I have enough trouble keeping one screen intact. Interested to see how robust this is in terms of if dropped, open close cycles, two batteries to fail/need replacement. I should expect this will appeal to a market that doesn't keep their devices for more than a year or two. Notwithstanding Apple needs some innovation.
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Samsung Unveils New $1,980 Galaxy Fold Smartphone
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According to Samsung, their Infinity Flex displays can go hundreds of thousands of folds before deteriorating.
When they first mentioned this a month or two ago, everyone took notice. Huge step up from just a few years ago.
Yea I thought I was maybe reading it wrong, but then I actually remembered one laptop that does have a gap when closed - Surface Book.
I forgot about the Surface Book. Personally I don’t find that a big deal on the laptop, but it might be annoying on the phone.
Not a style for everyone, but...
This thing has some killer possibilities as a field device for repair techs / salespeople.
Not to mention all those students who like to edit term papers at lunch on their phones.
This thing has some killer possibilities as a field device for repair techs / salespeople.
Not to mention all those students who like to edit term papers at lunch on their phones.
Yea it looks funky, but I would agree - I don't think it would make much of a difference on a laptop because we are used to the sloped top end. With a phone, totally different story to me.
The funky hinge is part of the Surface design. I doubt that not closing flat would be something Samsung desired with the Fold. It’s probably a necessary evil at this point for folding screens. Just as the notch wasn’t a design feature for Apple, it was necessary for what they wanted to accomplish. And it really wasn’t a big deal like many try to make it out to be. The notch is accepted.
Who knows how the Fold will be received.
Doesn’t matter. The device is going to get obsolete through lack of software updates long before the screen folding becomes an issue.
Is that the 17mm thickness, or is it the other side?There kind of lost me there:
Still, not too bad for v1.0
Why doesn’t the screen fill the whole front of the phone? Was there an explanation for that?
It’s always good to see how sentiment to an event unfolds over days, and I am reminded of why this forum continues to amuse and intrigue me.
When the event first broke, people were falling over themselves to declare Samsung the innovator and that Apple was somehow lagging behind simply because they weren’t offering a niche product category that clearly wasn’t designed to sell at all.
I think that now that emotions have settled and we have had a little more time to settle in, it’s more apparent than ever that Samsung is the one who clearly has no clue at all.
The galaxy isn’t a phone which unfolds into a tablet. It’s a small tablet which you have to fold to keep in your pocket. I predict the device is going to fail right here and now, for the basic reason that it cannot possibly be considered a good experience to expect your users to have to unfold their device every time they want to use it. And they will want to; the galaxy fold is clearly a crappy phone.
Consider how many times the average user unlocks his phone throughout the course of the day. One can see how this would quickly get irritating very quickly.
I wonder if even Samsung themselves knows it, which is why they priced the galaxy fold as high as it did - so that fewer people would buy it. The intent could be to spur sales of their own foldable screens, or maybe simply to paint the narrative that they are leaders and innovators. Yes, by offering a product so “innovative” that literally nobody can afford it!
The S10 lineup is well, the S10 lineup. The reality is that Samsung has been crushed by smartphone competition across the board, and I saw nothing Samsung did which will reverse the trend.
Their wearables strategy is a mess as well. One only needs to compare it with Apple to see how Apple has a clear cohesive plan to focus on wearables, while this continues to be an afterthought for Samsung.
I believe time will prove that Apple’s vision of wearable computing is the right one, and not Samsung’s.
People like to point out to the phablet trend as evidence that Samsung can innovate. I say that was a fluke. Samsung had one lucky hit, peaked right afterwards, and they have been struggling to recreate that success ever since Apple “caught up” with larger iPhones, with very mixed success.
I once stated why I believe Apple will (continue to) succeed, even more so than Samsung. Samsung has no coherent vision when it comes to the future. That’s why Samsung can never overtake Apple. Because the sad reality is that Samsung still doesn’t know, in their hearts, what it is they want their products to stand for.
And Apple does.
Looks like it will be another year of (almost) zero competition for Apple.
When the event first broke, people were falling over themselves to declare Samsung the innovator and that Apple was somehow lagging behind simply because they weren’t offering a niche product category that clearly wasn’t designed to sell at all.
I think that now that emotions have settled and we have had a little more time to settle in, it’s more apparent than ever that Samsung is the one who clearly has no clue at all.
The galaxy isn’t a phone which unfolds into a tablet. It’s a small tablet which you have to fold to keep in your pocket. I predict the device is going to fail right here and now, for the basic reason that it cannot possibly be considered a good experience to expect your users to have to unfold their device every time they want to use it. And they will want to; the galaxy fold is clearly a crappy phone.
Consider how many times the average user unlocks his phone throughout the course of the day. One can see how this would quickly get irritating very quickly.
I wonder if even Samsung themselves knows it, which is why they priced the galaxy fold as high as it did - so that fewer people would buy it. The intent could be to spur sales of their own foldable screens, or maybe simply to paint the narrative that they are leaders and innovators. Yes, by offering a product so “innovative” that literally nobody can afford it!
The S10 lineup is well, the S10 lineup. The reality is that Samsung has been crushed by smartphone competition across the board, and I saw nothing Samsung did which will reverse the trend.
Their wearables strategy is a mess as well. One only needs to compare it with Apple to see how Apple has a clear cohesive plan to focus on wearables, while this continues to be an afterthought for Samsung.
I believe time will prove that Apple’s vision of wearable computing is the right one, and not Samsung’s.
People like to point out to the phablet trend as evidence that Samsung can innovate. I say that was a fluke. Samsung had one lucky hit, peaked right afterwards, and they have been struggling to recreate that success ever since Apple “caught up” with larger iPhones, with very mixed success.
I once stated why I believe Apple will (continue to) succeed, even more so than Samsung. Samsung has no coherent vision when it comes to the future. That’s why Samsung can never overtake Apple. Because the sad reality is that Samsung still doesn’t know, in their hearts, what it is they want their products to stand for.
And Apple does.
Looks like it will be another year of (almost) zero competition for Apple.
My phone is all about efficiency, I don't want to unfold my phone at any time. Also, that weird aspect ratio on that fold-a-phone will probably make a lot of that screen unusable for watching media. The only thing I could see using this for is to have 2 apps open at once, however no one uses that feature now.
I suppose if you can afford an insanely expensive phone, you can afford the insanely expensive insurance cost on it. But having insurance doesn’t magically stop you from being a target. I rather not put myself into that situation to begin with.
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Barely...lol.
Good camera cutaways during the broadcast.. now if you were there and saw the real demo - that screen hinge... 6 months and it’s going to look more and more indented.
https://imgur.com/gallery/7CsBVw2
https://imgur.com/gallery/7CsBVw2
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Good catch... it's one of those things once you see it, you can never unsee it.
Having to use play/rewind/forward controls ON the hinge too..
Wow, definitely didn’t see that initially. I can’t say this product is rushed since they’ve been working on it for 6 years at least, but it seems like they got to the point where they simply didn’t care about the user experience and felt pressure to get it out the door.
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One is more easier than the other, though. That's the point. I find pin or pattern much easier than holding a phone up to my face or using my fingerprint, especially on cold mornings when I'm wearing gloves/driving gloves.
I won’t say it’s rushed, but it’s looking more and more like a solution looking for a problem. We know that Samsung is increasingly desperate to discover the next big thing to offset declining smartphone sales, and they happened to have this folding screen tech, with no idea as to what to use it for.
And this is the end result. A cool piece of tech that doesn’t necessarily translate into a great user experience at the end of the day.
Many of the comments here praising Samsung are going to age poorly in due time.
Agreed. You can’t say it’s rushed considering they have been working on it forever, but I am just at a loss to figure out what value it brings. It’s honestly surprising to me that this is the best they came out with. The tech is cool, the concept obviously makes sense, but this product does nothing to improve upon what we have today. I don’t see the point in having this over having an iPhone SE and an iPad mini, which would have significantly better app support, cost about $1400 less, and provide a much better experience for the user.
Am I the only one who notices this borrows some asthetics from iPhone?
1. The camera cutout on the back, the shape of how it’s housed in the saphaire.
2. There is a notch!
3. The bands and surrounding borders of the phone!
Give me a break, Samsung is and will always be the one to blatantly copy other companies designs! The make good products but still tho...
1. The camera cutout on the back, the shape of how it’s housed in the saphaire.
2. There is a notch!
3. The bands and surrounding borders of the phone!
Give me a break, Samsung is and will always be the one to blatantly copy other companies designs! The make good products but still tho...