notch".
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The notch unlike the keyboards or the Galaxy Fold (which also has a notch) works as it is supposed (and damn well considering how good Face ID is)
The keyboards on the other hand suck even before failing. And then they eventually fail.
GrumpyMom said:
Yeah I think their mistake was they tested it using a machine that folded and unfolded it over a hundred thousand times.

They needed to give it to me. If it survives a week in my backpack and purses, it’s good to go!
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They probably used that machine in a clean room.

Reminds me about those news about US Sidewinder missiles getting easily tricked by Soviet flares. They were designed to ignore flares but were tested with US flares, precision manufactured all equal to the next, unlike Soviet flares with sloppier manufacturing which resulted in every unit being slightly different from the next.
 
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GrumpyMom said:
I’m not sure exactly how many they made but anyone projecting catastrophic loss on this similar to what they experienced with the Note 7 needs to keep in mind Samsung presented this during their Unpacked event as something of an experimental device not for the masses.

They announced in advance there would be a different level of service and warranty for the customers who signed on for one of these.

Some reviewers act like this is presented as some mass consumer product like their other phones but I thought Samsung was pretty clear it’s for the well-heeled people who can toss a little money around for the opportunity to be a test pilot for a new product class.
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Oh, now the device is "experimental" and not the smartphone of the future?

This was Samsung's attempt at an iPhone X launch and they objectively failed.
 
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Baymowe335 said:
Yeah, think of a better example. Those keyboards are the definition of vocal minority.

Or post some failure rate data.
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I was in this boat until we had three out of six of these laptops with keyboard issues including mine.
 
This might be a simple fix. From what I saw;

* On some devices, things pressed against the underside of the display. This seemed to be caused by the hinge system allowing dust/debris in. The dust/debris worked itself in further by the moving of the hinges, and then those same hinges ended up pressing it against the back of the display.

* Either a flaw with display assembly or the adhesive used in the display caused it to fail when pushed (from the underside, via dust/debris) or when pulled from the front, such as when the factory-installed "screen protector" was removed.

For the first issue, a better-sealed hinge system might take care of it.

For the second issue, an improved "screen protector" should be used (one without edges that are easily pealed), plus an improved adhesive (or more time to cure) that holds the display together (so that something pushing or pulling it doesn't cause it to fail).

I'm not claiming to be any kind of expert, but these were just the quick thoughts that popped into my head when I saw all the damaged units.

That being said, I think the Galaxy Fold, in its current layout, is absolutely ugly. The small screen is too small (with huge bezels), and the big screen is a bit too big.

Samsung should fix the current issues, then release the device with big discounts. Hopefully the Galaxy Fold II is a lot better.
 
Baymowe335 said:
Oh, now the device is "experimental" and not the smartphone of the future?

This was Samsung's attempt at an iPhone X launch and they objectively failed.
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You make it sound like the two are mutually exclusive. The “future” doesn’t really exist in practical terms. A rogue asteroid could be on course to wipe us all out and our future is moot and we don’t even know it.

Practically speaking we deal in product revolution by evolution in stages. Look at our present flagship phones. They’re boasting a refinement of components introduced at more raw stages on previous models.

It took years for Touch ID to work well for me, for example. The Face ID we have now will seem so primitive compared to future iterations.

Yes, this product was experimental. Most people wisely do carefully consider being early adopters. And in this case when we are looking at a very complex design in its earliest possible public iteration, it is experimental. It’s never been publicly utilized before. It looks rough. It clearly is rough. Samsung knew that and presented it with a very limited scope release at a high price to keep demand low. They were prepared to heavily warrant the displays.

I forgot to address the ridiculous assertion that this was their iPhone X launch equivalent. No, it was never meant to be widely distributed. They already released their mass consumption phones to celebrate their 10th Anniversary. This was not that device.
 
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alms said:
It was discovered in testing. The cheesy film covering the screen was clearly a last-minute attempt to fix the problem. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work.
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That’s an interesting theory to contemplate.
 
GrumpyMom said:
Some reviewers act like this is presented as some mass consumer product like their other phones but I thought Samsung was pretty clear it’s for the well-heeled people who can toss a little money around for the opportunity to be a test pilot for a new product class.
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If anyone can purchase one then it’s a consumer product. If it was supposed to be a test device to show new technology then Samsung should do what every other company does - only sell them to developers for testing & development purposes.
 
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They'll take out the hinge and call it... The Galaxy Flat. No more dealing with those annoying folding screen issues, just a really stupid shaped phablet.
 
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realtuner said:
If anyone can purchase one then it’s a consumer product. If it was supposed to be a test device to show new technology then Samsung should do what every other company does - only sell them to developers for testing & development purposes.
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You’re right. They apparently didn’t think a lot of this through. But I’m only relating how they did present it. They got too excited and got ahead of themselves, probably because Huawei was racing them to this.
 
wow, so many snarky comments. while some quality issues are surfacing now after real life use, give Samsung engineers some credit. 5 years later when iphone offers flexible screen, you will rejoice.

just fyi, pretty much everything that makes your pretty iphone work were invented by OTHERs, not Apple.
 
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chagla said:
wow, so many snarky comments. while some quality issues are surfacing now after real life use, give Samsung engineers some credit. 5 years later when iphone offers flexible screen, you will rejoice.

just fyi, pretty much everything that makes your pretty iphone work were invented by OTHERs, not Apple.
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So?

The restaurant I frequent doesn’t grow the ingredients they use for their dishes. Doesn’t make their food any less delicious.
 
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Munch said:
I don't understand how none of this was discovered in testing.
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It may well have been a problem but the higher ups may have put so much pressure on everyone to release it they ignored the issues. I know every Android fanboy likes to talk about apples problems but Samsung is the handset maker in the most trouble. They needed something to detract from the lackluster S10 release.
 
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Oculus Mentis said:
Because of this issue the whole company might fold...
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Not even close...
The Note 7 issue was much worse and they came out of it just fine. The resulting Note 8 that followed was a fantastic phone.

Remember... it was only 4 devices out of all the review devices sent out that failed. 4.
I still don't care for the form factor, but I like the inner fold concept over the outer fold versions.
Still waiting to see how long the Mate X screen lasts in day to day use.
 
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Mansu944 said:
I’m curious to see what then”fix” is. I wonder how many are already made and waiting to ship also.
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The units broke after two days of use. In the whole of the EU, units must last for at least two years; if not, things become very expensive. Anything that is made today is broken, otherwise they would have shipped better units to reviewers. So everything that is already built is not going to be shipped.
 
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rjohnstone said:
Not even close...
The Note 7 issue was much worse and they came out of it just fine. The resulting Note 8 that followed was a fantastic phone.

Remember... it was only 4 devices out of all the review devices sent out that failed. 4.
I still don't care for the form factor, but I like the inner fold concept over the outer fold versions.
Still waiting to see how long the Mate X screen lasts in day to day use.
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Apart from the fact that they're a huge conglomerate. LOL
 
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