Samsung Galaxy Fold: 'folding' Up?

We all know that the good folks at Samsung always want us to receive the best of innovative technology, with it being one of the first proponent of smartphones, then introducing the Galaxy series, that has been all the rage since the 2010s. Then its release of the Note series led to the coining of the term “phablet”, with such large screens unheard of in mobile devices, let alone smartphones. With the Galaxy Note Edge, that was released as early as 2014, with continuous future iterations of the model following, with the beginning of last year witnessing the release of ‘The Wall’, a 146-inch MicroLED Behemoth TV. Now this year, they have taken a huge step in smartphone technology, offering something which has not been conceived as of yet- the introduction of a foldable phone. Will it be successful in the long run, or will it bust?

Samsung, till 2016, had quite a smooth sailing with smartphones, until the launch of Galaxy Note 7 changed everything, with many of the devices facing battery issues (they exploded!). the aftermath was them being roundly criticized by every media outlet, being on the receiving end of lawsuits, as well as losing ground over its major competitor Apple. They then went into damage repair mode, while also looking into other areas of their electronics products, while also receiving permission to enter into the self-driving vehicle sector. The Galaxy Fold, however, is one technology which they had visualized a few years back, when they had released a video in 2013 showing a similar technology. With the phone being unveiled during November 2018, the company is now gearing up for the worldwide launch of the phone, which is set to hit the markets by April end. The first reviews are in, and, while the technology is certainly exciting, with the phone doubling up as a tablet (2-in-1!), it seems that the makers have their work cut out.

The major issue that has plagued the early reviewers is that the design of the phone itself is the major issue. Reviews have called it things ranging from “unstable” to “broken”, which is not exactly the kind of press Samsung needs right now.

Reviewers mentioned issues such as the screen completely “blacking out” (see above image), and in some cases, the screen started “flickering”. It’s still not known whether this is a widespread issue, however, Samsung has not yet pushed the released date, which points to the fact that Samsung believes everything is sorted. The performance of the phone is great; however, in a world where people continuously follow social media, a tweet citing the phone’s USP as its failing will no doubt turn consumers off. It’s now up to Samsung to stem this tide by looking into these concerns, and build consumer trust, or else it will turn out to be just another great idea on paper.