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The Samsung Galaxy Fold's display seems to have problems
- oliveshell 8y agoI love the idea of a proper foldable screen, but sadly, I’m not surprised. I remember thinking they’d have issues with material fatigue, what with the screen being on the small side of the bend radius. Then their demo showed a visible line of different brightness along the fold and figured it’d be a low-volume launch. (Hope they figure it out eventually, though. Far be it from me to chastise someone for taking the stuff of R&D labs and selling it in an actual product.)
- Theodores 8y agoI would like to see this is a low end disposable phone. Bear with me on this, but there are many cameras on this phone, it could have just average cameras front and back, good enough for sending WhatsApp messages etc, not winning photography awards. Then the screens. If there was a low-res screen that folded with no extra outer screen then that would be a lot cheaper. Then if the hinge is little more than two screens held together by a screen protector then you could replace the screen protector bit every year or so depending on use. One side could be that large battery a lot of people still want and the other side could be the normal phone gubbins with SD card slot, plastic cover and a lame but capable processor. For people who just want a big screen and don't care for having it 4K it would be great. It could even be at a $250 price point and be affordable in countries that don't have reliable electricity. In posh countries it could be 'disposed' after three years and be engineered for that type of lifespan, in more resourceful places it could work with the hinge screen protector missing or if one side does not work.
- pjc50 8y ago> the hinge is little more than two screens held together by a screen protector Yes, but that would be rubbish. Big black bar across the video you're trying to watch. What Samsung actually built was the genuinely folding screen with pixels all the way across, which would be amazing if it works and didn't cost $2,000. > even be at a $250 price point and be affordable in countries that don't have reliable electricity. That seems rather high compared to the $50 tablet market.
- Wowfunhappy 8y agoI would say it's amazing if it works even if it costs $2,000. I mean, it's too much for my blood, but if you have the money and you want a tablet that can also fit in your pocket...
- oflannabhra 8y agoSummary: - 4 review units have failed (a day or two in) - 2 failed due to a removal of a "polymer coating" that essentially looks like a screen protector. This is not supposed to be removed, but several reviewers did (or tried) - 1 failed due to supposed ingress into the hinge mechanism. I'm sure failure analysis is currently going on at Samsung - 1 screen failed with no apparent causes.
- canuckintime 8y agohow many review units were handed out? Seems like every Youtuber and Instagram influencer got one
- oflannabhra 8y agoI would guess a hundred.
- nvr219 8y agoI'll go a hundred fifty and not a cent higher
- chris_wot 8y agoThat’s wrong. There were 6 units referenced in that story.
- oflannabhra 8y agoFrom what I can tell, there were only 4 devices: MKBHD (YouTube), Dieter Bohn (The Verge), Mark Gurman (Bloomberg), and Steve Kovach (CNBC).
- chris_wot 8y agoSteve Kovach, Mark Gurman, Deiter Bonher and Todd Hasselton all had screen issues. (Deiter's was a "screen bulge"). Marques Brownlee remove the protective cover, and Mark Gurman had his first unit where he removed the protective cover.
- wpasc 8y agoEven if the Fold has some problems, I commend them for being bold with their design and ambitions. It may be safer to wait for the next generation of that phone, but many recent developments in the hardware space have been lacking in ambition. Kudos to Samsung
- NicoJuicy 8y agoSupport for innovation. Not supporting that it got stolen before launch... https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/30/tech/samsung-china-tech-theft/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/30/tech/samsung-china-tech-t...
- 2bitencryption 8y ago> Even if the Fold has some problems The absolutely most important aspect of this $2000 device is failing within days. The only way this could be worse is if they started exploding, too. I'm exciting for neat ambitious devices also, but they have to be more than paper weights. If these are all failing so soon, either there was no QA whatsoever, or some QA manager within Samsung was ignored...
- setquk 8y ago> The only way this could be worse is if they started exploding, too. Give it a few months. This is like a 1980s plastic lunch box. The moulded hinge always snapped in half after about 3 months regardless of what you did. Cue optimus prime letting your lunch out all over the floor. I think they are failing because it was a fucking stupid idea. Edit: If anything I want NO mechanical components on any handheld device I own because in the last 40 years of my life everything has broken mechanically eventually. Home buttons, volume controls, connectors, battery holders everything.
- clairity 8y ago> "Edit: If anything I want NO mechanical components on any handheld device I own because in the last 40 years of my life everything has broken mechanically eventually." your anecdote seems to suffer from cognitive bias. screens are non-mechanical (except in this galaxy fold) and yet they're still the most broken component in a phone.
- neals 8y agoJust wondering about the actual statistics here... Is this a higher failure rate than average phones? Or is there a extremely large focus on all of these devices because of what they are, and therefor problems are more "visible" (there's probably an English word for the phenomenon)
- mcphage 8y ago> Is this a higher failure rate than average phones? At this point these are just review models—the phone itself hasn't been release yet. > Or is there a extremely large focus on all of these devices because of what they are, and therefor problems are more "visible" There's a large focus on these devices, because the people who got them were given them for that purpose.
- drcode 8y agoSamsung said that the units sent out are the same as the final consumer devices, for what it's worth.
- ErikHuisman 8y agoThe phone is supposed to release 26th.. "Just review" models can't be much different from the final devices. Also, why would Samsung risk giving high profile reviewers inferior "just review" models? I would give them the best QAd devices i'd got. Sounds like a lot of people are wishful thinking this isn't going to be a release disaster. My bet is Samsung will pull the plug and not release it at all (this year).
- ErikHuisman 8y agoOh boy, it looks like they are going through with the release
- mcphage 8y agoAnd now, they’re not. It was the right call on their part, even if it should never have gotten to this point.
- simonwhite87 8y agoCan't understand the appeal of a foldable screen - it looks like shit (big crease down the middle and thick when folded) and for that I get a marginal improvement on idle surface area consumption. Would love to be proven wrong but I think it's going to be a monumental flop in regards to sales.
- spike021 8y agoMy guess is it helps people who don't like large phones (in terms of surface area) in their clothes pockets. Sure it'll be thicker, and maybe some people have an issue with that, but it would potentially fit better in some situations while still unfolding to a larger screen size for regular use.
- simonwhite87 8y agoIf the size in the pocket is the problem, surely the extra thickness makes it more cumbersome? It would be like carrying one of those Anker battery packs around all day (the non-travel/portable ones) would it not?
- bunderbunder 8y agoFor comfort in pockets, volume might be a better measure. The Samsung Fold is a bit less than twice the volume of an iPhone XS Max, which itself falls pretty solidly in phablet territory from the perspective of people who don't like large phones. My guess is that it's for people who want "phablet" to be a realistic description of their phone instead of a hyperbolic one.
- canuckintime 8y agoIt's worth noting that Samsung previously announced they would replace for customers any Galaxy Fold with screen issues. Also all Galaxy Folds are covered under Samsung Care+ which includes accidental damage. It's still a risky first gen device but at least you're getting some protection.
- intopieces 8y agoDon’t most countries have a minimum required warranty? Seems like fixing devices that were faulty is the least they could do. I do like that accidental damage is covered, though.
- tracker1 8y agoI think the concept of a scroll device, as in RUBY might be a more interesting approach than a true foldable. I do hope they're able to work through this... but given the pricing, seriously doubt I want to be an early adopter for this ride.
- tracker1 8y agoRWBY
- andygates 8y agoA screen between collapsible grips is nice design and it comes round again and again. But has to work one-handed once folded out, and be strong enough unfolded.
- tracker1 8y agoIt doesn't seem like it'd be THAT different than the fold design, but could be done with less extreme bends... would just need a lock when open option. The main grip could hold the actual battery, and the screen part would only need to be the screen. It could be like a micro tablet.. when used as a phone, it could be collapsed to something reasonable to hold against your head... open for video/chat etc.
- hinkley 8y ago> The phone comes with this protective layer/film. Samsung says you are not supposed to remove it. I removed it, not knowing you’re not supposed to (consumers won’t know either). It appeared removable in the left corner, so I took it off. I believe this contributed to the problem. How do you even?
- ihuman 8y agoDisplays often come with a plastic film attached so it doesn't get scratched during transport. Maybe they assumed it was like that, and that Samsung was being overly cautious?
- hinkley 8y agoBut that means they put a coating on that not only can be separated from the display but looks like it's designed to be. Bad engineering.
- dwighttk 8y ago...and removing it breaks the display! Not like leaves some weird residue that makes it unpleasant to use... it makes large swaths of pixels stop working...
- stetrain 8y agoThis happened to multiple reviewers including MKBHD. It must not be quite so obvious as it is when reading about it in hindsight.
- penagwin 8y agoI work in phone repair so I see lots of broken phones and many rather... uh, not that bright of individuals. This will 100% be a problem for consumers. It's easily recognizable as a screen protector, but it isn't = instant problems. Especially on a 2000$ device.
- wklauss 8y agoThe film looks exactly like the protective plastic sheet on new phones that you are supposed to peel and doesn't cover the screen right to the edges so I think it was a pretty ok assumption to be made given the circumstances.
- gzu 8y agoNot sure if I’m in the minority but I would prefer two separated clamshell screens to one bendy screen. At least until the bendable tech is 100%. Two separate screens would still allow great multitasking when necessary. When not used perhaps it can completely fold behind the device for a traditional smartphone experience.
- chrisseaton 8y ago> would still allow great multitasking when necessary I don’t think most people want to multitask - the want one big app or video.
- pastor_elm 8y agoi prefer keeping a phone that can fit in my pocket easily but i guess i'm even more in the minority.
- adestefan 8y agoThe history of cell phones seems to have been to make them smaller until they’re too small followed by making them bigger until they’re too big.
- djsumdog 8y agoDon't those already exist? I swear I've seen phones that just have dual screens.
- everyone 8y agoImo Smartphones and tablets in general werent ever made because someone starting from 1st principles thought this was a good design. Its was just, heres some cool gizmo we can flog to people.
- dragosmocrii 8y agoHuawei previously mentioned that they started with the same concept as Samsung, but ditched the idea after they found numerous drawbacks. Looks like this might be that https://www.businessinsider.com/huawei-prototyped-folding-phone-samsung-galaxy-fold-killed-it-mate-x-2019-2 https://www.businessinsider.com/huawei-prototyped-folding-ph...
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- vardump 8y agoDidn't Huawei steal this tech from Samsung in the first place? Or was there more to this story? https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/30/tech/samsung-china-tech-theft/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/30/tech/samsung-china-tech-t...
- beezischillin 8y agoI wonder how well Xiaomi’s version of this will turn out durability-wise. The Mi Mix3 was pretty well-engineered with its slider and out of all of these foldables their version looks the most appealing (and is rumored to be the cheapest)
- sp0rk 8y ago> Samsung told Quartz that the Fold is supposed to be durable enough to withstand being folded at least 200,000 times, which would equate to about 300 unfolds every day for two years. (The average person checks their phone between 80 and 300 times each day.) I wasn't expecting these screens to hold up very well over time, but that number seems shockingly low to me. I don't like the idea that the screen is expected to fail under normal use conditions well before the other hardware in the phone will be considered outdated. I also imagine that it will start showing some signs of damage as you approach the rated 200k folds.
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- ianferrel 8y agoEven at 300 phone checks a day, you're probably not unfolding the phone each time. it has a screen you can get to without unfolding it, so many of the quick phone checks you do can be done without unfolding it.
- hnick 8y agoNo, "You're folding it wrong".
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- lkerp 8y agohttps://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1118575264026333185 https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1118575264026333185 (Pulls the fucking screen off) I think this may have contributed to my screen not working