“Take a look at the Galaxy Fold’s 68 official images on Samsung’s press site, and see if you can work out what’s missing. Or watch the promotional clip and tell me what you find odd about it,” Aaron Souppouris writes for Engadget. “No, I’m not talking about how weird that tiny outside screen is. Instead, it’s the thing Samsung went to painstaking lengths to avoid talking about at is ‘Unpacked’ keynote… the fold gap.”
Below “is the Galaxy Fold… folded. Just look at the outline of the device. The image comes from the reveal video, which is the single piece of media that shows this angle. (Even then, it’s only for two seconds.) In it, you can see a clear, and frankly glaring, gap between the two parts of the phone where it hinges. The gap appears to be a hair wider than the two “phone” parts are thick — perhaps it’s about 10mm — which might not sound a lot, but it makes the Fold an even stranger device than it first appears,” Souppouris writes. “For years people joked about every new phone just being ‘a black rectangle.’ Here, Samsung has made a black triangle. Okay, a triangular prism. And those sides aren’t very black. The point is: This thing doesn’t fold flat… [It is] more ‘bendable’ than ‘foldable.'”
“A $2,000 phone with a huge gap in the middle doesn’t sound like the best idea, and it’s certainly not attractive, but my issue is more with the ergonomics. Eyeballing it, it seems like the two phone parts sit at around an 85-degree angle from the hinge. That means the screen side is going to sit around 10 degrees away from ‘flat’ when laid down on a surface,” Souppouris writes. “If you want a phone that opens similarly to the Fold, but without that gap, there are a couple of solutions. Samsung’s designers could implement a deeper hinge that can house the bend without creasing it; until I saw the gap, that’s what I thought they had done. Or, they could wait for displays to advance to the point where they can get something very close to a flat fold. In reality, future devices will probably utilize a mix of both of those to produce the device Samsung, with some expertly curated demos, basically pretended it had built yesterday.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The Samsung “Galaxy Bend” just doesn’t have the same cachet. You’ll not fleece the sheep starting at $1980 with that!
We saw through Samsung’s marketing tricks and remarked on the unfortunate brick-like nature of the product immediately:
Now, just how thick is that thing when closed? We’ll tell you what Samsung doesn’t want to talk about: 14 mm – 17 mm thick on the side with the hinge! For comparison, an iPhone XS is just 7.7 mm thin. Even the Motorola RAZR V3 circa 2004 was just 13.9 mm when closed.
The South Korean dishwasher maker is peddling a brick! Hey, is that a Galaxy Fold in your pocket or are you just happy to see us? — MacDailyNews, February 20, 2019
We’ll see a mess of weird attempts before Apple shows how it’s to be done, as usual. — MacDailyNews, January 23, 2019
As with fingerprint and facial recognition, when Apple debuts a foldable iPhone, then foldable smartphones will have been done right. — MacDailyNews, January 17, 2019
We’ll happily wait for the day when foldable displays can be manufactured in the massive quantities required for a real iPhone, thanks.
Other problems, besides the price, of course, are that massive, off-center notch, a design horror show and its privacy-trampling, user tracking, fragmented-all-to-hell nightmare of an OS with a Samsung skin slapped atop it all. If it’s not an iPhone, it’s a toxic hellstew — regardless of which South Korean or Chinese dishwasher maker or American online advertiser masquerading as a search engine is peddling it.
SEE ALSO:
Most analysts expect Apple to wait until 2020 to offer a foldable iPhone – February 21, 2019
Samsung announces foldable 4.6- to 7.3-inch ‘Galaxy Fold’ phone with giant off-center notch, starts at $1,980 – February 20, 2019
Xiaomi reveals dual-folding smartphone prototype (with video) – January 23, 2019
Samsung’s foldable Galaxy phone will cost ‘twice the price of a premium phone’ – January 18, 2019
Lenovo planning to resurrect Razr as a foldable $1,500 cellphone – January 17, 2019
Corning’s bendable Gorilla Glass glass could shape the foldable phones of the future – December 6, 2018
Can foldable phones help Samsung copy Apple? – November 7, 2018
Apple granted a second patent for a folding iPhone with flexible hinge – October 16, 2018
Apple gets 49 new U.S. patents including a foldable iPhone and an iPhone design invented by Steve Jobs – September 4, 2018
BoA Merrill Lynch: Apple is prepping a ‘foldable’ iPhone; U.S. and China trade tensions not an issue for Apple – March 23, 2018
Apple seeks patent for a foldable iPhone – November 28, 2017
Apple teams up with LG Display for foldable iPhone due to concerns over tech leaks to Samsung – October 11, 2017
Apple, LG Display discuss OLED display deal for 2019 – September 7, 2017
LG Display to supply OLED panels to Apple – July 31, 2017
Apple to invest $2.70 billion in LG Display’s OLED production – July 28, 2017
Apple and LG Display plan to derail Samsung’s OLED expansion plans – July 25, 2017
LG Display to invest $3.56 billion in flexible OLED plant – May 30, 2017
Apple patent details foldable iPhone – January 26, 2017
Apple granted U.S. patent for bendable or foldable iPhone using advanced carbon nanotube structures – November 1, 2016
Apple is granted another patent for new flexible handset design – November 22, 2016
that’s god awful
Yesterday I said it was compelling and these two guys in MMGA (Make Mac Great Again) hats beat me up and called me a Samsung apologist. What is this country coming to?
So today I’ll just say, is it that bad?
They treated your comment worse than they did mine, it appears.
Is it possible to have an open discussion and exchange of ideas anymore without being pilloried from one extreme or the other?
Not with a couple of snippy nOObie trolls like you two around : )
Maybe I should have used the sarcasm tag to make it clear I was joking.
Not on this site. Apple lovers to the death regardless of the crap they rollout.
Well if anyone even played at objectivity it is pretty damn obvious from the years of experiencing such behaviour that if Apple launched that product it would get slated to hell and back and that is indicative of the double standards the company is judged by. Or maybe it’s just the interest in the company serial trolls, paid or otherwise have in the company to try to reduce this and other forums to purile children’s banter as pure disruption. Shame but been happening for over 20 years so won’t change now that’s clear.
Repelling not compelling.
I’ve roundly criticized Apple over lateness of Mac Pro, not taking advantage of the Mac 35th Anniversary to do some serious promotions (with stock down), etc
I tell it as I see it
Apple fans are very critical. Steve Jobs trained us.
Samsung’s designers just needed some zing. All the world,-@@ Tim Cook, all Samsung needs are some Zingers.
These things are super obvious when you’re an artist.
Real artists ship – I’m full of ship!
They better do some bend tests to see how much pressure it takes to break it in half! lol
I just hope Apple does not go down this rabbit hole, totally stupid idea, let Samsung wallow in this mess of a concept.
Problem is Samsung are so scared of being called copiers that they desperately seek to be first to market no matter how mediocre the concept/product actually is when it comes to market. As it turns out they didn’t even quite achieve that in reality. Apple couldn’t possibly launch such a product it would be a laughing stock and even Teflon coated Cook would struggle to survive the ridicule. Samsung have no such worries nobody really expects too much in the first place and thus just get off on the thrill of the new. Strange but it used to be Apple that was contemptuously criticised for style over substance, this phone unless the OS allows it to do some magic tricks will surely be the epitome of this and then some. Shame I was hoping for more considering the 18 months or more of hype at shows and demonstrations, bit like the equivalent of self driving cars being launched with a man with a red flag to walk in front of it.
“The Samsung “Galaxy Bend” just doesn’t have the same cachet.”
That would be YASC (Yet Another Slavish Copy)
“You’ll not fleece the sheep starting at $1980 with that!”
Sheep? Pick a team!
All in good fun…
“Will it blend?”
I was wondering the same thing – will the Bend blend? 😉
With the awkward difference in edge thickness, Samsung needs to produce a new ad that unapologetically spotlights its astounding benefit: People who retrieve it from their pockets will be able to detect its orientation. Samsung’s likely unintended innovation avoided the perpetual problem suffered by Apple’s media controller. It’s worth a patent submission even though patents seem worth less and less among powerful patent litigators.
Interesting as Apple already has several patents on foldable screens
This feels like the Newton and Google Glasses…a concept that has arrived well before its time. Early proof of concepts are wonky, but eventually the tech will catch up to the intended design ideal. I suspect this product is DOA.
Good comparison this would actually be a pretty decent proof of concept a year or two before launch but for me at this point if has all the appeal and sense of excitement that the Motorola phone launching with inbuilt iTunes, more than a little embarrassing with the single aim of getting something, anything to market and no matter how over priced it might be. No love for Samsung but even I feel a little embarrassed for them, though you will always get some early adopters, tech porno geeks and the money no sense crowd forming a small queue at the door I suspect.
It’s a plate (unfolded) for kimchi.
It’s said to be on sale here in May.
I’ll have to look at it to understand how that “fold” or “bend” is not going to wear out in the shortest of time.
Not that I’m going to buy one – I have no need for a tablet, folded or not. Disregarding that fact that it runs Android and I have no intention of feeding the Big G any more than absolutely necessary.
The promotional images don’t really seem to have that gap that the image posted above shows. As the image above appears to be rendered I’m going to wait till I can see one first-hand before assuming the claimed gap exists.
How did they screw up the orientation of how we want it to fold?!
In half lengthwise?? Why???
I think that a lot of comments are a little unfair.
True, this device isn’t perfect, far from it but it’s the first real innovation in years that will convince a lot of people to buy a new device, since for a long time all manufacturers only offered minor upgrades.
Samsung will forever be the one who brought foldable full screen phones to the market and the marketing advantage will be great for them.
It was the question of who would be: Huawei, Xiaomi or them.
Apple doesn’t adopt a technology until it’s really mature and that’s good for us Apple users but I applaud to Samsung for at least once bringing something new on the table.
Ya The reaction here is to be expected. Everybody is in denial that Samsung has actually brought something innovative to market first which will certainly generate buzz and excitement, Regardless of the absurd price tag.
This thing is nowhere near perfect I’m sure the battery life is going to be surrender horrendous but there’s something to be said for being first.
Wow what a ridiculous nitpicking on here just because it doesn’t fold completely flat. Big effing deal it’s the first of its kind get over it.
Anyone who doesn’t think Apple is working on a folding phone hasn’t paid attention to their patent filings.
Why in the name of all that is sacred would anyone ever want s foldable phone? I don’t get the value of having a square shaped tablet once it is unfolded. The whole concept makes no sense, at least not in the form we keep seeing.
What’s the weight of the Fold? Haven’t seen it anywhere.
Your a moron, fold flat refers to when ‘opened’ the usable screen is ‘flat’ without a crease. The deliberate gap between when folded closed is to prevent damage. When two none gorilla glass screens rub together dust and dirt particles cause ‘spiralling’ scratches on the screen. Much like old laptops rubbing on the keyboard when closed, that’s why they build a gap and little rubber bumpers. Your deductive reasoning in consumer product design is flawed. Kindly remove yourself from the conversation lol