Samsung on Monday finally announced the official Galaxy Fold release date in the United States, which is a crucial first step to potentially putting this horribly embarrassing saga behind us. The phone will be made available both from AT&T and unlocked from Samsung’s own stores beginning this Friday, September 27th. That places the US release date exactly five months and one day after the company’s first foldable phone was supposed to be released.
As most readers will undoubtedly recall, Samsung was supposed to release the Galaxy Fold on April 26th this year but it couldn’t because, well, it was a piece of junk. Galaxy Fold review units began breaking mere hours after being delivered to early reviewers because of several preposterous design flaws that should have been caught by Samsung’s quality control measures long before the phone’s design was finalized. Instead, the company tried to rush the phone’s release so that it could claim to be the first company to launch a smartphone with a foldable display. As is always the case with first-generation Samsung smartphones, the Galaxy Fold ended up being a total mess. Sorry, Samsung fans, but I told you so.
The smartest thing Samsung did when it comes to the Galaxy Fold was to cancel the phone’s release and go back to the drawing board in an effort to fix the mistakes that shouldn’t have been made in the first place. The slightly redesigned model was released a few weeks ago in South Korea, and now it’s finally coming to the United States. Here’s what Samsung has to say about the redesign:
Engineered with new materials and technologies, the Galaxy Fold has the functionality of both a smartphone and a tablet, and still fits in your pocket. It reimagines everything you can do with your mobile device, from seamlessly switching from the cover display to the main display or running three active apps at the same time.
In addition to new materials and technologies, Samsung designed an entirely new customer service experience. Galaxy Fold Premier Service gives anyone who purchases a Galaxy Fold access to Samsung experts who can provide tailored guidance and support any time, any day. Accessible via a dedicated phone number, video chat through Samsung members or by scheduling in person support, Galaxy Fold owners will have the opportunity to consult with a specialist to walk you through the device and all of its accessories – including the Galaxy Buds and the custom aramid fiber cover. The specialist will walk consumers through the key Fold features, best practices to care for the foldable device and (if needed) support with Smart Switch to transition contacts, photos, apps and more from their existing mobile device to their new Galaxy Fold. After onboarding, Premier Service specialists are still available to connect with consumers in a way that’s most convenient for them for support anytime.
The Galaxy Fold will be sold by AT&T, which has proven over the years that it will sell literally any cell phone made by any company regardless of how good or bad it may be. No other US wireless carriers will offer the handset at launch, but an unlocked version will be available in Samsung stores and on Samsung’s website. As far as pricing goes, it’ll cost $1,980 despite a recent rumor that the relaunched Galaxy Fold might end up being a bit cheaper than Samsung had initially announced.
Our advice: save yourself $2,000 and skip it. Word on the street is the redesigned Galaxy Fold can still break if dust or dirt works its way into certain parts of the phone, which is pretty much inevitable despite how careful you might be. And even if that weren’t the case, the Galaxy Fold still has an awful design with massive bezels and a huge notch chomped out of the corner of the main display. The company is working on much better designs for its second-generation foldable smartphone that will be released next year, and several other folding phones are also expected in 2020.
