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Samsung Galaxy Fold
- Thread starter Zwhaler
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Had my fold for 5 days now
Congratulations, any views on it? Mini review?
I got to play with one today:
Felt solid and that display is glorious, however that crease cannot be avoided lol, little signs of Gen 1 I guess.
Having also played with a Huawei Mate X before, what I can say is that the Fold is smaller and a lot lighter in the hand vs the Fold which even in real life keeps giving me flashbacks of Nokia E90 Communicator. Very nice overall.
With the above said, this thing is not worth its price tag, I feel as though Samsung could have done a lot more in terms build of the body and software update support promise, something just didn’t click, nothing about using it made me think to myself “I need to find a way to get the cash to buy this NOW!!!” I guess that comes from knowing what happened to earlier units and how fragile it will be in some environments.
Gen 2 or Gen 3 will be more enticing.
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Congratulations, any views on it? Mini review?
I got to play with one today:
Felt solid and that display is glorious, however that crease cannot be avoided lol, little signs of Gen 1 I guess.
Having also played with a Huawei Mate X before, what I can say is that the Fold is smaller and a lot lighter in the hand vs the Fold which even in real life keeps giving me flashbacks of Nokia E90 Communicator. Very nice overall.
With the above said, this thing is not worth its price tag, I feel as though Samsung could have done a lot more in terms build of the body and software update support promise, something just didn’t click, nothing about using it made me think to myself “I need to find a way to get the cash to buy this NOW!!!” I guess that comes from knowing what happened to earlier units and how fragile it will be in some environments.
Gen 2 or Gen 3 will be more enticing.
Here's a bit I wrote in the Note 10 thread
:I know this is a Note 10 thread so will keep non related thoughts to a minimum
Make no mistake the Fold is a premium device with a weightyness that compliments it when folded.
It's not big in the pocket if anything it's less obtrusive being narrow re easier to stuff a rolled up newspaper in a pocket, the Note width is noticeably more when sitting down in your front pocket by comparison
The main screen bezels are big yet small proportionally to screen but a bit shinny plastic and would deteriorate and ping off if you dare to keep this for say 5 years, a bit like the old white macbooks lol.
The main screen feel under your finger tip feels identical to our Note's with stock screen protector on but the fold/crease is noticeable when you scroll across screen. The screen is big and bright because there is simply more of it.
The fold and notch also disappear from conscious thought rapidly especially in landscape mode , not all apps go to the edge to you do not see it as a cutout and the loss or real estate is not relevant when your already that big
The front screen is small by today's standards and if you use the free/supplied case it is nicely framed and the big chins are not apparent.
The front screen has full customisation independent of the main so double the fun
I thought i would miss the in screen fingerprint but the side scanner is the correct choice for this device and super quick. I would of liked the case to have framed it more like the S9's cases but muscle memory will take over soon
I was an avid side bar user with a minimalist home page layout but this has change on the Fold. The side bar is now a tray for launching the various split screen modes (will post some screen shots). This means I have change my once only folder app trays to the first tray being my top 20 apps and my 2nd tray to lessor used apps in their folders, still. This approach for different reasons is more important on the front screen due to available screen size.
The front screen when configured correctly is a great notification and app launcher re see whats urgent tap on it and unfold to reply in luxury
It is possible to access all functions from the front screen and I wonder what battery endurance you would get just using that on an extended trip
Make no mistake this is not a one handed device although some functions are possible and with the front screen more so, its best 2 handed. If like me you are always a flip case user there is no transition.
The sticker price is a bit off putting but with free buds and it can eliminate a small tablet or kindle from your inventory it starts to look more reasonable given storage 512GB
Fragility may be a show stopper for some but given most are likely to trade in on the next Samsung release I don't see an issue with that and the bundled screen replacement gives some peace
I have only come across one simple app that the next arrow was obscure by another piece of text due to display not being optimal, but a quick flip back to front screen solved that
There is little between the S10/Fold and the Note's cameras other than DOF and the 3d scanner is not really working as of yet and who needs doodles LOL
The big screen is great for media, email, photo's etc, that's a given and the whole purpose. However the split screen mode and pop ups/floating windows similarly get a boost.
The double split from the task tray is the best with say email on one side primary and your favourite message app on the other. where replies are easy to accomplish, if you go to 3 apps ie mail and 2 messenger apps the 2 become more of a notification/viewer than actually useful IMO. Other apps that stream or just need viewing may be better.
The loss of the Note's pen is really more about note taking, it's still possible because of screen size to annotate accurately with a fine line, but adding notes not so easy with your finger.
I will post some screen shots of apps spilt:
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Hers a bit I wrote in the Note 10 thread
Thanks a lot and enjoy it!
So the haters be damned, the Galaxy Fold has been a massive success. Rather than wait for a market to mature, and wait till costs have dropped to maximize profits, Samsung takes the full cost of pioneering a new category of mobile device. That's the only way consumers win. It's sold out in every market its been released. China is the latest market to get the Fold, and it sold out in 5 minutes, even at the cost of $2300 USD. Dayyyyum. Bring on gen 2. If gen 2 brings the rumoured foldable glass, I'm getting it.
Without knowing how many actual units were available/have been sold, I’d hold off on anointing it a ‘massive success’. They very well could have only made 10,000 units available. They deserve props for pushing the industry and taking risks but let’s not be premature here.
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Massive success? So a phone that had its delay pushed back months due to almost every review unit breaking in days is a massive success? I’m going to disagree. There’s no way that device has been profitable like you claim. Especially with the cost of recalling products that were ready to ship and the time, effort, and engineering to fix the issues on existing units and get them ready for consumers again.
If they’re sold out everywhere it’s likely because they scaled stock WAY back after the release delay fiasco. The demand was so low after the recall that they knew to scale back.
While I would not say a massive success but the numbers I read online were over 500k and several million were planned for 2020
Probably nowhere near covering overall development costs but defiantly proof of concept is a success
I'm always amazed of selective recall of events for those that want to put something down
Nice to hear from someone that actually owns the deviceWhile I would not say a massive success but the numbers I read online were over 500k and several million were planned for 2020
Probably nowhere near covering overall development costs but defiantly proof of concept is a success
I'm always amazed of selective recall of events for those that want to put something down
I would call the Fold a success...even after very bumpy beginning ride.
That's impressive for a $2000 phone considering all the early bad press.
I guess but given not all like us are avid tech fans many just buy say the best/expensive phone
So given a maxed out Iphone is $1600 before a case and wireless headset, for those that want a bit more exclusivity and wow factor $1-200 more is relatively small amount before you even get to functionality etc
I think the majority of Fold owners are avid tech fans and this is very much still a niche market. It will be interesting to see if foldable phones becomes more a mainstream product down the line. BTW, not sure what currency you are using but maxed out iPhone is $1449 in the US.
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Yes if they release a glass version with a pen that would be really interesting
Sorry I forget you guys always quote without tax is just over $1600 here with tax and just under $1600 in US with tax
This is exactly why it's a massive success. You need to stop using Apple mentality to gauge success. Look at what's better for the consumer and the industry as a whole. If all OEMs never took a risk, and only cared about the current market, and not the future, we'd all still be on 3.5 inch LCD screens. In this case, it's not ONLY about profit. This is about moving into the future. The fact that this thing is even selling out in every market it is released in, is amazing, especially after all the bad press. This is a niche device, that is leading us into the next generation of mobile devices, you should be praising the existence of an OEM like Samsung for getting back on the horse so quickly. Exactly why I left Apple. Tired of the same old mantra, "Apple does it right, and waits for a product to mature, and then releases it." It's more like, never takes a risk and it's loyal consumers just blindly wait. Not this guy anymore. So after all the ridicule, the recalls, Samsung retools, and re-releases. It's not how you begin, it's how you finish. Airpower? Point made.
Nobody knows the actual numbers, but definitely not 10,000 units. This is a niche product that was never meant to sell in the multi millions like mainstream flagships, especially on first release. But the very fact it is even selling out in all markets, and selling out within 5 minutes in China, it's weakest market, says a lot. Even in India, a developing country, sold out in 30 minutes. It sold out twice in the UAE, and in some markets re-sellers are selling it for $4000 to $5000 USD, and it's still selling out. You can't do that with just any device, let alone a device that already has been given so much bad press. When one company can't even release a bloody power mat successfully, while another company releases a whole new form factor, to take us into the future, says quite a bit about which company takes risks on their profits and bad press for the better of the industry. This thing is a massive success, through and through.
Accusing me of having Apple mentality is a weird retort. It’s a business mentality. You called something a massive success. If you just meant as a proof of concept than clarify that, although I would argue against that as well. But saying massive success implies commercial success as well which it clearly wasn’t.
I’m all for companies in tech pushing boundaries. I’m glad Samsung came out with the Fold. It doesn’t necessarily appeal to me but a different form factor is nice to have out there. I think by the Fold 3 it’ll start seeing some mainstream success.
My apologies, didn't mean you personally had Apple mentality. I was referring to the profits over all else, and no risk to profits or bad press. For Apple, It's basically, wait till costs have come down, and then we'll start selling that product. Using OLED, as an example. And yes, I could have been more clear on what I meant as the Fold being successful.
Oh, yeah I agree in that Apple puts profits above all else. But they're not alone in that regards. I've always liked that Samsung swings for the fences even though they dont always pull it off.
the space ship has landed!
But if we are going to add dumb decisions to the discussion...
Oh crap, I had no clue the Galaxy Home got cancelled, and ended up being a failure like Airpower. That sucks. Can you post a link where I can read about the cancellation?
Good grief, you had me thinking it was cancelled like the failed Airpower. Get back to me when it is actually cancelled. At the risk of derailing the thread any further, let's get back on topic. That being said, more good news for 2nd or 3rd Gen buyers...
READ
Apologies if I misread your post as sarcasm instead of a genuine inquiry— Retract my previous snark in that case.
<back to regularly scheduled programming> ?