I'm more interested in how Samsung ever got so far down the road with a such an apparently flawed design. Samsung's engineers must have known it had big problems. Was this a classic case of dysfunctional corporate culture meaning nobody wanted to give the bosses bad news? I'm guessing so.
The contrast with the Huawei Mate X is stark. The latter has the folding screen on the <i>outside</i> of the phone, which means 1) a wider, and thus safer, bend radius while simultaneously being able to properly close (no lingering gap) and 2) (seemingly?) no ability for space to develop under the screen for debris to get in. Huawei having just the one screen also makes for an overall cleaner design. It makes me wonder why Samsung chose the more problematic inside-fold route.
We have been designing space vessels and spacesuits for the better part of a century with moving or flexible or rotating hinges that can protect every thing and everyone inside from the vacuum of space and transfer of moisture and debris. This article from iFixit and the included photo from The Verge clearly explain and display how Samsung Galaxy designers missed the mark of creating a simple inexpensive hinge mechanism that would have prevented the OLED from being exposed to any external material or uneven pressure.
I admire Samsung for creating one of the first foldable phones. It is not the prettiest or the slickest design and I personally can't say that I would be interested in buying one.<p>However, I don't quite understand the bad press that Samsung is getting with this phone. I mean, sure it has some issues but it is the first generation of this new type of phone.<p>If you are going to buy this product, then you must be aware that you are going to be one of the Beta testers. There is no way around it. You just have to accept it and then when the Galaxy fold 2 comes out in a year or so, hopefully, they would have sorted out all those issues.
What's interesting is they ran the folding machines and even showed everyone to create confidence, but they don't seem to have dogfooded.<p>Wouldn't it make sense for a company like Samsung to hand out some of the devices to their own staff to use? I'm sure you can find realistic use cases among the staff of such a large company. If you're afraid of leaks give it to the family or upper management. By the looks of it even a handful of phones would have revealed the issues.
Alright, I’ll take the heat for asking the obvious question:<p>Who would ever need a folding phone? This sounds like a silly idea. Apart from the obvious party trick (“hold my drink - ima fold this phone in half”) I don’t see any reason for a phone to fold halfway down the middle into a ridiculously thick package that can’t be comfortable carried inside any reasonably sized pants pocket.
Is there even a need for such a device? Or are those desperate attempts to sell new features?<p>From what I have experienced, the smartphone market is basically saturated. My peers and I no longer have a need for buying new devices. Basic stuff won't get any faster and 5 cameras are not worth a new device.
It's probably a case of black matter caught in a dark hole. If the galaxy in question were sperical, it would fold in on itself much more symmetrically.