11 Facts About Samsung’s New Folding Phone That Retails for More Than SGD$2.6K

I remember somewhere back in 2011, when Instagram was mere one year old and life used to be lit, a gigantic phone appeared in Singtel shops and we were all wondering:

Is that a phone?

Is that those thingy used in sci-fic?

Is that a…Big Brother Big?

You see, back then, tablet was new so it tend to get a tad confusing.

Soon after, people started to call Galaxy Note a phablet: a big-ass phone that has been rejected by the family of tablets.

And now, in 2019, phablet is going to be part of history as yesterday, Samsung announced a real foldable phone…which led to claps and cheers after the host paused for an awkward moment (pretty sure they were all going, “WTF is that?!”).

So, WTF is that?

Here are eleven facts unfolded for you.

Foldable Phone: A Concept That Many Have Thought Of

Lest you’re not aware, the concept of a foldable phone has been floated by many in the last few years.

Last year, rumours of a foldable phone by Samsung surfaced, with an “accidental” upload of a foldable Samsung phone trailer to Samsung Vietnam’s YouTube channel.

But Samsung isn’t the one toying with this idea: there were rumours of a Motorola foldable phone that’s inspired by the retro Motorola Razr.

LG has also mentioned that they are working on a foldable phone and has even filed a patent, and of course Xiaomi has showed off a concept phone that can bend, which is known as the Xiaomi MIX Flex.

And, by the way, even Apple has jumped onto the bandwagon, as they have filed a patent for a folding design since 2017.

Then again, all of them are concepts, patents and whatnot. Kind of like a dream that’ll never happen.

But yesterday, the very first foldable phone is revealed.

And like what Samsung said, it’s a “whole new category”.

So, does it have a first-mover’s advantage? Let’s find out.

What is it called?

In the past, people called it the Samsung Galaxy X, which come to think of it is dope.

“I’ve a Galaxy X, what do you have?!”

With so much spent on R&D, I think the name would be something like Chaos Breaker or FavAblEr. You know, some kick-ass name.

Then it turned out that the name is…

*drum rolls*

The Galaxy Fold.

I think the person naming the phone was drunk.

How Does it Work?

Think of it as a book: when closed, it’s a 4.6-inch phone. You can then open it into a tablet, turning it into a 7.3-inch tablet.

Simple, isn’t it?

The hinge is supposedly “sophisticated” and allows the phone to open and close smoothly and seamlessly, and can be folded hundreds of thousands of times.

So, does it really work?

The Device Wasn’t Exactly “Shown”

Unlike other announcements whereby journalists would be able to play with the phone after the event, the Galaxy Fold wasn’t available after that: everyone knows about the phone / tablet / whatever-the-f***-it-is through a presentation by Samsung Mobile’s Justin Denison.

So there’s no hands-on by anyone on whether what Samsung claims is true.

Cost of Galaxy Fold

Just so you know, Samsung also announced their latest flagship phone, the Samsung Galaxy S10, S10e (cheaper version)  and S10+ (of course more expensive version).

The S10e is at USD$749, the S10 is at USD$899 and the S10+ is at a whopping USD$999.

But nothing comes close to the Samsung Fold, which is projected to be sold at USD$1,980, and that’s just the starting price.

I’ve used USD prices for the Samsung Galaxy S10’s even when they’ll be available in Singapore solely for comparison’s sake: you can see that you can buy two S10’s and still have some change to buy a second-hand iPhone.

My point?

It’s expensive. As. F***.

Availability

Unlike the S10 that will be available in Singapore, the fate of Samsung Galaxy Fold in Singapore is still unknown.

However, it will be available in the US from 26 April 2019, and in Europe from 3 May 2019. Nothing was announced on the Asia market.

So cross your fingers if you’re eyeing one. And also save up some money. You’ll need it.

Fold or Bend?

The question that many have is this: does the tablet screen folds itself or it’s simply two screens combined into one?

That’s the thing: people are still debating about that. Some claim that there’s still a “gap” in the middle of the screen but on the presentation, it’s not obvious.

In other words, we won’t know until someone has touched it.

Powerful Specs

Okay, the device does justify its hefty price tag with its specs.

With 12 GB ram (that’s more ram than a powerful laptop!), 512 GB storage space, 7-nanometer processor, six cameras and two batteries that provide 4,380 mAh of juice, it’s a powerhouse and possibly the most powerful phone / tablet so far.

Unless, of course, another phone manufacturer comes out with one before 26 April 2019.

5G Support

Lest you’re not aware, there’s a Samsung S10 5G version as well, and the Samsung Fold supports 5G, too.

In the US, some telcos are providing 5G network in certain cities. Needless to say, 5G is much faster than 4G: in fact, at its peak performance, it could be 20 times faster.

However, in Singapore, 5G is not available yet, though it might be by the second half of 2020.

Of course, if you’re still using your current phone, you won’t be able to tap on the 5G network unless you’ve a 5G phone.

So Samsung is just thinking of the future.

Here’s me crossing my finger.

Three Apps at One Screen

The Samsung Fold, when opened, can run three apps in the same screen at one go. So if you love Goody Feed app, Goody Feed TV YouTube Channel and Goody Feed website, you can have all three of them running at the same time on the same screen.

Pretty lit, if you’d ask me, though that might mean our app developer is going to have an headache soon.

What’s this? Another new thingy to code again!?

VisitSingapore has some fun with this

I know this isn’t exactly an important fact, but it’s good to know that a stat board is just as creative as the social media team in SCDF.

After the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy Fold, VisitSingapore posted this on their Facebook Page:

I think-ed they’re just jelly that Samsung didn’t say whether the Galaxy Fold is going to visit Singapore or not.