Samsung Unveils Galaxy Fold Availability, Sort Of
by Anton Shilov on September 5, 2019 1:50 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Samsung
- Mobile
- Foldable Smartphones
- Galaxy Fold
Samsung late on Wednesday disclosed availability of its Galaxy Fold smartphone. The smartphone was originally set to be launched earlier this year, but had been delayed in April because the device needed a redesign in a bid to improve its reliability. As expected, the handset will be available in the US this October at previously disclosed price points.
Introduced at Mobile World Congress 2019 in February, Samsung’s Galaxy Fold was supposed to be launched in April. During evaluation of the device by the press, it was discovered that that its hinge needed reinforcements, whereas the top protective layer of the Infinity Flex Display needed to be redesigned to make it apparent that it was a part of the phone, not a protective film.
All the improvements had been made by late July, so the Samsung announced that that the Galaxy Fold would be available in September. On Wednesday, the company said that the foldable smartphone would be available 'next month', meaning October. Meanwhile, it will be available in South Korea on September 6.
When bough in retail and without a contract, the Samsung Galaxy Fold will cost $1980 in the US, £1799 in the UK, and €2000 in Eurozone.
Samsung Galaxy Fold | |
Galaxy Fold | |
SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 1x Kryo 485 (CA76) @ 2.84GHz 3x Kryo 485 (CA76) @ 2.42GHz 4x Kryo 485 (CA55) @ 1.80GHz Adreno 640 @ 578MHz |
Display | Main Display: 7.3" 2048 x 1536 Foldable Dynamic AMOLED (4.2:3) Cover display: 4.6" 1680 x 720 Super AMOLED (21:9) |
Dimensions | Folded: 160.9 x 62.9 x 17.0 to 15.5mm Unfolded: 160.9 x 117.9 x 6.9mm 263g |
RAM | 12GB LPDDR4X |
NAND | 512GB UFS3.0 |
Battery | 4380mAh (16.86Wh) |
Front Camera | Cover Camera: 10MP f/2.2 "Selfie camera" Front camera: 10MP f/1.9 4K video recording Front camera: 8MP, f/2.2 Dual Pixel PDAF "Live focus" |
Primary Rear Camera | 77° Regular Angle 12MP 1.4µm Dual Pixel PDAF Tri-stack CMOS Sensor (Embedded DRAM), 4K60, 1080p240, 720p960 high-speed recording Adjustable aperture f/1.5 or f/2.4, OIS, auto HDR, LED flash |
Secondary Rear Camera | 123° Wide Angle 16MP 1.0µm f/2.2 |
Tertiary Rear Camera | 45° / Telephoto lens 2x zoom 12MP 1.0µm f/2.4, OIS |
SIM Size | LTE model: eSIM + nanoSIM 5G model: nanoSIM |
Wireless | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax 2x2 MU-MIMO, BT 5.0 LE, NFC, GPS/Glonass/Galileo/BDS |
Connectivity | USB Type-C |
Features | It Folds |
Launch OS | Android 9.0 |
Launch Price | $1980 / £1799 / 2000€ |
Samsung also disclosed that the US market will get two colors: Cosmo Black and Space Silver.
Related Reading:
- Samsung Resolves Galaxy Fold Issues: New Launch In September
- Samsung Delays Launch of Galaxy Fold Smartphone
- Samsung: Galaxy Fold Is Tested to Fold/Unfold 200,000 Times
Source: Samsung
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FSWKU - Thursday, September 5, 2019 - link
It's a neat concept, but it's not $2,000 neat. Not when it'll be obsolete within a year or so.Lord of the Bored - Thursday, September 5, 2019 - link
Assuming it still WORKS in a year or so. I'm pretty lacking in confidence here.Valantar - Thursday, September 5, 2019 - link
Given that this phone is the technological equivalent of commenting "First!" I wouldn't think people silly enough to buy it care much about longevity or even usability.name99 - Thursday, September 5, 2019 - link
But IS it a neat concept? If you have a handbag maybe. But I ask you to put two iPhones XS Max (or your other choice of LARGE phone) together. Notice how thick the bundle is --- seriously thick. Do you want that in your pockets?And compare to the size of an XS Max. Height is same. Width is 50% larger. Depth is twice. This thing is HUGE! It's not being used to make a plus sized phone smaller; it's being used to give a plus sized phone a screen the size of an iPad.
I'm not sure that, psychologically and practically, this fulfills the role of a phone. I suspect it more fulfills the role of an iPad mini, meaning that it expects to live in a backpack or briefcase, and to be used for 15min+ sessions, not quite interactions.
And you could justify the existence of a product like that -- but that doesn't seem to be how it is being sold...
I suspect most users who this AS A PHONE, rather than AS AN IPAD MINI, will ultimately be unhappy with the purchase.
Santoval - Thursday, September 5, 2019 - link
Practical concerns are largely irrelevant for Samsung. They are targeting this phone to people who like to brag to their friends and everyone they know that they are "the first with a bending phone", or at least the first in the neighborhood. That is a domain beyond far reason and common sense, residing deep in the rabbit hole of narcissism, insecurity and inferiority complexes.GreenReaper - Sunday, September 8, 2019 - link
The Nintendo DS was folding, too. I'm sure people who want it will find a way to carry it.Quantumz0d - Thursday, September 5, 2019 - link
A POS which has a Notch even when it has 2 slabs for folding mechanism which completely removes the notch necessity given how many cameras it has on the front and back, but Samdung wanted to push more towards the camera game and give it a notch.Further degenerating it has no MicroSD slot (No not because the space, but an SD slot is very useful for any emergency situations, contingency, fast transfer, a dead phone and free from the clutches of the Cloud depedendency)
No 3.5mm jack, given how thicc this ugly device is after numerous mocking against Apple. And less battery, again how 2 slab design allows for a more flexible design for battery at more than 6000Mah, Zenfone 6 has 5000MaH with SD855, ROG II has 6000MaH battery both have fast charging.
So you are buying to be able to fold a social media toy given it's complete lack of productivity and meaningful necessity. Oh the design the back is so ugly, another Chinese vertical camera module inspired by Apple, what's next Samsung Googlve caved in and copied the iPhone cancerous rumor of that ugly bump with Pixel 4 and now it's your turn. Huawei is having a round module, next copy that ? Fucking awful.
Of course the people who have insane money to burn on a planned obsolescence brick will buy and brag about it also ShillTubers as well. Shamesung has fallen from grace.
damianrobertjones - Thursday, September 5, 2019 - link
...You don't like it then?Ironchef3500 - Thursday, September 5, 2019 - link
:)Death666Angel - Thursday, September 5, 2019 - link
"ShillTubers", "Shamesung". Thank god I didn't spend more time reading your post than glancing at it and seeing those terms.