A few months after its announcement, the Samsung Galaxy Fold is here in the country and they want to change the industry as the smartphone is getting saturated. This is the first smartphone to arrive in the country with a foldable display and many people dropped their jaws after seeing the smartphone. So what do I think about the smartphone? Check it out in our review below:
Samsung Galaxy Fold Review: Design and hardware
The smartphone is changing the game. The foldable segment opens a lot of windows for new form factors and the Samsung Galaxy Fold, we have a small screen outside and then there’s the large foldable display inside.
I was skeptical at the design of the smartphone at first because I thought it was redundant to have a dual-display on the smartphone but after using it, I found the design of the smartphone ergonomic and the usage is better than I expected. Why? The smartphone might be thick but it does have an explanation for that one.
Yeah, it’s thick when folded but the small display of the smartphone will feel just fine to use in one hand and in case you use your two hands for the smartphone? Well, that’s the time you unfold and open the smartphone to use the larger display which is by the way, ergonomic and very usable with my two hands. It doesn’t feel that big with two hands and I didn’t seem to care that much when using it when folded as I can reach all the keys of the keyboard even with one hand but I do find the keyboard really small for my hands.
Now, enough with the foldable display, let’s talk about the mechanism of the smartphone. In case you were wondering why the Samsung Galaxy Fold was released later than the expected launch date, well, Samsung has fixed the problems that were encountered by international tech reviewers during the first batch of review units of the Samsung Galaxy Fold. And now, we’re using the “fixed” Samsung Galaxy Fold and trust me, it does feel solid, oh and the glass body of the smartphone adds to the premium feel to the foldable phone. But of course, it is still possible that we can experience a problem in the hinge of the smartphone in the future.
Yes, there are moving parts on the smartphone and I’m really worried about that but thanks to the magnets on the smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Fold snaps pretty well when you fold it or when you unfold it. Although there’s a space between the foldable display when you fold the smartphone it doesn’t annoy me.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold comes with buttons on the sides but it was odd for Samsung to have the fingerprint scanner separated from the power button of the smartphone but actually, I didn’t care that much as I always rely on the face unlock of the Samsung Galaxy Fold that works pretty well.
Just like the Samsung Galaxy Note10 series, the Samsung Galaxy Fold packs a single USB-C port and is now missing a headphone jack but thankfully, Samsung has included a Samsung Galaxy Buds out of the box. (Yep, a wireless one).
Since this a foldable smartphone, you have to close or fold the smartphone to answer your calls as the earpiece of the smartphone is located at the top of the smaller display of the smartphone which annoys me a little bit as I have to fold the smartphone whenever someone calls me.
Samsung Galaxy Fold Review: Foldable display
There are two displays on the smartphone. First, there’s the 4.6-inch display on the cover display of the smartphone which is a Super AMOLED display and then there’s the 7.3-inch Dynamic AMOLED inside and again, both are pretty well and I do love the colors that we’re getting on the smartphone.
Samsung might have fixed the Samsung Galaxy Fold but the crease on the foldable display is still here. And there’s a large space that is being eaten up by the front-facing camera. To be honest with you, it doesn’t bother me that much after some time, however, you could feel the crease whenever you’re swiping in the middle of the display which is an annoyance when navigating on the smartphone.
The cover display is really small especially for a smartphone this 2020 but don’t get me wrong, there’s a reason why the smartphone has a smaller display – it’s recommended for single-handed usage. Since the Galaxy fold is thick when folded, it made sense to have a smaller display and since it’s narrow, it’s perfect for one-handed usage. But when you unfold the smartphone, it’s perfect for two-hand usage and you can do a lot with its large screen estate.
Despite being the first generation, the Samsung Galaxy Fold has a fine display. It’s not a perfect display but it did well for their first-generation foldable smartphone and yeah, the foldable displays are definitely the future of smartphones.
Samsung Galaxy Fold review: Battery life
Inside the smartphone is a 4,380mAh battery and for some people, you might think that this is too small for its size. Well, you have to take note that the smartphone is a foldable one and the body of the smartphone splits in two. I was worried that the battery would be short because of this but thankfully, the Samsung Galaxy Fold works just fine. I was able to use the smartphone from 8 AM up to 8 PM and I still have some juices left.
But of course, the battery life would depend on how much you use the smartphone. But in my usage, I always switch to the larger screen as I can be more productive with a larger screen estate.
Samsung Galaxy Fold Review: Software and operating system
Despite having a dual display on this one, they still used One UI 1.5 based on Android 9 Pie. The good thing here is that the smartphone supports app continuity. When you open an app on the smaller display, you can just unfold the smartphone and continue your work on the larger display of the smartphone.
It’s a cool feature and I’m glad that Google and Samsung have already worked it out in the first generation. Most of the apps that I’ve used on the smartphone work well without problems surprisingly except for some games which are being stretched out after unfolding the smartphone. But overall, I didn’t have any problems with it and most of them are pretty useful.
Having a larger display means you also have a larger screen estate and with the Samsung Galaxy Fold, I was able to open four applications or windows simultaneously. Yes, that’s one of the main cool features of the smartphone is where you can use a multi-window and open three apps on window mode and another one for pop-up mode.
It’s a great feature for those people who always work on their smartphones and especially those people who create and edit their decks on the smartphone as you can cross-check your other documents to the deck that you’re working on.
In my case, I can easily write articles on one window and just check out the document file in another window. Since the smartphone has a large display, the QWERTY keyboard on the smartphone doesn’t block too much of the files that I’m viewing which give me a larger view of the files that I’ve been working on.
There are two displays on the Samsung Galaxy Fold. The smaller display works similarly on the bigger display but in the smaller display, you’re limited by its size and it’s not recommended for playing games as this one has a smaller small size.
Samsung Galaxy Fold Review: Performance
Having this kind of hardware and price, the Samsung Galaxy Fold is expected to have the best processing power inside. There’s a Snapdragon 855 processor inside since this one was unveiled during the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S10 series. Nonetheless, this smartphone is powerful and it can run most games and applications without problems.
Again, despite running multiple windows on this smartphone, I didn’t experience any lags or slowdowns on the smartphone despite being a first-generation foldable smartphone from the brand. In our benchmark, the Samsung Galaxy Fold didn’t have any performance issues. In Antutu, I got a high score of 460495.
When it comes to gaming, a lot of gamers are hoping for the Galaxy Fold since we can have a bigger screen which is an advantage when playing games but unfortunately, the larger display or the foldable display of the smartphone isn’t as responsive as most displays and it’s very essential for some people who are into FPS or fast-paced games but if you’re just using the display for most games available on the Play Store.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold can handle most games without problems including the latest ones like the Black Desert Mobile, PUBG, and even Call of Duty Mobile at the highest settings possible.
Samsung Galaxy Fold Review: Camera
There are six cameras on the Samsung Galaxy Fold. Three on the back, two selfie cameras on the larger display and a single camera on the front display of the smartphone. Thankfully, Any front-facing camera of the smartphone works well for face unlock. Despite having two different front-facing camera setups, both produce a quite good photo.
But of course, the rear camera doesn’t fail to impress too. Yes, it’s a flagship smartphone from the brand but it doesn’t have the best camera in the flagship segment right now but I can appreciate the photos that we’re getting here. Check out the shots that I got on the Samsung Galaxy Fold.
Overall, we’re pretty happy with the results that we got on the smartphone. It’s not the best camera on a flagship smartphone but it will do just fine. The shots that we got is almost similar to the one on the Samsung Galaxy S10+ that we’ve reviewed before.
Samsung Galaxy Fold Review: Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy Fold is truly an innovative smartphone. It’s a game-changer and it has redefined what smartphone means in this decade. The form factor is truly unique and it may inspire a lot of manufacturers to follow the same route but since Samsung has already made the Galaxy Fold available globally, the Korean brand has already an advantage in the segment and it may cement them as the leader in the foldable smartphones.
In the case of the Samsung Galaxy Fold, well, do I recommend it? First, let’s consider your wallets. Do you have Php109,990? If you have that amount of money then sure. But what are you getting from the smartphone? Well, if you’re the type of person who always works on their smartphones and you need more productivity then this smartphone may be right for one for you.
The smartphone is still one of the first generation foldable smartphones and there are some things that needs improvement on the smartphone but if you want to experience the features and technology behind it then you might want to try out this smartphone.
Samsung Galaxy Fold Specs
- 7nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor
- 12GB RAM LPDDR4x
- 512GB Internal Storage
- Main display: 7.3-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED (4.2:3)
- Cover Display: 4.6-inch HD+ Super AMOLED (21:9)
- Cover camera: 10MP selfie camera, f2.2
- Rear Triple Camera:
- 16MP Ultra Wide Angle Camera, f2.2
- 12MP Wide-angle camera, Dual Pixel AF, OIS, f1.5/f2.4
- 12MP Telephoto Camera, PDAF, OIS, f2.4, 2x optical zoom
- Front Dual Camera:
- 10MP selfie camera f2.2
- 8MP RGB Depth Camera f1.9
- WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
- 4380mAh battery
- Fast Charging
- Wired Charging with QC2.0 and AFC
- Wireless Charging compatible with PMA and WMC
- Android 9.0 Pie with One UI
