Samsung’s Galaxy Fold with a 7.3-inch foldable screen will cost $1980
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Fold during its Unpacked event on Wednesday. This is the company’s first foldable smartphone. The device has a flexible 7.3″ OLED screen that Samsung calls Infinity Flex. The price is 1980 dollars.
Samsung considers the Galaxy Fold as a smartphone and tablet. Folded, according to the company, the device fits in a pocket and can be used as a normal smartphone thanks to the screen on the cover. When folded up, the device can be used for multitasking, reading digital magazines, watching video and applications for augmented reality.
The Fold can open three apps simultaneously on the screen, a possibility that Samsung calls Multi-Active Windows. The display of the device switches automatically depending on whether it is opened or closed. The user can continue where he left off: the apps open automatically when the smartphone and tablet mode is changed. Samsung collaborated with Google on this App Continuity application for Android.
Earlier, the company announced that the foldable screen on the inside has a resolution of 2152×1536 pixels and a precise diagonal of 7.28″ and aspect ratio of 4.2:3, while the screen on the cover has a size of 4.58″ and has a resolution of 1960×840 pixels with 21:9 aspect ratio.
According to the company, the flexible screen on the inside is 50 percent thinner than a regular screen for smartphones, although it is not clear whether Samsung makes the comparison with its own OLED panels. The screen is provided with a new type of polymer layer that would provide extra flexibility and strength. The Infinity Flex screen cannot be fitted with a protective glass plate.
The two elements of the Fold are connected to each other via a hinge with gears, which are incorporated in the housing. The battery parts and other electronics are distributed in such a way that both elements weigh approximately the same, so that the device is stable in the hand. The fingerprint reader is incorporated in one of the sides.
The device has three cameras, the same as the Galaxy S10+ has: one with a 12-megapixel sensor and an f/1.5 lens with an angle of view of 77 degrees, one with the same resolution with a telephoto lens, an angle of view of 45 degrees and aperture of f/ 2.4 and a 16-megapixel variant with an f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle lens, with an angle of view of 123 degrees.
Folded open, there are two front cameras, one with a 10-megapixel sensor and an aperture of f/2.4 and one of 8 megapixels with an RGB depth sensor. The front cameras provide a big notch at the top right of the screen. The device is available with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage and the battery capacity is 4380mAh. The processor is a 64-bit octacore produced at 7nm, which is presumably a Snapdragon 855 since Samsung produces its own Exynos 9820 at 8nm.
The Galaxy Fold will be available in silver, black, green and blue. The release date in Europe is May 3 and the price Samsung mentioned is 1980 dollars. The electronics group already showed a prototype of its foldable device last November. Other manufacturers are now also working on comparable devices, such as Huawei.