Ever since their unveiling at Mobile World Congress back in January, foldable phones have become one of the most anticipated tech innovations of 2019.
And as is the case with most major tech releases, Samsung have the passed their Galaxy Fold to select reviewers (not us, unfortunately) ahead of its April 26 release date, and even celebrities like Millie Bobbie Brown and BLACKPINK have gotten their hands on it too.
The verdict so far, however, hasn’t been very optimistic — there have been multiple reports of the phone’s foldable screen breaking within the first day of use, and the number of complaints suggest that this isn’t the case of a single defective unit either.
#Foldgate has gotten so serious, in fact, that Samsung have postponed their launch events in Hong Kong and Shanghai that were scheduled to happen on the 23rd and 24th of April.
It looks like the issue can be split into two camps — because it looks exactly like the screen protector that comes with every phone, reviewers were removing a piece of protective film that’s actually part of the screen.
While it’s poor communication on Samsung’s part (reviewers say that there was no disclaimer on the phones), it’s also an easily solvable one once the word is out.
Several other reviewers who somehow resisted the urge to remove the protective film, however, still experienced malfunctioning screens. Considering that the phone is due to be released to the public this week, this is concerning news for early adopters who pre-ordered a set.
The Galaxy Fold is quite literally the first product of its kind to hit the market, so teething issues are bound to happen.
With a retail price of US$1,980, however, foldable phones are becoming exactly what most people expected — an interesting, but incomplete concept that’s reserved for only the most dedicated of tech enthusiasts right now.
