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 $1980/2000€.
Source: Samsung
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PVG - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
Why the hell did they put a giant notch in the interior screen???eva02langley - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
More expensive than a 2080 TI!... or a high end laptop...And after that, Samsung or Apple are complaining for 7.50$ for Qualcomm patent fees per phone... make me laugh...
Quantumz0d - Sunday, February 24, 2019 - link
Great points, agreed. Not only that, these are basically obsolete once the battery dies out, while the GPU lives on until it dies.Exactly, Qualcomm even has that Ultrasonic tech which Samsung uses in their prized S10 lineup Samsung didn't even care to mention them, unfortunate how the innovator is now looked at due tot eh stupid gouging Apple trash.
FunBunny2 - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
I predicted, based on published patent info, a couple of years ago that a folding phone was in the near future. Samsung, alas, has done it wrong. folks don't have much need for another phablet, which is all this is.the gold mine is a 'standard' smartphone that flips like the old phlipphone. now, that would be very much more useful. and could be priced in line, more or less, with existing ones. stuff it in your pocket and all that.
as to whom will plunk down so much for a device? not so many, even if they can spare the moolah. it's just another phablet. the problem for capitalists: you only make money if your running your machines 24/7/365 spitting, and selling, product. fancy Swiss watches have a teeny market share and profit. Apple is failing, and this won't help Samsung.
trivik12 - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
I am ok with the price. This is 1st gen product for super rich. Question is will it go down in price in next few iterations. I hope so. I would be in at half this price.Rictorhell - Thursday, February 21, 2019 - link
For all of that money, so far, no sign of even a micro SD card reader for expandability. If they want to charge an arm and a leg at least they can help slow down the inevitable obsolescence of the device by including basic necessities that at least some of their customers would appreciate and find useful.HardwareDufus - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
meanwhile back in Redmond.andromeda = crickets
serendip - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
Like a Nokia Communicator with dual interior screens. Those were chunky old things that were proper tiny computers, back when mobile Internet didn't exist.KPOM - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
Apple and Samsung have a symbiotic relationship. Samsung experiments. Apple figures out what works. Samsung copies the finished product. That’s totally on display here. We all know that foldable displays are the future. Samsung puts out a ridiculous device for $2000 today. Some features will stick. Apple will release a version that works, and the industry will follow. Everyone wins. Samsung makes more money selling displays to Apple than selling its own phones. The Galaxy Fold is basically a memo to Apple as to what is possible.boozed - Thursday, February 21, 2019 - link
"This is something I could get some use out of""...they want HOW MUCH?"