
The Samsung Galaxy Fold's display seems to have problems - lelf
https://qz.com/1598094/the-samsung-galaxy-folds-display-seems-to-have-problems/
======
wpasc
Even if the Fold has some problems, I commend them for being bold with their
design and ambitions. It may be safer to wait for the next generation of that
phone, but many recent developments in the hardware space have been lacking in
ambition. Kudos to Samsung

~~~
dmitriid
Had this happened to Apple, there would be an uproar.

Samsung’s $2000 phone breaks in two days? Kudos to them for being bold and
brave.

Smh.

~~~
noonespecial
That's because Apple would have spent the last 2 years saying that no one
would ever need that feature, then pretend to invent it saying it was the most
amazing thing ever, then remove some functionality that everyone loved to make
room for it while still staying thinner than anyone cared...

When it quit working after 2 days they'd tell you you shouldn't have held it
that way.

~~~
threeseed
Which is fine because the device I bought would still work.

~~~
LanceH
Unless it has a keyboard or you hold it wrong.

~~~
dmitriid
“You hold it wrong”. Affected less than 1% of the users. Called “Antennagate”.
Still remembered 10 years later.

Samsung: phone breaks two days after use. Kudos to them, bravo.

See?

IIRC Samsung also had its own antennagate, nobody batted an eye.

------
oflannabhra
Summary:

\- 4 review units have failed (a day or two in)

\- 2 failed due to a removal of a "polymer coating" that essentially looks
like a screen protector. This is not supposed to be removed, but several
reviewers did (or tried)

\- 1 failed due to supposed ingress into the hinge mechanism. I'm sure failure
analysis is currently going on at Samsung

\- 1 screen failed with no apparent causes.

~~~
canuckintime
how many review units were handed out? Seems like every Youtuber and Instagram
influencer got one

~~~
oflannabhra
I would guess a hundred.

~~~
nvr219
I'll go a hundred fifty and not a cent higher

------
oliveshell
I love the idea of a proper foldable screen, but sadly, I’m not surprised.

I remember thinking they’d have issues with material fatigue, what with the
screen being on the small side of the bend radius. Then their demo showed a
visible line of different brightness along the fold and figured it’d be a low-
volume launch.

(Hope they figure it out eventually, though. Far be it from me to chastise
someone for taking the stuff of R&D labs and selling it in an actual product.)

~~~
Theodores
I would like to see this is a low end disposable phone. Bear with me on this,
but there are many cameras on this phone, it could have just average cameras
front and back, good enough for sending WhatsApp messages etc, not winning
photography awards. Then the screens. If there was a low-res screen that
folded with no extra outer screen then that would be a lot cheaper.

Then if the hinge is little more than two screens held together by a screen
protector then you could replace the screen protector bit every year or so
depending on use.

One side could be that large battery a lot of people still want and the other
side could be the normal phone gubbins with SD card slot, plastic cover and a
lame but capable processor.

For people who just want a big screen and don't care for having it 4K it would
be great. It could even be at a $250 price point and be affordable in
countries that don't have reliable electricity.

In posh countries it could be 'disposed' after three years and be engineered
for that type of lifespan, in more resourceful places it could work with the
hinge screen protector missing or if one side does not work.

~~~
pjc50
> the hinge is little more than two screens held together by a screen
> protector

Yes, but that would be rubbish. Big black bar across the video you're trying
to watch. What Samsung actually built was the genuinely folding screen with
pixels all the way across, which would be amazing if it works and didn't cost
$2,000.

> even be at a $250 price point and be affordable in countries that don't have
> reliable electricity.

That seems rather high compared to the $50 tablet market.

~~~
Wowfunhappy
I would say it's amazing if it works even if it costs $2,000. I mean, it's too
much for _my_ blood, but if you have the money and you want a tablet that can
also fit in your pocket...

------
canuckintime
It's worth noting that Samsung previously announced they would replace for
customers any Galaxy Fold with screen issues. Also all Galaxy Folds are
covered under Samsung Care+ which includes accidental damage. It's still a
risky first gen device but at least you're getting some protection.

~~~
intopieces
Don’t most countries have a minimum required warranty? Seems like fixing
devices that were faulty is the least they could do.

I do like that accidental damage is covered, though.

------
gzu
Not sure if I’m in the minority but I would prefer two separated clamshell
screens to one bendy screen. At least until the bendable tech is 100%.

Two separate screens would still allow great multitasking when necessary. When
not used perhaps it can completely fold behind the device for a traditional
smartphone experience.

~~~
fatjokes
Ooh. I saw this in SK: [https://www.techradar.com/news/lg-dualscreen-first-
look-at-l...](https://www.techradar.com/news/lg-dualscreen-first-look-at-lgs-
alternative-to-foldable-phones)

Honestly I don't know why it exists. You could just buy a case and then buy
two phones.

~~~
jplayer01
.... this is like saying "why do you need a second monitor for your PC? just
buy two PC's"

A two-screen smartphone is something I'd love to have, if bendable screen
smartphones end up tanking. Multi-tasking is something that would be so much
more convenient (say, writing notes while looking at a certain website, or
discussing something with a friend while referencing a website, or ... etc).
These are things that I already do with my smartphone, but it's just a huge
pain in the ass because of the single screen.

------
simonwhite87
Can't understand the appeal of a foldable screen - it looks like shit (big
crease down the middle and thick when folded) and for that I get a marginal
improvement on idle surface area consumption.

Would love to be proven wrong but I think it's going to be a monumental flop
in regards to sales.

~~~
spike021
My guess is it helps people who don't like large phones (in terms of surface
area) in their clothes pockets. Sure it'll be thicker, and maybe some people
have an issue with that, but it would potentially fit better in some
situations while still unfolding to a larger screen size for regular use.

~~~
simonwhite87
If the size in the pocket is the problem, surely the extra thickness makes it
more cumbersome? It would be like carrying one of those Anker battery packs
around all day (the non-travel/portable ones) would it not?

~~~
spike021
I guess compare forcing an iPad Mini or Nexus 7 in your pocket versus an
original iPhone, which was much thicker than what we've had the past few
iterations.

------
neals
Just wondering about the actual statistics here...

Is this a higher failure rate than average phones? Or is there a extremely
large focus on all of these devices because of what they are, and therefor
problems are more "visible" (there's probably an English word for the
phenomenon)

~~~
mcphage
> Is this a higher failure rate than average phones?

At this point these are just review models—the phone itself hasn't been
release yet.

> Or is there a extremely large focus on all of these devices because of what
> they are, and therefor problems are more "visible"

There's a large focus on these devices, because the people who got them were
given them for that purpose.

~~~
drcode
Samsung said that the units sent out are the same as the final consumer
devices, for what it's worth.

~~~
ErikHuisman
The phone is supposed to release 26th.. "Just review" models can't be much
different from the final devices. Also, why would Samsung risk giving high
profile reviewers inferior "just review" models? I would give them the best
QAd devices i'd got.

Sounds like a lot of people are wishful thinking this isn't going to be a
release disaster. My bet is Samsung will pull the plug and not release it at
all (this year).

~~~
ErikHuisman
Oh boy, it looks like they are going through with the release

~~~
mcphage
And now, they’re not. It was the right call on their part, even if it should
never have gotten to this point.

------
tracker1
I think the concept of a scroll device, as in RUBY might be a more interesting
approach than a true foldable. I do hope they're able to work through this...
but given the pricing, seriously doubt I want to be an early adopter for this
ride.

~~~
andygates
A screen between collapsible grips is nice design and it comes round again and
again. But has to work one-handed once folded out, and be strong enough
unfolded.

~~~
tracker1
It doesn't seem like it'd be _THAT_ different than the fold design, but could
be done with less extreme bends... would just need a lock when open option.

The main grip could hold the actual battery, and the screen part would only
need to be the screen. It could be like a micro tablet.. when used as a phone,
it could be collapsed to something reasonable to hold against your head...
open for video/chat etc.

------
beezischillin
I wonder how well Xiaomi’s version of this will turn out durability-wise. The
Mi Mix3 was pretty well-engineered with its slider and out of all of these
foldables their version looks the most appealing (and is rumored to be the
cheapest)

------
sp0rk
> Samsung told Quartz that the Fold is supposed to be durable enough to
> withstand being folded at least 200,000 times, which would equate to about
> 300 unfolds every day for two years. (The average person checks their phone
> between 80 and 300 times each day.)

I wasn't expecting these screens to hold up very well over time, but that
number seems shockingly low to me. I don't like the idea that the screen is
expected to fail under normal use conditions well before the other hardware in
the phone will be considered outdated. I also imagine that it will start
showing some signs of damage as you approach the rated 200k folds.

~~~
ianferrel
Even at 300 phone checks a day, you're probably not unfolding the phone each
time. it has a screen you can get to without unfolding it, so _many_ of the
quick phone checks you do can be done without unfolding it.

~~~
astkaasa
But there's not another screen when the phone is folded.

~~~
GhostVII
There is a second, smaller screen on the back (or front, I suppose) of the
phone.

~~~
astkaasa
Sorry, my bad. I didn't realize the design can be even more horrible like
that.

------
dragosmocrii
Huawei previously mentioned that they started with the same concept as
Samsung, but ditched the idea after they found numerous drawbacks. Looks like
this might be that

[https://www.businessinsider.com/huawei-prototyped-folding-
ph...](https://www.businessinsider.com/huawei-prototyped-folding-phone-
samsung-galaxy-fold-killed-it-mate-x-2019-2)

~~~
vardump
Didn't Huawei steal this tech from Samsung in the first place? Or was there
more to this story?

[https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/30/tech/samsung-china-
tech-t...](https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/30/tech/samsung-china-tech-
theft/index.html)

------
hinkley
> The phone comes with this protective layer/film. Samsung says you are not
> supposed to remove it. I removed it, not knowing you’re not supposed to
> (consumers won’t know either). It appeared removable in the left corner, so
> I took it off. I believe this contributed to the problem.

How do you even?

~~~
bsmith
Electronics, especially with displays, are very commonly shipped with
protective, removable plastic coatings. How is this at all surprising? Seems
like an honest mistake on the part of the user, combined with a bit of design
(and documentation) fault on the part of the manufacturer.

~~~
hinkley
No, this is straight up design fault.

I bet the engineers even warned internal testers NOT to remove the coating.
And I further bet someone in QA told them they were a pack of idiots and they
didn't listen.

If a non-removable coating has air gaps or loose edges that invite peeling,
that's a manufacturing defect.

------
lkerp
[https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1118575264026333185](https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1118575264026333185)

(Pulls the fucking screen off) I think this may have contributed to my screen
not working

------
hnick
No, "You're folding it wrong".

------
everyone
Imo Smartphones and tablets in general werent ever made because someone
starting from 1st principles thought this was a good design. Its was just,
heres some _cool_ gizmo we can flog to people.

