Photo: Steve Kovach, via Twitter
The Samsung Fold isn’t off to a great start. Reviewers are getting their hands on it and orders have already opened (and closed) as of this writing. There’s just one tiny problem many reviewers have run into: the device breaks. Some found that, what appeared to be a screen protection film was actually part of the display, and removing it broke the device. Others found small bubbles appearing in the screen that would eventually destroy the display. Some say it just stopped working. These all happened between one and two days of using the devices.
Was Samsung’s fold-in-half smartphone half-baked?
In This Article:
The Failures
The screen on my Galaxy Fold review unit is completely broken and unusable just two days in. Hard to know if this is widespread or not. pic.twitter.com/G0OHj3DQHw
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) April 17, 2019
Some users reported actual user error. There is a film on the screen of the device that appears to be a screen protector. There’s always a film to remove when you buy a new device, so it makes sense to remove this. However, it’s actually a vital part of the display. Removing it breaks the screen.
Samsung did not tell the reviewers this, but says customers will receive a warning not to remove the film in the final version of the device’s packaging.
https://twitter.com/robotodd/status/1118574478009626624
However, not every reviewer was so careless. Some reported no issues, no problems, until one time they opened the device. Suddenly, it just wasn’t working. One time they opened it to see the Samsung Galaxy Fold’s display, the next time they see a flickering mess.
https://twitter.com/backlon/status/1118573836226658304
Then there are the other people who got debris under the display. The hinge mechanism allowed dust into the device (a problem I foresaw, as you’ll read about below). That pushed up against the screen until it eventually broke it. That debris made it into the device in just a day.
Samsung tested the folding of their device in a clean laboratory. You won’t have the same luxury. Your Samsung Galaxy Fold will be in pockets, purses, and on messy restaurant tables. It will collect debris, and it won’t survive the encounter.
My Own Experience
I got a few minutes to play with the Galaxy Fold already as well. It felt sturdier than I expected, and folded flatter than I thought it would too. It’s still a wedge. In the cases above, this seems to be a large part of the problem, the crease is proving to be too much for the smartphone. Screens seem to be breaking along that center fold.
Debris
I also anticipate that dual hinge design will be a huge issue for dust and dirt accumulation. A short amount of time in a pocket will certainly send debris into the body of your phone. The hinge doesn’t do much to protect your device’s innards. Everything is easily exposed.
Crease
The review unit I got to use did have a crease down the middle of the display. The crease was clearly visible, and a little distracting. All of these devices seemed to break along that crease. Folding the display inwards increases the chance of a crease forming, as it’s a tighter angle for the display.
Apps
Some popular apps crash on the Galaxy Fold. New versions of Android will fix these issues for developers, but, speaking as an Android developer, I can tell you that we may not be able to adapt our apps for new technology from Google for years. This can come from tech debt and the need to support older devices. Combine the two problems, and we just can’t fix something that requires using features form the latest version of Android.
Trust me, we want our users to all be on the latest versions so we can drop support for older versions. However, it takes users 3-4 years to get the latest versions of Android.
Tiny Outer Display
Also, and this is unrelated to the issues reviewers are seeing, but that outer screen is more like a preview window. It is a small screen with gigantic bezels on the top and bottom. It looks as silly in person as it does in photos.
This is more of a portable tablet than a phone. You’ll likely not want to use it for either. However, it’s a glimpse of the future, and the future can be pretty cool. Huawei, I think, has a much better folding design that will avoid the issues Samsung ran into. I’m looking forward to seeing their implementation.
Be Better, Not First
Apple follows this philosophy. It’s better to make a fantastic product than to be the first on the market with a new product. Samsung may have the first folding screen device on the mainstream global market, but their device is flimsy, poorly thought out, and awkward to use. It looks fantastic out of the box, and quickly disintegrates. I’m not saying all folding smartphones are a bad idea, but Samsung’s certainly is.