
Why We Think Galaxy Folds Are Failing - lambada
https://ifixit.org/blog/16025/galaxy-fold-failure-causes/
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stupidcar
I'm more interested in how Samsung ever got so far down the road with a such
an apparently flawed design. Samsung's engineers must have known it had big
problems. Was this a classic case of dysfunctional corporate culture meaning
nobody wanted to give the bosses bad news? I'm guessing so.

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lemoncucumber
Samsung has a history of shipping crappy products just for the sake of being
the first to do it. Their product line has always been a sprawling mess of
overly-specialized niche products. It seems like they have a strategy of
throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks.

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sgift
Not every company can be a copycat that throws polish on things and shitloads
of marketing. Some have to do the hard work first.

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simonh
The hard work should include making sure the product is safe, secure and works
as advertised. Things Samsung has a track record of not bothering with.

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TazeTSchnitzel
The contrast with the Huawei Mate X is stark. The latter has the folding
screen on the _outside_ of the phone, which means 1) a wider, and thus safer,
bend radius while simultaneously being able to properly close (no lingering
gap) and 2) (seemingly?) no ability for space to develop under the screen for
debris to get in. Huawei having just the one screen also makes for an overall
cleaner design. It makes me wonder why Samsung chose the more problematic
inside-fold route.

~~~
tynpeddler
I think it's because Samsung is trying to protect the screen. I'm curious to
see how the Mate X will perform. I won't be surprised if the screen wrapping
around the outside turns out to be really fragile. People are notoriously hard
on their phones (especially on the edges) and the Mate X is a phone that has
an exposed screen that can't be covered in glass and can't be hidden in a
screen case.

Samsung's approach has a better chance of succeeding in the long run simply
because it protects the screen, but they clearly need to refine their
approach. Without some serious materials wizardry, Huawei's design seems
hopelessly flawed. According to this article, uneven pressure may be
responsible for breaking the Samsung, think of what could happen with the
exposed screen on the Huawei.

~~~
mtw
But currently all phones have an exposed screen ??? You have to go back to
clamshell phones or blackberry designs to have protected screens. If you don't
buy a shell or screen protector, your screen gets rattled by coins, keys, and
various objects.

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gruez
bendable screens are made from plastic rather than glass, so it's worse than
your typical phone.

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achow
And more to your point it is _soft plastic_ and not hard plastic.

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pault
Who else clicked through expecting a research paper on dark matter?

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httpsterio
Not me, you generally can assume that an ifixit link is related to laptops or
mobile devices.

~~~
fetus8
Especially with the controversy surrounding the Galaxy Fold this week...

Outside that context, the name "Galaxy Fold" wouldn't register as a phone with
me either.

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kaestmqfhc
We have been designing space vessels and spacesuits for the better part of a
century with moving or flexible or rotating hinges that can protect every
thing and everyone inside from the vacuum of space and transfer of moisture
and debris. This article from iFixit and the included photo from The Verge
clearly explain and display how Samsung Galaxy designers missed the mark of
creating a simple inexpensive hinge mechanism that would have prevented the
OLED from being exposed to any external material or uneven pressure.

~~~
SerLava
This comment furthered my confusion that the title was referring to some kind
of astrophysical phenomenon.

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rdm_blackhole
I admire Samsung for creating one of the first foldable phones. It is not the
prettiest or the slickest design and I personally can't say that I would be
interested in buying one.

However, I don't quite understand the bad press that Samsung is getting with
this phone. I mean, sure it has some issues but it is the first generation of
this new type of phone.

If you are going to buy this product, then you must be aware that you are
going to be one of the Beta testers. There is no way around it. You just have
to accept it and then when the Galaxy fold 2 comes out in a year or so,
hopefully, they would have sorted out all those issues.

~~~
Klathmon
These phones also come with a warranty for if/when problems do show up.

I expected to see problems, I expected to see some outrage and jokes when
things went wrong on the phone, but I never would have guessed at the number
of comments saying things like "for $2000 it should never break!". That just
seems so silly to me, it's a first gen product with a lot of new stuff in it.
Expecting it to be perfect at any price is unreasonable.

Sure, if they stop honoring warranties, then I'm all for the bad press. But as
of now, it seems like they are handling it about as good as I would expect.
They delayed the launch, are looking into the issues, and will hopefully
resolve them. Don't get me wrong, it's a horrible look that the review units
broke so easily, but the phone also isn't out yet.

~~~
exelius
The bigger issue to me is how many reviewers had breakage issues _within 24
hours_. Screw perfect, this is a prototype that escaped the lab.

~~~
Klathmon
I do agree that there's issues and they were smart to delay the launch IMO.

~~~
iainmerrick
Smarter than launching it would have been, sure, but much less smart than not
getting anywhere near this point.

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lordnacho
What's interesting is they ran the folding machines and even showed everyone
to create confidence, but they don't seem to have dogfooded.

Wouldn't it make sense for a company like Samsung to hand out some of the
devices to their own staff to use? I'm sure you can find realistic use cases
among the staff of such a large company. If you're afraid of leaks give it to
the family or upper management. By the looks of it even a handful of phones
would have revealed the issues.

~~~
JohnFen
> If you're afraid of leaks give it to the family or upper management.

If you're afraid of leaks, those might be the worst people to give it to.

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maxaf
Alright, I’ll take the heat for asking the obvious question:

Who would ever need a folding phone? This sounds like a silly idea. Apart from
the obvious party trick (“hold my drink - ima fold this phone in half”) I
don’t see any reason for a phone to fold halfway down the middle into a
ridiculously thick package that can’t be comfortable carried inside any
reasonably sized pants pocket.

~~~
_bxg1
From The Verge's review:

"All this week, I kept coming back to a thought about how we use our phones.
We pull them out to check something quickly, but then, all of a sudden, a
half-hour disappears scrolling Instagram or Twitter or whatever. It’s a real
problem.

But it’s a problem I didn’t really have with the Galaxy Fold. When I was using
the tiny screen, I just wanted to get something done quickly and put it away
because the screen was small, and I wasn’t in a place where I wanted to unfold
it.

On the flip side, when I was using Galaxy Fold unfolded, I was really using
it. I had to hold it in two hands, and it felt much more like using a tablet,
an active device I was choosing to use. It requires some small measure of
intentionality — more than a phone, anyway.

I found myself using it in meetings, and nobody batted an eye. I was reviewing
docs for the meeting, but I could have just as easily been messing around on
social media. But think about the social rules of a work meeting: somebody
messing around on their phone is a jerk, but somebody using a tablet is more
likely to be doing something relevant. The Fold feels like a different device
with different social rules, and that’s fascinating."

~~~
morganvachon
This is just my point of view, I don't claim this as an answer for anyone but
myself. However, back when I was using Android and Windows Phone, I found that
carrying an extra large phablet like the Galaxy Mega, Nexus 6, or Lumia 940XL
gave me a very useful middle ground for the use cases you quoted from The
Verge. The phones were big enough that at first glance (especially the Mega)
they looked like small tablets, and were socially acceptable in work
situations. Likewise, they were still phones so they fit in my (admittedly
large) pocket even with a thin case.

I'm on iPhone now and I've "regressed" back to a relatively normal phone size
with the iPhone 7. I almost got a Plus but I had an iPhone 6 before that and
got comfortable with the smaller size. I'd probably be fine with the SE at
this point, but since Apple has dropped that form factor I'm not going
backwards.

So yes, I can see a place for a folding device when one needs to carry both a
phone and a tablet, but for me at least, I can move to a phablet for that.

~~~
_bxg1
Personally I've never had a use for a tablet- I literally bought an iPad once
and returned it the next day because it didn't serve a purpose for me. Of
course that's not true for some people.

But I do sometimes have a use for the large screen on my phone, and I would
definitely have a use for a smaller (one-hand-sized) phone screen, so having
both of those available in one device appeals to me.

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HocusLocus
Who will fund my startup to manufacture clothes with bigger pockets.

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gsich
Is there even a need for such a device? Or are those desperate attempts to
sell new features?

From what I have experienced, the smartphone market is basically saturated. My
peers and I no longer have a need for buying new devices. Basic stuff won't
get any faster and 5 cameras are not worth a new device.

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tempodox
It's probably a case of black matter caught in a dark hole. If the galaxy in
question were sperical, it would fold in on itself much more symmetrically.

