Samsung Galaxy Fold – the review!

A new breed of phones is starting to pop up – it’s a damn expensive breed but it’s also a very interesting breed and first to hit the shelves is Samsung Galaxy Fold. See our review of Samsung Galaxy Fold with pros and cons and well – no real alternatives.

Samsung Galaxy Fold Review

Samsung Galaxy Fold had a rough start back in april – after a few days in the hands of sassy reviewers it was clear that there was something rotten i Fold-land. The screen simply broke on some units. Now Samsung are back with an updated version.

Display

The top feature on Fold is the display. Folded like this we have a 4,6 inch display on the front for there more simplere but must-have things on a phone. Calling, texting, payment, taking pictures, checking stuff in apps in general and so on.

The display doesn’t fill all the front – if it did the display format would become to strange with apps looking weird. the display format on the front is 21:9.

When we open it – voila – 7,3 inch Dynamic AMOLED HDR10 fuld HD display.

This really opens up for a richer experience when we talk video, gaming, reading, working. Call of Duty:Mobile looks amazing on the big display, the same does movies and magazines. And you can work with three different apps at the same time on the same screen – this works well and is great for multitasking. More on that later.

Is it the best display ever seen on a phone? Technically there are better displays withs 2K and even 4K resolution but it is at least the best display when we talk user experience.

Read more: Phones with best display

Design

Galaxy Fold does not have a design similar to any other phone – you know – because it folds! Fold together it’s pretty thick – but no so thick that you can not have it in your pocket, not your shirt pocket though.

Samsung has optimized the locking and unlocking mechanism so it should not be possible for dust to sneak in to the locking mechanism – and you can open and lock it 200.000 times before it starts making trouble – according to Samsung.

When its unfolded this is how it looks – big and colourful – thats how I like ‘em. You can see where it folds when you are on the start screen but otherwise you dont notice the fold.

Samsung provide the buyer with a safety guide for how to use galaxy Fold so you dont destroy it. It more like a “there is hot coffee in the cup so if you pour it over yourself you will get burned-safety”. You will get Samsung Care+ for free for one year – and this will cover basic damages. this also includes one display replacement if you didn’t smash it with a hammer.

I have used the phone for a week treating it like any other phone – it still looks like new.

Read more: Phones with best display

User friendliness and UI

The user interface is Android 9 with One UI 1.5. And you know the drill – powerfull processor, lots of RAM – it’s a smooth and fast phone with high navigation speed. Its not like I feel Samsung has introduced a whole new user interface for the big display phone but there some advantages you don’t find on other phones.

We have talked about movies and gaming expericence – it’s unrivaled compared to any other phones. And then we have the multitasking.

It’s not a replacement for your laptop but in some situations it’s really nice to work with three apps on the same display at the same time – for example the browser looking for something, the calulator to check if its worth buying and the mail app to write about the stuff you are checking out in the other apps. The 3 apps multitasking works fine and is pretty intuitive.

The keyboard is nicely designed for two hand usage – it’s split up in two – perfect for writing. If you want you can even have a laptop-ish writing experience but I guess you have to be a pretty hard core Galaxy Fold fan to really enjoy that kind of writing on a phone.

Read more: Most userfriendly phones

Camera

The camera is basically the same as in Note 10+ and  S10+. This means – amazing picture and video quality no matter if you use the camera with the phone folded together or if it’s open.

See picture quality in the video for this review.

Read more: Best camera phones

Antenna

Samsung Galaxy Fold has a great antenna quality and relatively low sar value.  The sar value is way lower than on iPhone 11 Pro Max for example and this means it will stay connected to the mobile network with minimum effort – it’s nice Samsung has not made any compromises on antenna quality just because they introduce a new design factor.

Read more: Smartphones with best antenna quality

Battery life 

A phone with 7,3 inch display must have a record big battery, right? The answer is no, not really – it’s 4.380 mAh. The capacity is almost the same as on Note 10+ with a 6,8 inch big display.

The thing is the battery last for a day plus a bit more in general. The reason for this is that many of the things I do on a phone can be done on the smaller display when folded together – of course watching 4 episodes of The Deuce and playing Call of Duty on the big screen suck the life out of the battery but with normal use the battery life is more than fine.

Read more: Smartphones with long lasting battery

Price

The price for Samsung Galaxy Fold starts from almost 2.000 dollars. I know that is a lot of money – also compared to many other phones – but keep in mind – you also get a pair of Galaxy Buds in the box. But as a 1. generation in a new product category it’s not flawless.

Galay Fold: Cons

• It is a big unit – folded together its thick – unfolded its big. It’s also pretty heavy.
• The center fold area on the display is visible – especially on the home screen. Is that annoying in daily use? – not for me – is it for you then don’t buy it.
• The phone is not IP certified – its not waterproof or dust proof by official standards.
• It’s not the fastest charger you’ll find in the box – a bit strange for such an expensive phone.
• Samsung urges you to be extra careful using the plastic display – I have treated it like any other phone more or less but if you are not comfortable with this you might think twice before buying the phone.
• There are no head phone jack – only USB-C  but there is a pair of Galaxy Buds to compensate in the box.
• There is only 2 times optical zoom in the camera – 3 or 5 times would have been more appropriate on such a high-level priced product.

Alternatives

Galaxy Fold is expensive but are there any true alternatives? Not really – not yet. Huawei are on their way with a foldable phone as well but will it have Android and Googles services? We are still not sure.

Motorola will introduce Razr Flip in november but it looks more like a traditional clampshell phone and the specs are rumored to be poorer than on Galaxy Fold. For now it looks like Galaxy Fold will have a unique position in this new category.

Conclusion

Samsung Galaxy Fold is the most interesting phone for years, wether you like the concept or not. Of course it’s not a phone for everybody – primarily due to the high price. Everybody I have shown the phone agrees that it looks nice and their jaws drop to the ground watching movies and playing games.

I was sceptic myself before testing but Galaxy Fold has convinced me, that the future is foldable…

Read more: Samsung phone reviews