By: Nick Gambino
I’ve said it before, 2019 is shaping up to be the year of the fold. We already saw the Royole FlexiPai make an appearance at CES and now Samsung has unveiled their new foldable phone.
The Samsung unveiled the new Galaxy Fold at their Galaxy Unpacked event on Wednesday. The Fold is rocking a tablet-sized 7.3-inch flexible display that can be folded in half, transforming it into a smartphone that can sort of fit into your pocket. When it’s in fold mode, the display is a cool 4.6 inches.
Much like the FlexiPai, the new device is built on a hinge system that allows it to fold and snap into place. The company says that a single device can fold 200,000 times before it gives out. That means if you were to fold it close to 500 times a day, it would break in a year. You should be safe, as anyone folding or unfolding it that many times should probably check themselves into rehab.
We haven’t gotten our hands on it yet to see whether or not it’s easier to work than the FlexiPai, which took a bit of elbow grease to fold and unfold. From the look of it though, it appears to be as bulky as any of the other foldable devices we’ve seen. That comes with the territory when you’re bending even the slimmest tablet in half.
Outside of the folding mechanism, the Samsung Galaxy Fold features 512GB Universal Flash Storage, a Qualcomm 7nm octa-core processor, 12GB of RAM and two batteries. The rear contains two cameras – a 16 MP ultra-wide camera and a 12 MP wide-angle camera – and then there’s a 10 MP front-facing camera for you to take selfies.
The Fold is capable of running three separate apps at once, allowing for a more tablet-like experience that seamlessly transitions into a smartphone experience when folded. I can see this being useful when watching videos, where you’d want a larger screen.
Now here’s the downside to the whole thing – it’ll fetch a staggering starting price of $1,980. But hey listen, you’ll get a free pair of their new wireless earbuds with each purchase. So that’s got to offset the sting, right? No? Yeah, you’re probably right.
Well, if you’ve got the money to burn or enjoy racking up unnecessary debt, the Samsung Galaxy Fold will be available to purchase on April 26th.
