Samsung Announces The Galaxy Fold: The First Folding Display Smartphone
by Andrei Frumusanu on February 20, 2019 2:15 PM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Samsung
- Smartphones
Samsung has unveiled its first ever folding smartphone - the Galaxy Fold.
Today’s at Samsung’s Unpacked launch event in San Francisco, alongside the much awaited Galaxy S10 line-up of phones, the company has revealed its first ever folding smartphone.
| Samsung Galaxy Fold | |
| Galaxy Fold | |
| SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 1x Kryo 485 (CA76) @ 2.84GHz 3x Kryo 485 (CA76) @ 2.42GHz 4x Kryo 485 (CA55) @ 1.80GHz Adreno 640 |
| Display | Main Display: 7.3" 2048 x 1536 Foldable Dynamic AMOLED (4.2:3) Cover display: 4.6" 1680 x 720 Super AMOLED (21:9) |
| Dimensions | (Thick) |
| RAM | 12GB LPDDR4X |
| NAND | 512GB UFS3.0 |
| Battery | 4380mAh (16.86Wh) |
| Front Camera | Cover Camera: 10MP f/2.2 "Selfie camera" Front camera: 10MP f/1.9 4K video recording Front camera: 8MP, f/2.2 Dual Pixel PDAF "Live focus" |
| Primary Rear Camera | 77° Regular Angle 12MP 1.4µm Dual Pixel PDAF Tri-stack CMOS Sensor (Embedded DRAM), 4K60, 1080p240, 720p960 high-speed recording Adjustable aperture f/1.5 or f/2.4, OIS, auto HDR, LED flash |
| Secondary Rear Camera | 123° Wide Angle 16MP 1.0µm f/2.2 |
| Tertiary Rear Camera | 45° / Telephoto lens 2x zoom 12MP 1.0µm f/2.4, OIS |
| SIM Size | (Maybe?) |
| Wireless | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2x2 MU-MIMO, BT 5.0 LE, NFC, GPS/Glonass/Galileo/BDS |
| Connectivity | USB Type-C |
| Features | (It Folds) |
| Launch OS | Android 9.0 |
| Launch Price | $1980 / 2000€ |
The Galaxy Fold includes the same high-performance innards as the Galaxy S10.
The key feature of the phone is its dual-screen design: a 4.6” cover display, and a foldable 7.3” main screen. Samsung has put a lot of engineering into the folding design, especially on the mechanical hinge which had to be extremely durable in its implementation.
Samsung’s software is said to be optimised for seamless application switching between the cover display and the main foldable display. Samsung further demonstrated three-way app multi-tasking, taking advantage of the larger screen.
In the presentation event, the phone looked relatively rough in its design, seemingly twice as thick as a regular phone when folded. So it's not too surprising then that Samsung is not officially disclosing the dimensions of the phone at this time.
Samsung’s pricing for the novelty phone is also quite shocking, coming in at $1980/2000€.
Source: Samsung
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eva02langley - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
I am having a 3 bedroom home near Ottawa. House cost 300K$, however, taxes are 45% of my salary. But yeah, I am an electrical engineer and I make a good salary, but that doesn't mean because I can throw money out of the window without any worry that I am doing so.I paid my car cash brand new, I am just that kind of person, but even if I am pushing for technology, I am not agreeing with this because it is nothing more than a gadget that bring NOTHING new in terms of features at an indecent price. You can have a tablet doing the same damn thing at a third of the cost... it just doesn't fold in your pocket.
fmcjw - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
Thanks for the range of colorful comparisons. I often see iPhone users snapping magazine content at the bookstore, or cramming into public buses with the rest of the Android flocks. It'll be amusing to see this device stuck in a line at a dollar store, and whatever person that comes attached with it.Solandri - Thursday, February 21, 2019 - link
Other people's spending decisions almost never make sense to yourself. Another way to think of this is that a $3000 device used for 3 years is $1000/yr or $83.33/mo. If you buy a $4 cup of coffee at Starbucks every morning on the way to work, that works out to about $87/mo.eddman - Thursday, February 21, 2019 - link
Well, the upside is that it's a niche model and fortunately not replacing the S line, so it can be ignored.This feels like a test phone to me.
dontlistentome - Thursday, February 21, 2019 - link
I suspect you're too young to rememeber how much the Motorola Aura cost at first, likewise some of the Nokia high end models were well into 4 figures.Peskarik - Thursday, February 21, 2019 - link
3000 is equal to 3-4 months rent in a nice apartment? 10 MONTHS of grocery? In Canada? Really?Sancus - Thursday, February 21, 2019 - link
If you care about the price of this phone, it isn't for you. Like Samsung said, they're looking at building truly luxury devices. This is a first prototype for early adopters and rich people who want to show off. It isn't for someone who looks at price tags first.jrs77 - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
Shure it's new tech and all that, but c'mon... $2000 for a phone?johnnycanadian - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
Yup, but I also remember paying $1700 for my first plasma TV (it was even 480p!). It was most certainly considered a luxury item.Give it a year and a folding phone will no longer be a "luxury" item but I'd guess that the price would be competitive with whatever Apple is flogging.
MrSpadge - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
I wonder what Apple is going to bring next year. Pretty sure they can't stand NOT having the most expensive phone on the planet (ignoring the jewelry covered ones).