A number of prominent reviewers, a few of which work for major tech news publications, are out today with follow-ups to their original reviews of the phone in which they highlight myriad breaks, flaws and unflattering problems they’ve come across after using the Galaxy Fold for only a day or two. These problems are certainly bad news ahead of the launch of a device that will set you back $1,980 if you buy it next week.
CNBC’s Steve Kovach, for example, was greeted with this flickering, unusable screen on his unit that essentially rendered it an expensive brick after only using it for a day:
Meanwhile, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg likewise encountered a display failure of his own that turned his unit into an unusable paperweight as well:
The screen on my Galaxy Fold review unit is completely broken and unusable just two days in. Hard to know if this is widespread or not. pic.twitter.com/G0OHj3DQHw
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) April 17, 2019
It has gotten progressively worse. Here’s the latest, photo taken now. One photo is from last night. Other photo is earlier this morning. pic.twitter.com/qzmlM0a3pL
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) April 17, 2019
In additional tweets, Gurman explained that he removed a screen protector that he didn’t realize wasn’t supposed to be removed — something he concedes may have exacerbated his device’s problems. Then, prominent YouTuber and product reviewer Marques Brownlee apparently did the same thing.
“PSA: There’s a layer that appears to be a screen protector on the Galaxy Fold’s display,” Brownlee told his Twitter followers Wednesday. “It’s NOT a screen protector. Do NOT remove it. I got this far peeling it off before the display spazzed and blacked out. Started over with a replacement.”
I thought I was dumb for messing with it, but turns out @markgurman @backlon and @stevekovach all also have broken Folds too because of how delicate this layer is.
Samsung Fold team right now: pic.twitter.com/bAeIvGrOKq
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) April 17, 2019
Meanwhile, The Verge’s Dieter Bohn posted a piece about his Fold on Wednesday, noting that he’d discovered a small bulge on the crease of his unit that eventually pressed into the screen enough to break it.
This is all a pretty dramatic reversal from the smattering of somewhat positive reviews the foldable phone garnered in the beginning, with many reviewers seeming to be especially impressed with the fact that they didn’t hate the device’s obviously unusual design.
Samsung had to shut down the ability to preorder the Fold from the company’s online store after it said demand exceeded its expectations, and ahead of the April 26 launch — which is when members of the public will be able to get their hands on a Galaxy Fold of their own — the company is taking preorders via third-parties.
Given that the phone costs so much, it’s absolutely crazy to see so many major problems spring up in the days before its public release. We won’t have to wait too long, though, to see if those were flaws are just associated with a small number of review units, or if the problems speak to a wider issue.
