Foldgate: Samsung Galaxy Folds Are Breaking After Just One Day

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Samsung this week started sending out test units of its Galaxy Fold to reviewers for hands-on testing. After just a couple of days, some of those reviewers have run into major problems with the device.

Several early reviewers who are testing the new folding smartphone this week are reporting that their devices are experiencing screen failure after just a day or two of usage: #foldgate.

Getting back to the review devices themselves. The Verge’s Dieter Bohn, for example, said that the display on his Galaxy Fold broke after a bulge appeared on the screen. He theorized that it may have been a piece of debris that got into the hinge and pressed up against the display.

Bohn notes that he didn’t treat the smartphone roughly, either. And yet, after just a day of “normal phone stuff,” the display was visibly damaged.

Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman also reported that the screen on his particular device was “completely broken and unusable” just two days after he received it.

Gurman, along with popular YouTuber Marques Brownlee, also pointed out that they had removed a protective layer covering the Fold’s screen. While it wasn’t meant to be removed, Samsung gave no indication that this was the case.

Of course, not every reviewer took that layer off, so that doesn’t appear to be the sole cause of the problems behind foldgate.

Case in point: CNBC’s Galaxy Fold review unit also experienced severe display issues, but the publication noted that no one removed the protective film from their device.

It’s still too early to tell whether the foldgate issues are particularly widespread, or if the reviewers just received a bad batch of devices. But having several review devices fail after a couple of days certainly doesn’t bode well for the Galaxy Fold, which has been likened to an unproven beta product being put on the market too early.

If you were considering picking up a Galaxy Fold, which is available for preorder and costs $1,980, you may want to hold off and see how this whole foldgate fiasco unfolds. The device is expected to ship out to customers starting April 26.


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