Samsung’s Galaxy Fold was initially expected to be released in May of this year, although the Korean company had to postpone the the official launch of the product thanks to some issues that early units that were seeded out to the media and such. And now, it seems that Samsung is set to finally release one of the most eagerly-anticipated tech devices.
Samsung has announced that the Galaxy Fold will be good to go in September. They’ve made a couple of improvements that will ensure that customers have the “best experience”—roughly translated, the Galaxy Fold has been given a few updates to avoid the catastrophic failures that many tech reviewers had when they received units for testing earlier this year.
According to Samsung, these are the changes:
- The top protective layer of the Infinity Flex Display has been extended beyond the bezel, making it apparent that it is an integral part of the display structure and not meant to be removed.
- Galaxy Fold features additional reinforcements to better protect the device from external particles while maintaining its signature foldable experience.
- The top and bottom of the hinge area have been strengthened with newly added protection caps. Additional metal layers underneath the Infinity Flex Display have been included to reinforce the protection of the display. The space between the hinge and body of Galaxy Fold has been reduced.
Have the issues been addressed?
Picking through the updates, it’s clear that Samsung isn’t hiding away from their mistakes with the original Galaxy Fold. Extending the top protective layer of the Infinity Flex Display is perhaps the biggest sign of this, with Samsung saying that the change will make it “apparent that it is an integral part of the display” and that it is not meant to be removed. In case you haven’t kept up with the news, many reviewers reported that the display started malfunctioning once the “screen protector” was peeled away—only to find out it was actually an important part of the display to begin with.
The device is reinforced from external particles, which addresses the issue that some reviewers experienced where debris/dust got through the hinge and damaged the display from behind. This will also be helped by a smaller space between the hinge and body of the device.
In general, Samsung has reinforced the device. Protection caps, additional layers under the display, these all point to the rectification of a really fragile device that didn’t even make it through the initial seeding to the media without falling apart. But now that these have been addressed, it’ll certainly be interesting to see how the subtle updates to the Fold will turn out.
Price will remain the same
The Galaxy Fold should remain at the same price, US$1,980 (about RM8,150), as confirmed by Samsung U.S. Having delayed the official release of the Fold at the last minute in late April, Co-CEO DJ Koh admitted that Fold was seeded “before it was ready,” and that “it was embarrassing.” In the aftermath of the cancellations, Samsung has continued to also work on better app optimisation for the dual-screen Galaxy Fold, and it looks like the public will soon be able to judge for themselves, at last.
Samsung says that the launch of the Galaxy Fold will be in “select markets”, with more availability details to be made public as we draw closer to the launch. However, it’s safe to say that we should see the Galaxy Fold in the Malaysian market at some point, as Malaysia has been (and should continue to be) a key market for the Korean smartphone maker.
