The Samsung Galaxy Fold got its big reveal in February, promising to usher in a new era of foldables – but before it officially went on sale, review units and prototypes started to break in quite spectacular fashion. It turns out that making a phone with a folding screen is just as hard as you would imagine.
Now Samsung says it's tweaked the design of the Galaxy Fold to make it more robust and durable, and that the handset will finally go on sale in September, if you're flush with cash and fancy a taste of the future.
"Samsung has taken the time to fully evaluate the product design, make necessary improvements and run rigorous tests to validate the changes we made," the company said in a statement.
The protective layer on top of the Infinity Flex Display – which some reviewers mistakenly removed – now extends beyond the bezel. Samsung says this should make it apparent that the protector is "an integral part of the display structure" and shouldn't be taken off.
Additional reinforcements have been added to the device to keep out "external particles" – it's thought that dust and other debris getting into the hinge mechanism was one of the reasons early units kept failing. There are also new protection caps at the top and bottom of the hinge, and there's now less of a gap between the hinge and the phone body.
As yet, we still don't know when in September the Fold will appear or which countries it'll be available in, or exactly how much it will cost. The company has confirmed that the starting price of US$1,980 floated back in February still applies.
"Samsung is conducting final product tests to make Galaxy Fold available to consumers starting from September in select markets," the company's statement reads. "Availability details will be shared as we get closer to the launch."
If you're completely new to the Galaxy Fold, it features a 7.3-inch display when opened out, and a smaller 4.6-inch screen when snapped shut. Selected apps are being optimized to jump between the two modes seamlessly, and when you're using the Fold as a tablet, it can run up to three apps on screen at once.
With Huawei working on bringing its Mate X to market, and other tech companies rumored to be preparing foldables of their own, Samsung will want the Galaxy Fold launch to run as smoothly as possible from hereon in. Time will tell whether the tweaks it's made are enough to make the phone last.
"All of us at Samsung appreciate the support and patience we've received from Galaxy fans all over the world," says Samsung. "Galaxy Fold is a device long in the making, and we're proud to share it with the world and look forward to bringing it to consumers."
Source: Samsung