Is it though? Sometimes failures are your greatest successes. I'd rather have a company try a million different things and see which works, rather than the opposite. As a consumer this is a win, they are not forcing you to buy the phone.
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.
Samsung Unveils New $1,980 Galaxy Fold Smartphone
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Maybe you’re right. It just doesn’t seem ready for market yet. I think it could use a little more time in development.
The screen is the part you’ve got to nail if you’re going to do a foldable, but from the pictures it looks like a mess. Could be that the production models will have the kinks worked out, I guess we’ll find out soon.
In an article published by The Verge yesterday, they point out the fact that:
Here is The Verge's editorial with that warning, and here is Engadget's editorial with that warning.
Now, let's have a look at MacRumor's coverage of the Galaxy Fold for comparison:
Are these quotes the work of "responsible tech journalists" ?
"responsible tech journalists across the web did an important job: they warned readers that it might be a little bit premature to spend $1,980 on a completely unproven, entirely new category of phone-computer."
Here is The Verge's editorial with that warning, and here is Engadget's editorial with that warning.
Now, let's have a look at MacRumor's coverage of the Galaxy Fold for comparison:
Are these quotes the work of "responsible tech journalists" ?
Thank you for your non-contributing opinion.
Make your own, then. I’m sure they could fit an S10+ screen on that outer side.
Hey, nothing wrong with you waiting around like that. However, some of the rest of us love being able to purchase cutting edge technology.
Imagine if Apple offered this same device right now for the same $1980. While consumers like you wait around for more refinement, I guarantee you that others would be falling over themselves to get an early place in the purchase line
[doublepost=1550924311][/doublepost]
Sure, but on the other hand, many of us have begged Samsung to let us try it out anyway, for any price, even back when the screen only lasted a short while.
Heck, people forget that the first iPhone was likewise seen as an unrefined overly expensive gadget for early tech adopters. Apple had to radically drop its price to keep sales going past the first couple of months, and it didn't become really popular until the next model got smartphone basics like 3G, GPS, videocam and apps. The Fold is way ahead from that standpoint.
Early adopters always take a chance. So it goes. Good news is that other Android makers will soon follow with their own less expensive versions.
Last edited:
My comment was directed at this Apple Tax snark...Hey, nothing wrong with you waiting around like that. However, some of the rest of us love being able to purchase cutting edge technology.
Imagine if Apple offered this same device right now for the same $1980. While consumers like you wait for more refinement, I guarantee you that others would be falling over themselves to get an early place in the purchase line
... it is not a declaration of my own personal folding smartphone purchase strategy.
(Though, am I the only one who enjoys imagining the 2024 $3500 10TB cellular 12.9" iPad Pro that folds into four sections to fit in your pocket?)
The same way they could use iPad pro price to justify the iPhone price. We're talking about totally different kinds of devices. iPhone looks so last millennium compared to this.
It's already happening. Huawei's Mobile World Congress event appears to show off the company's first foldable phone, which it calls the Mate X. https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/...e-phone-leaks-ahead-of-mobile-world-congress/
I own a Huawei Mate SE and it's an amazing well built phone for under $230.
Well welcome to the rest of the world. The XS Max 512GB costs here $1903.56.
Yeah, but that is exactly the thing, that wouldn’t be a better experience than now. I’d still take an iPhone SE and an iPad mini combo over this Fold or your proposed roll up device, because the experience will be better...
The Samsung Butt Crease phone with massive bezels on the outside has an incredibly crap design compared to the foldable device Joaquin Phoenix uses in the movie ‘Her’ which actually could be produced in real life.
There’s the contributing opinion to your non contributing reply to my contributing criticism.
Wait until they're released. The product video can be good as god, but the reality may not live up to it.
Can you tell that it's 17mm thick, for example?
As a photographer, I'd love a screen that size (prefer it to be 16:9 of course), but I seriously doubt it's a 'good' screen, just bigger.
As for Apple making a folder… I hope not.
I'd be happier if Apple went back to decent LCD screen. The OLED screens are not as bright (that's how you get better blacks, reduce the brightness, nothing magic there), and the only LCD screen they make now has less pixels than my 4 year old Plus phone (and a bigger surface area), and so it doesn't show up the OLEDs, it's half as bright as my 4 year old phone.
No reason to update my phone, Tim Cook. Fix your screens - everything on them is displayed smaller than my 4 year old phone, they're not as bright, and the phones are thicker and heavier than my 4 year old Plus. People will pay for an inspiring phone - these do not, at the most basic level. Speed alone is not enough. And nobody wants wireless charging, nor faceID. A glass back?? Really?
Let Samsung float aspirational ideas. Apple give me good honest value.
[doublepost=1550932229][/doublepost]
Come to Australia, it's $2369… then you add AppleCare+
umm. there's so grossly wrong in this statement dude.
First of All, the Xs screen brightness is brighter than the LCD's in previous Apple phones. DisplayMate has recorded "660 nits for the sRGB/Rec.709 and DCI-P3 Color Gamuts". in Comparison to the iPhone 8 is "The measured Peak Brightness for the iPhone 7 is 602 cd/m2 (nits)"
So the OLED is brighter. Check your phones settings. and if it's still not enough, perhaps you've got a bad device. OLED is BRIGHT.
You're also wrong about blacks. on OLED, it has nothing to do with "dimmer" and brightness. Saying this shows a fundamental lack of understanding of the technologies, differences between OLED and LCD and how they work.
you're right for LCD. to get "better" contrast you need to dimm the backlight, in addition to reduce the gaps between pixels in order to avoid and diminish light bleed.
this is NOT true for OLED. OLED does not have a backlight. Each individual pixel is lit by itself. This is why OLED contrast is typically rated at "infinite", because "Black" on OLED is legitimately a pixel that is off and NOT producing any light. For oled, there is no backlight to dim, and therefore you can have pixels that are off with no light, and it's immediate neighbouring pixels full brightness.
And the Apple Chin is a brilliant design choice? Both designs are not CHOICES, they are designed that way because they HAD to.
You can't condemn one without condemning the other.
I've never priced out a max with full storage and Apple care.
for gigglez. With Apple Care. the 512gb XS+ is $2,248.00 CAD (or $1720 USD)
Nevermind adding Tax to that... Geezzus: $2,540.24 (1933 USD). can't blame Apple for the sales tax, but it doesn't change the fact if I want a 512GB XS+ with Apple care, i'm not leaving the store without paying $2500.
these models can't be selling well up here.
[doublepost=1550951639][/doublepost]
I'm not going to place value judgement yet on the Fold. it's.. one of those products you're paying for bleeding edge tech, and it probably shouldn't if it's mass adopted cost that much.
But it's also a foolish comparison to compare a parity 2018 phone with the pricing on something i'd say is mostly aimed at early adopters.
People bitch about the current iPhone pricing because the iPhone isn't offering much that makes it stand several hundred dollars above and beyond it's competition (and even Samsung's S10 line i feel may suffer from this at it's prices as well). The Fold on the other hand does not really have any current market comparables. Comaring the fold to the Xs for pricing is silly deflection/
Try putting the mini in your pocket. No matter how good these combinations are they are still a BIG fail there. Fold is worth that much for those who need big screen pocketable phone.
Fold comes bundled with ear buds, charge pad, fast charger, 512gb. Xs max fitted out like this would just be about same price
.
Fair enough, but my point is that there needs to be a means to the end. The Fold as it is now is not going to be more productive to do stuff on than having two devices. You pull out one or the other. The mini fits in my inside jacket pockets, even my svelte racing ones.Try putting the mini in your pocket. No matter how good these combinations are they are still a BIG fail there. Fold is worth that much for those who need big screen pocketable phone.
Fold comes bundled with ear buds, charge pad, fast charger, 512gb. Xs max fitted out like this would just be about same price
Don’t get me wrong, this is the type of device I would love to have. But it needs to solve the real fold issue and should ideally be a trifold form factor with each third being max 5mm thick. Then it needs to dock to a big multi screen setup and run a full desktop OS in this mode.
Until then we will need multiple devices...
Via MSPowerUser.com:
Note their careful choice of media and use of contrast and camera angles on the unfolded screen to continue to conceal the Samsung Butt Crease.
"Samsung has posted a promotional video for the Samsung Galaxy Fold which gives us our best look at the handset yet, allowing us for example to finally see the real turn radius and also the rather odd narrowness of the handset when folded.... See the (strangely silent) video below:"
Note their careful choice of media and use of contrast and camera angles on the unfolded screen to continue to conceal the Samsung Butt Crease.
Last edited:
And Huawei just said hold my beer. Makes the Fold look like a cheap ugly piece of junk
https://bgr.com/2019/02/24/huawei-mate-x-release-date-specs-and-price-official-vs-galaxy-fold/
https://bgr.com/2019/02/24/huawei-mate-x-release-date-specs-and-price-official-vs-galaxy-fold/
It looks good, for one day. The screen ist outside and the screen material is soft, no gorilla glas etc. This will not survive long when you use it for what it is intended.
The Samsung fold has the same problem, but is at least a little better protected.
Looks a lot better in the video, but it also highlights the limitations of the device even further. One-handed phone use feels downright claustrophobic, even moreso than an iPhone SE. When watching videos, you don't seem to get that much more screen estate compared to an iPhone XS Max.
Having a square form factor kinda reminds me of the Blackberry Passport. I suppose it can be useful for stuff like reading maps or scrolling through spreadsheets, but I am wondering if they could / should have made it wider. It just looks and feels awkward.
Dependent on screen layering and whatever substrate they use on the plastic films.