Samsung in launched its new form factor Galaxy Fold back in April, and things didn’t go according to plan. Many bloggers and reviewers who has hands on this device experienced issues with the review unit’s display that appeared to be from debris getting through the hinge and damaging the screen. Also some people ended up peeling off a protective film that was meant to be permanent, and it resulted in some major issues for Samsung.
The Galaxy Fold is now back at the same $1,980 price tag, and at IFA in Berlin this week the company is showing off a fixed version that’s sturdier and has made improvements to the hinge mechanism.
Extended Protective film
The Verge reports that you need to look closely at the updated Galaxy Fold to spot what’s new, but there are some key changes in a variety of areas. The biggest update is that Samsung has now extended the protective film to under the bezels of the device so you can no longer peel it off.
New Hinge
The new hinge feels a little sturdier than before, and the gaps where the hinge meets the display have been trimmed down. Even the gap when the device is closed has been shrunk slightly, which should add up to less debris getting close to the hinge or displays.
Plastic Protection Caps on Display
The display now has plastic protection caps at the bottom and top that further block any small dirt and debris from getting underneath it. These should be noticeable when you unfold the device, but they should hopefully help stop dirt from getting in the hinge and causing issues.
Metal underneath the display
The company has also added layers of metal underneath the display of the Galaxy Fold to make it feel robust, particularly when you touch and interact with the display. This is less noticeable by itself, but when you combine it with the hinge changes, it certainly comes off like a more polished device overall. Other than these hinge and display changes, the device is the same on the inside as it was back in April: it has a Snapdragon 855 processor, 12GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage.
There are a bunch of multiscreen options from Samsung’s own Android software, but Google, Samsung, and developers are still going to have to figure out how to best adapt Android to make it work better on these emerging dual-screen and foldable devices.
But if Samsung and others keep at it, then perhaps in a few years, we’ll all be folding our phones into our pockets just like the Galaxy Fold and remembering the good old days when a phone used to look like a regular phone.
