A top Samsung executive has said that the company has reviewed the reported problems in the Galaxy Fold and will soon take a decision on the launch of the device. When asked about the launch timeline of the phone, DJ Koh, President and CEO of IT & Mobile Communications Division, Samsung Electronics, told the Korea Herald, “We will not be too late.” He also talked about the changes that the South Korean tech company is making to increase the device’s durability.
The company “has reviewed the defect caused from substances (that entered the device), and we will reach a conclusion in a couple of days (on the launch),” Koh was quoted as saying. As mentioned, the company is working to increase the durability of the device. The changes will address the two major issues: foreign objects entering the phone from behind the screen through the hinge, and users mistakenly peeling off the top protective layer.
Samsung said that that would strengthen the exposed areas of the hinge and would minimise the gap between the top protective layer and bezel. The news comes a couple of days after the company sent emails to those who pre-booked the device. The emails mentioned that the users had to confirm the order and if they didn't, the booking would automatically get cancelled.
Samsung recalled the review devices it had sent to reviewers in the US because the inner display of those devices had malfunctioned. The company later issued a statement confirming the development, saying that it planned to “announce the release date in the coming weeks.” In the meantime, the South Korean tech giant said that it would take measures to strengthen the display protection.
Reviewers in the US, including The Verge’s Dieter Bohn and YouTuber MKBHD, confirmed that the inner display on their units broke or malfunctioned. While Bohn said that the display had a bulge in the middle, MKBHD removed the top layers that was later found out to be a protective screen that wasn’t supposed to be tampered with. In a teardown, iFixit said that a gap between the screen and the edge of the Galaxy Fold leaves enough space for debris to enter the phone and cause problems.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold was launched at a price of $1,980 (approx Rs 1.37 lakh). The phone sports a HD+ Super AMOLED panel. The display on the outside is 4.6 inches in size, and when unfolded, turns into a 7.3-inch tablet screen with a ‘Dynamic AMOLED display’. The handset runs on a “7nm processor,” which is most likely the Samsung Exynos 9820, and comes with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.0 storage. The handset houses a 4,380mAh battery.