Galaxy Fold ready to hit stores: Samsung Display VP

Samsung's most ambitious mobile Galaxy Fold made its global debut in February along with the flagship Galaxy S10 series, but the former, which was supposed to hit stores in April got delayed over durability risks.

In early April, Samsung had offered a few Galaxy Fold review units to a few western media outlets and bloggers to test the marquee hybrid phone, but within days, the device's display gave away, rendering it useless. Later, we got to know that some ill-advised reviewers, peeled a protective glass cover on the display, but in actuality, it was an integral part of the device.

Samsung, fearing negative publicity, decided to fully test the device's durability and delayed the launch indefinitely. Now, reports are emerging that the company is finally ready to bring it to the market in a couple of months.

“Most of the display problems have been ironed out, and the Galaxy Fold is ready to hit the market,” The Korea Herald quoted, Kim Seong-Cheol, vice president, Samsung Display, as saying.

Though Seon-Cheol ruled out July launch reports, it is expected to bring the Galaxy Fold to retail stores in August, most probably with Galaxy Note10.

For the past few years, Samsung has been hosting Galaxy Unpacked events in August-September time frame to unveil the Galaxy Note series, so we expect the aforementioned speculations to turn true.

Compared to other foldable mobiles in the market, Samsung's phone has a better design, as the device folds inwards, which protects the bigger screen from daily wear and tear. Also, it has a separate cover display, which is small, but good for operating in one-hand, read messages and answer calls. Whereas the other brands such as Huawei Mate X, it bends outward, making the display more vulnerable to damage, if accidentally dropped on the floor or even when kept in the pocket, it can get scratched easily. And given the fact, they are priced close to $2000, it will certainly cut a deep hole in the pocket for the screen repair.

Galaxy Fold; picture credit: Samsung Mobile Press

Key specifications of Samsung Galaxy Fold:
Main display: 7.3-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED (4.2:3)

Cover display: 4.6-inch HD+ Super AMOLED (21:9)

OS: Android 9.0 Pie

Processor: 7nm 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon Octa-core processor (Max. 2.8 GHz + 2.4 GHz + 1.7 GHz)

RAM:12GB RAM(LPDDR4x)

Storage: 512GB (UFS 3.0) User memory is less than the total memory due to the storage of the operating system and software used to operate the device features. Actual user memory will vary depending on the operator and may change after software upgrades are performed. *No MicroSD slot

Cover camera: 10MP Selfie Camera, F2.2

Rear triple camera: 16MP Ultra Wide Camera ( F2.2 aperture) + 12MP Wide-angle Camera, Dual Pixel AF, OIS, (F1.5/F2.4- variable aperture )+ 12MP Telephoto Camera (PDAF, OIS, F2.4, 2X optical zoom)

Front dual camera: 10MP Selfie Camera, F2.2 aperture + 8MP RGB Depth Camera, F1.9

Battery 4,380mAh; Fast Charging compatible on wired and wireless; Wired charging compatible with QC2.0 and AFC; Wireless charging compatible with WPC and PMA

Colours: Cosmos Black, Space Silver, Martian Green, Astro Blue

Price: $1980 (approx. Rs 1,36,655)

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