Samsung Galaxy Fold finally arrives in SA

It’s a headline we’ll see often in the coming weeks: Samsung’s foldable smartphone has sold out in Korea. Sold out in South Africa. Sold out … wherever it launches.

There are two reasons that the world’s first commercially available foldable phone is making such an impact:

1. It is being produced in small numbers to start with; only a few hundred arrived in South Africa this week and all were sold out on preorder.

When South Korea sold out its initial release on the first day, it was estimated by BGR consumer electronics site that only about 1,000 units went on sale. By now, that number has increased to about 30,000, still tiny by big-name smartphone standards.

2. It costs a lot less than expected. While R44,000 is still wallet-busting, it’s well below the most recent forecasts of R50,000-plus, and there are enough heavy-hitters who will pay anything for the latest in gadgetry.

When the first batch went on sale in Korea, desperate buyers from other countries were paying up to $4,000 (R59,800) a time to import these units.

The device was formally unveiled in SA at Samsung Power of 10 celebration in Sandton and an advance unit put up for sale.

Picture: Samsung

TV and singing personality Somizi Mhlongo was the first to shell out R44,000, creating a frenzy of wannabe enthusiasm for preorders.

There is a third reason for the enthusiasm: the foldable phone has been a long time coming. In 2016, Lenovo showed off two working prototypes of foldable devices at the Lenovo Tech World conference in San Francisco.

The Cplus was a bendable phone that wraps around the wrist and the Folio was a foldable tablet where the screen folds in half to become a standard smartphone display. Both were working devices, rather than artists’ concepts, but, at the time, Lenovo suggested the devices were still some years from hitting the shelves.

On February 20 this year, Samsung first showed off its new foldable phone. At the time, the media were surprised that units were available to try out at the launch.

However, small groups had to take turns to enter a private Fold viewing area, photos were banned, personal phones had to be handed in and the Fold had to be tried out under close supervision.

The first impression was of a compact smartphone with a relatively small screen on the front – it measures 10 to 15cm – and a second layer of phone at the back. With the click of a button, the phone folded out to reveal a 18.5cm inside screen – the equivalent of a mini tablet.

The device introduced the concept of “app continuity”, which means an app can be opened on the front and, in mid-use, if the handset is folded open, continue on the inside from where the user left off on the front.

Picture: Samsung

The difference is that the app will then have far more space for viewing or other activity. For example, open Google Maps on the front page and it will show your location in a relatively small map area.

Fold open and the same location is displayed with far more of its surroundings in a far bigger map area. Or, see the same location in far greater detail.

Open Netflix on the front, start a movie, and then unfold the handset to carry on watching the movie in a somewhat larger format.

The inside screen can be split into three app areas, with one large and two small app spaces. This means one can watch a video or play a game in the larger space, chat with a friend via instant messenger in one of the smaller spaces and write a document in the third space.

This opens the way for the Fold to join the Galaxy Note as both smartphone and productivity tool and, ultimately, a replacement for laptop computers.

That is the real promise of the Fold: a digital working surface that is also an entertainment and communications device, that can be slipped into a pocket.

As with app continuity, the three segments “speak” to each other in that a browser or app in one window can be dragged to another if one wants to see it in larger or smaller format.

Picture: Samsung

The specs of the device were also a pleasant surprise: 12GB of RAM, which Samsung says makes it one of the most powerful smartphones on the market.

It has a massive 512GB of storage space on board and support for universal flash storage, meaning content can be accessed significantly faster than with regular handsets.

The foldable display and hinge are not the only engineering marvels on the device. It contains two batteries, one in each half of the unit, and combines the energy from both batteries into one power source.

The camera system comprises an absurd six lenses – the most so far on a regular smartphone is five – with three on the back and one on the front. The other two? On the inside, of course.

The primary camera is an ultrawide 16MP lens and the array includes wide angle and telephoto with 2X optical zoom. The cover camera is a 10MP baby, while the inside lenses offer 8MP and 10MP.

The main display is a Dynamic AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, measuring 536 x 2152 pixels, with a healthy 414 pixels per 2.5cm density. The cover display is a Super AMOLED screen.

Picture: Samsung

The handset runs on the latest Qualcomm processor, the Snapdragon 855, and the batteries add up to a massive 4380 mAh.

The device was due to launch on April 26 and that’s where the wheels fell off. Or rather, the screens.

When the device was sent to early reviewers in the US, some discovered that when they peeled off what they thought were screen protectors, they were peeling off the actual display.

It was not surprising when the April launch was postponed. Samsung went back to the drawing board and applied a little industrial design.

The specs have not changed, but the screen coating has been upgraded to make it more durable, the hinge is less visible and the device in general looks more seamless and elegant.

It won’t take the mass market by storm, but it is going to be a massive head-turner.

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