11 Things You Would Love And Hate About Samsung Galaxy Fold

It took us months of waiting, leaks, and rumors to finally see the real Galaxy Fold in February when Samsung unveiled the futuristic device during its Unpacked event. However, despite the promise to release the smartphone in April, the Korean giant had to delay the official launch for another few months to fix the issues that we all knew: breaking screen, among a few others.

Early review units reported that the display broke just one or two days in use. In turned out that the protective film on the screen wasn’t meant to be removed but it was because people mistook it for a regular film.

And last month, Samsung announced that it fixed the problems and was confident that the phone was ready to go on sale. Soon enough, the Galaxy Fold sold out in its home market and many others were surely eager to get one on their own hands and test one of the most anticipated foldable phones of the year.

And so far, here are the 11 best and worst things about the Samsung Galaxy Fold.

The things we love

The 7.3-inch screen

To the Korean phone maker, this is a major feature that users can access by unfolding the device. Samsung expects users will type, view things as well as do other tasks mostly on this display.

It’s not as easy to type on that screen as on extra-large smartphones like the Note 10 Plus, but that having much screen is still great for anything.

The crease is still there in the middle of the display, but you can only see it clearly if the screen is entirely white or black. Normally, when you watch a show, type, or view a photo, it blends in better you may expect. It seems that the crease is inevitable for a foldable phone, at least right now, so we will have to live with this trade-off.

The fingerprint reader

Samsung places the fingerprint scanner on the right side of the phone, on the bottom part of the stack at the folded state, making it weird to reach to. When the phone is unfolded, you just need to slot your thumb in and the device will unlock in less than once second.

This action is far more awkward when the phone is closed, but over time, you will get used to it and put your thumb the right way.

Multitasking

You can type notes and watch an event at the same time on the Galaxy Fold, and it feels natural. And this is where the 7.3-inch makes the most sense, you can work on a document, reply to messages while checking other social apps to keep yourself updated.

You can launch an app by sliding from the screen’s right edge and the screen will naturally split. However, sometimes the split may not be what you like though you can move the areas around. And the split makes the apps smaller than you may want, which you can adjust but that sounds time-consuming.

The Fold can support the windows simultaneously.

The end caps on the screen

It’s small, but it completes the look for the device. And they are effective too as you can open the phone with your fingernail. This end cap also seems to close the gap existing in the previous design of the Fold.

The way the phone snaps shut

Something in the new design changes how the Galaxy Fold feels when we close it. Overall, the magnetic closure on the phone feels sturdier when it closes.

Physicality is important for the Fold. People like tactile things and phones are moving further way from that. When you open and close the Fold, it feels like you’re returning to a more interesting phone day when a handset featured many buttons and keyboards.

The things we hate

The screen is delicate

Most smartphones are relying on glass screens, which sounds fragile but is actually durable, like the Gorilla Glass 6. This is especially true when you put it in comparison with polymer display which can break or be damaged if you press your fingernail on it wrong.

Samsung warns users to keep the phone away from car keys, dust, water, as well as other items such as credit cards as its magnets can suck them in. The phone maker even posted a video to both inspire and caution users.

The phone’s weight

Unsurprisingly, the Fold is not light, at all. It’s basically two smaller phones stacked together, featuring much glass and dual batteries. The phone is 264 grams heavy, which is 70 grams heavier than the iPhone 11.

In addition, Samsung wants users to have a feeling of solidity and luxury. However, after a day using and carrying the Fold around, the only feeling left may be how heavy it is. You will surely feel relieved putting the phone down after getting home.

And its weight is even more obvious when you have to hold it up to watch videos or read newspapers.

The long notch

The notch on the Galaxy Fold takes up a lot of space at the top right corner of the phone screen. Fortunately, it’s off the edge, so it won’t affect how you see a video or a web page. However, when you light the screen up, the notch sticks out like a thumb.

While the notch does its job by housing two cameras and some sensors, it has some dead space too. Hopefully, Samsung will fix this defect in the next design for its future foldable phones.

The tiny exterior display

It measures only 4.6 inches, and it’s almost impossible to type on, no matter if you compare to its large interior screen or other smartphone screens. And if you have big fingers, it’s even a bigger challenge to type or tap correctly.

The screen had its own uses, as it displays time, notifications, etc., but the less you type on it the better.

The things in between

The Samsung keyboard

On the Fold, the Samsung keyboard has an advantage over the Gboard is it splits in half so that typing feels more comfortable. It turns out to work well once you’re used to it even though your fingers may get tired due to stretching to type.

One issue, however, is that the keyboard takes up too much space on the screen, especially when you multitask, which outweighs all other benefits.

Taking photos

If you don’t like looking at people shooting with their tablet, you won’t like it when taking photos with the Fold open either. The 7.3-inch viewfinder is great, but people will surely notice once you start taking selfies.

But taking photos on the 4.6-inch viewfinder is no better anyway as you cannot see many details. But if you really hate catching people’s attention on the street, it’s safe to say that the photos taken with the exterior camera turn out fine.

Remember that if you take selfies with the phone closed, you get a 10MP shots, if you take photos with the phone unfolded, you get both 8MP and 10MP front-facing lenses.