Samsung Galaxy Fold
Samsung Releasing Galaxy Fold on Friday
Samsung has finally set a US release date for its delayed and tweaked Galaxy Fold: this Friday, Sept. 27th. While T-Mobile had originally planned to offer the Fold, now it will only be available from AT&T and in an unlocked version. Select Best Buy and Samsung Experience Stores will sell both the unlocked version and the AT&T version. The Fold will come with a special support offering called Galaxy Fold Premier Service. This will include a dedicated phone number, video chat service, and in-person support. "Samsung experts" will be available for complimentary "onboarding" as well as ongoing support. The Galaxy Fold is the first smartphone for the US with a flexible pOLED screen that actually folds in half. It also has a full touchscreen interface on the outside. Its specs are similar to the high-end Galaxy S10+, including a top-end Snapdragon 855 processor, 12 GB of RAM, and triple rear cameras (wide, standard, and telephoto.) The Fold was originally slated to launch April 26th of this year, but the launch was delayed after multiple reviewers experienced serious issues soon after receiving the phone. The design has since been improved to address the issues seen on the original design.
Samsung Launching Tweaked Galaxy Fold in September
Samsung today released a statement that it will launch the Galaxy Fold in September, having improved the design to address issues that cropped up in multiple review units right before the original launch date in late April. Samsung has tweaked the design of the folding-display phone in four specific ways:
- "The top protective layer of the Infinity Flex Display has been extended beyond the bezel, making it apparent that it is an integral part of the display structure and not meant to be removed."
- "The top and bottom of the hinge area have been strengthened with newly added protection caps."
- "Additional metal layers underneath the Infinity Flex Display have been included to reinforce the protection of the display."
- "The space between the hinge and body of Galaxy Fold has been reduced."
Samsung Delays Galaxy Fold Launch
Samsung is delaying the debut of its Galaxy Fold smartphone until at least next month, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal, since confirmed by Samsung. The folding-screen phone was set to go on sale this Friday, April 26th. Multiple reviewers have experienced serious failures of the folding screen after just a few days of using the phone.
Samsung Galaxy Fold Review Units Failing at High Rate
The first production units of the Samsung Galaxy Fold, sent to some phone reviewers, are experiencing serious failures of the folding screen after very little use, and at an alarming rate. Units sent to The Verge and CNBC have failed after just a few days of normal use. The unit used by Dieter Bohn of The Verge developed a sharp bulge poking up into the screen from the hinge mechanism; it destroyed the screen. The unit sent to CNBC started flickering off on the left side. Two other reviewers accidentally destroyed the screen after attempting to peel off a layer that looks like a removable screen protector, and can be peeled off, but is not intended to be removed. The Verge's unit also developed small nicks in the protective film after just a few days. The folding phone is supposed to ship to consumers at the end of next week.
Samsung Galaxy Fold Ships in Two Weeks; S10 5G in May
The Samsung Galaxy Fold will be on display and available for purchase on April 26th at AT&T, T-Mobile, Best Buy, and Samsung Experience Stores. T-Mobile will start accepting online orders the night before, at midnight ET / 9pm PT. Samsung will start accepting pre-orders tomorrow, April 12th, exclusively for people who have signed up to receive Galaxy Fold updates on samsung.com. Samsung also confirmed that the Galaxy S10 5G will launch in the US in May. Verizon has previously announced that it will be the first US carrier to offer the phone, with a period of exclusivity. AT&T also recently revealed that it will offer the S10 5G in the "spring", which implies that AT&T will launch the phone in June. Samsung says pre-orders for the S10 5G will start "soon".
Galaxy S10 Comes With Spotify Premium Free for Six Months
Spotify comes pre-installed as the default music-streaming app on all Samsung Galaxy S10 series phones globally, and US models come with six free months of Spotify Premium. Phones eligible for the free-six-months offer will also include the Galaxy Fold and certain A-series models. To be eligible, customers must be new to Spotify Premium / Unlimited, having never paid for it or used a trial offer. Spotify is also integrated with Samsung's Bixby assistant, including content and recommendations on the Bixby home screen.
Best of MWC 2019
Each year, we trek to Barcelona to check out the mobile industry's latest and greatest at the industry's largest trade show: MWC. It's not all great, so after seeing it all in person, we pick out the real winners for our Best of MWC awards. This year, a lot of exciting phones were announced, including the first commercial 5G and foldable phones. Four of them really stood out.
Samsung Galaxy Fold Does What its Name Says
Samsung today announced the Galaxy Fold, the company's first commercial phone with a flexible display that folds in half. Folded, it resembles a thick smartphone with 4.6-inch HD Super AMOLED display; unfolded, it approximates a tablet in size and form factor, with a 7.3" "Infinity Flex" Dynamic AMOLED display. App Continuity allows users to start an Android app on the outer screen, then open the phone and continue uninterrupted on the larger screen. The inner screen also supports up to three apps side-by-side. It's powered by a Snapdragon 855 processor with 12 GB of RAM, and comes with 512 GB of storage. It also supports UFS 3.0 for faster storage access. Its two batteries total 4,380 mAh, and it supports fast wireless and wired charging. It has six cameras and a fingerprint reader on the side. The camera arrays are the same as on the new Galaxy S10+, including standard, wide, and tele cameras on the back, plus 10 megapixel selfie cameras on both the front and inside. The 4G LTE version will go on sale April 26th for $1,980, and a 5G version will also be available. Both AT&T and T-Mobile will offer the Galaxy Fold in the second quarter of this year. The phone comes in Cosmos Black, Space Silver, Martian Green, and Astro Blue, with choice of hinge color for further personalization.
