Samsung is, even now, excited about the Galaxy Fold. It's the company's first foldable smartphone, and something they have been working on for years. A dream achieved, but one that's sadly devolved into a nightmare. After several different high profile reviewers pointed out that their device's display was broken after just a day or two of usage, Samsung has decided to delay the launch of its first foldable phone.
The Galaxy Fold was supposed to arrive in four days. And now it will be a bit longer.
At face value, there is an argument to be made here that Samsung shot itself in the foot. The company must have had April 26 pegged for a launch date for a bit of time now, but it still decided to only provide review units a couple of weeks out from the big day. That's not a lot of wiggle room to fix things if they go wrong.
And they did go wrong, and, unfortunately, in the worst possible way. Maybe if it had just been a software issue, Samsung could have fixed it a day or two after launch. Or even on the same day, thanks to a day one patch. But the hardware problem that cropped up, that's going to take more effort. So much so that it's caused a delay, which is obviously something Samsung would have liked to have avoided.
The good news is that the Galaxy Fold isn't completely canceled. While Samsung is still investigating the issue, at least for now it looks like the company is confident they can fix it. A little bit of a delay isn't the worst thing in the world, as long as the phone launches and it's in tip-top condition when it arrives.
The whole situation is kind of crazy though, right? This phone can reportedly be opened and closed 200,000 times over the course of its lifespan. But if you remove a protective layer that looks a lot like a screen protector you've broken the whole thing. Or, as in some cases, if a tiny grain of something gets below the screen you're lucky to have a working phone.
Is all of that worth the price of admission to be an early adopter on Samsung's first foldable phone? It will be for some. Especially considering that, ignoring the (huge) issues, the handset is still getting generally praised. It's a solid first step, with a small stumble to shake things up, but it still sounds like Samsung is on the right path.
But I'm curious about the consumer. Specifically, a potential buyer who was honestly planning on buying the Galaxy Fold when it launched. Priced at $1,980 I know the handset isn't for everyone, but if you were preparing to pick one up, have the events of the last week made you change your mind? And if so, do you think you'll come back around when Samsung (hopefully) fixes the issues? Let me know!
