> 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?
I work in phone repair so I see lots of broken phones and many rather... uh, not that bright of individuals.
This will 100% be a problem for consumers. It's easily recognizable as a screen protector, but it isn't = instant problems. Especially on a 2000$ device.
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
I am sure all of those people with broken phones are appreciative of how "bold" Samsung has been in releasing this phone early.
Personally I prefer the Apple approach with new products e.g. iPhone, iPad, Watch which is to have largely perfected the hardware before shipping but release it with MVP software which they aggressively improve.
> Even if the Fold has some problems The absolutely most important aspect of this $2000 device is failing within days. The only way this could be worse is if they started exploding, too. I'm exciting for neat ambitious devices also, but they have to be more than paper weights. If these are all failing so soon, either there was no QA whatsoever, or some QA manager within Samsung was ignored...
> The only way this could be worse is if they started exploding, too. Give it a few months. This is like a 1980s plastic lunch box. The moulded hinge always snapped in half after about 3 months regardless of what you did. Cue optimus prime letting your lunch out all over the floor. I think they are failing because it was a fucking stupid idea. Edit: If anything I want NO mechanical components on any handheld device I…
It's a valid point, if a bit grumpy: The big deal about smartphones is that in various different ways, they were able to replace the mechanical with the electrical, and replace physical design with software-based design. (Don't like where that button is? Tweak the code. Type of thing.) Adding a hinge is in some ways a step backward. I also agree with your grandparent comment though, that it's a bold idea and a neat gimmick. (EDIT: ...if it worked!)
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
They seem to innovate faster then Apple like a recent example being Wireless PowerShare (charge one phone with another). It's reported Apple will be adding that into the iPhone 11; wirelessly charge your watch or another phone with a charged or charging iPhone.
Many of the most interesting Apple innovations for me are behind the scenes e.g. Marzipan, Bitcode, Secure Enclave, A-series CPU.
And Samsung isn't innovating faster they are releasing faster. Big difference.
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.
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.
Which is fine because the device I bought would still work.
> 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.
Samsung said that the units sent out are the same as the final consumer devices, for what it's worth.
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).
Having been a very happy owner of a 2013 Nexus 7 until I lost it about a week ago at a cafe, the appeal is basically having "one" device that does everything I need (sans a laptop, obviously). I used my phone for all communication and my tablet for e-reading, because the larger screen and form factor was welcome. But having that tablet meant one more device I had to lug around and keep track of, and as I can attest,…
I certainly see the value in a more hybrid device - this just feels like a bit of a technical "pissing contest" if you will rather than a consumer focussed device. Again, I'd be happy to be proven wrong - and I do appreciate the engineering involved in making a consumer grade foldable screen.
> this just feels like a bit of a technical "pissing contest" if you will rather than a consumer focussed device.
Even if that's the case I think that's fine. It should help push innovation at Samsung and its competitors. Sure, they should be more consumer focused _in general_ but I think moon-shots like this have their place.
I'm not interested in a fold-able phone. But I'd love to see them get really good.
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.