Opinion: Criticism of the Galaxy Fold unfairly undermines Samsung's achievement

[Redaktion]

Samsung has been copping a lot of flak for the highly publicized issues that some of the Galaxy Fold review units it has in circulation. However, some of these critics fail to adequately credit Samsung for pushing the boundaries of what is possible. Note: The views expressed here represent the views of the author alone and don't necessarily reflect the views of Notebookcheck.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Opinion-Criticism-of-the-Galaxy-Fold-unfairly-undermines-Samsung-s-achievement.418257.0.html

[amirbahalegharn]

it's like the touch-screen phone when came out VS old classic ones..the screen was more expensive,it was more prone to being break as there was no gorilla glass then(and even up until Gorilla glass 5-6,the drop-breaking was still issue after nearly a decade improvement.
the price is justified when we deduct the price of included accessories,it will be around 1800-1750$. now it's 512GB, even the one-screen and smaller size S10+ with the same storage+ram option was sold for 1200-1250$. so for a foldable,new technology, you are getting nearly only 50% extra money...just look at huawei mate x with 2500-2700$... that is more expensive and that price range should've been the price that investors could've fund this 1st gen product to the next level.

[Lars Day]

Paying $2000 for this phone does not allow one to critize it???? Who is kidding who. We as customers have a right to review a product negatively if in fact that product is faulty. This is not a communist country where free speech is not allowed. Whoever wrote this commentary about not critizing a product needs to be counseled about free speech.

[Alan]

Bone-headed journos already peeled off the factory screen wrap that ships on the phone...and then guess what...they started peeling off a SECOND layer. That is utterly moronic. But when you don't pay for a phone and you know that wrecking it and writing about that will generate clicks...well you know what happens.

More concerning is the device which started getting a foreign object under the screen and then stopped working because that is a likely scenario which 200,000 robot open and closes of a screen cannot simulate. However, Samsung is giving all consumers a 1 year accidental breakage insurance which I think is fair given you are buying a gen 1 product. So they are recognising that you are their biggest fans and are standing by you for 1 year with a kind of 'no matter what' insurance.

[cuthbert411]

"Samsung was making a foldable smartphone just because it could, not because it was solving any particular problem. "

True.

"It is for this reason [The screen is prone to dings, since it's plastic] that Samsung opted for a design that folds inwards, not outwards."

Is this a joke? You think that protecting the screen is why it doesn't fold outwards, and not because of the simple physics involved in how the fold would affect the screen pulling outwards?

"The company would not be proceeding with the launch if it had concerns about the durability of the display."

That's even scarier. That they did not anticipate the apparent durability problems (that extend past just the removing of the plastic film) with the display.

"And if companies are going to ship products with known weaknesses, they shouldn't just hope we read a user manual – and don't accidentally peel off some damn plastic."

I haven't read any of the quoted article, other than the quoted parts, but while I usually fall on the side of RTFM being an acceptable response to things, Samsung is a big enough company and has been around long enough to know that no, even if they should be reading the manuals, few users actually DO read the manual. They should be smart enough to know this and anticipate this. They are not a new tech company, an.

"However, that price also includes a set of Galaxy Buds"
Easily lost wireless headphones is a plus?

"a custom case..."
Looking up the case in reviews, and it doesn't appear to be anything too substantial. True, it's nice they add it in, but it doesn't seem to be a positive or a negative, in actual practice.

"Whatever you want to say, positive or negative, the Samsung Galaxy Fold is a game changer... The Fold may well be flawed, but it is undoubtedly the future of smartphones and it is here now, thanks to Samsung."

It really isn't. It has zero positive reason to even exist. It's the next Google Glass, 3D TV or Flexplay DVD.  There is no future in foldable screens, since even the reviews that don't bring up the easily damaged screen say it's too big and fat to be a phone and it's too small to be a decent tablet.

[Sanjiv Sathiah]

Thanks to all that have read the opinion piece and taken the time to comment on it. @Lars Day I've not said people aren't entitled to criticize the Galaxy Fold -- simply that some of the criticism has been a little over the top and unfair. @cuthbert411 Samsung has openly stated that the Fold folds inwards to protect the display: https://www.ubergizmo.com/2019/02/samsung-galaxy-fold-fold-inwards/