The experts of the repair platform iFixit do not reveal where they got it from. That they have one is beyond doubt, because on their website, they show in many pictures how they disassemble a Galaxy Fold from Samsung into its modules. And that long before the launch - of which we do not yet know when it will actually take place.
Actually, Samsung wanted to launch its first foldable smartphone at the end of April. But then the launch date was postponed to a later date, after several US journalists, to whom the company had already given test equipment, had reported some significant problems with the folding screen.
Now you want to first subject the device to further tests, it was said by Samsung. Among other things, the function of the hinge should be tested. In addition, the protection and the stability of the display should be strengthened. A new release date for the 2000 euro expensive device will be announced in the coming weeks, Samsung announced.
This is Samsung's Galaxy Fold
In the normal state, if you like to call it that, the Galaxy Fold looks like a very stretched smartphone with an unusually small screen.
The impression changes completely when you open the device and the ...
... unfolds a 7.3-inch screen that's almost tablet-sized.
To take advantage of the many space, Samsung has incorporated multi-tasking technology. So you can run up to three apps in parallel.
The size difference between the combined (left) and unfolded state is immense.
However, this is also the hinge protected by a metal panel.
When folded, the Galaxy Fold looks as if you have placed two smartphones on top of each other.
It is noticeable that the two halves are not completely on top of each other. That's intentional, explains a Samsung manager. The asymmetric shape is designed to prevent the screen from folding too much when folded.
Six cameras are in the Galaxy Fold. The three on the back correspond to those in the Galaxy S10 Plus.
A two-piece protective cover provides Samsung with. The wafer-thin cover consists of ...
... Aramid, the material that is used under the trade name Kevlar, for example for bulletproof vests.
Samsung will offer the Galaxy Fold in four colors. The colors "Martian Green" and "Astro Blue" will only be available for purchase via Samsung.
If you like, you can also set up the Galaxy Fold vertically with the display angled. That could be handy for video chats.
In the Netflix app movies in Fomat 16: 9 are displayed with black bars. At the touch of a finger, you can switch to a screen-filling display, then something is cut off on the left and right. Incidentally, the fold does not bother watching movies.
A huge advantage over normal smartphones: The on-screen keyboard is much larger.
The screen offers about 1.6 times as much space as a comparable smartphone without a folding screen. For example, much more text fits on the display.
In this variant, one could use the Galaxy Fold in a manner not intended by the manufacturer: As a shell for pretzel sticks.
IFixit has now shortened the waiting time for this appointment with insights into the interior of the electronically and mechanically elaborately constructed device. Normally the professional artists do not deliver such pictures until a new gadget is sold.
Looking for ways to open the device, the experts marveled at the many ways in which dust and other particles could penetrate the Galaxy Fold. Alone around the screen and the hinge, they came across several openings into which they could insert a plastic tool the size and shape of a guitar pick. No wonder that the expensive smartphone is not waterproof.
iFixit
For iFixit a kind of winning picture: The Samsung smartphone disassembled into its components
In the next step, the hobbyists wondered how easy it is to remove the back metal covers and the front screen. A bit of heat was enough to soften the adhesive that held these parts sufficiently. Inside, they came across the two adhesive-backed batteries and the six cameras.
The flexible screen is held inside only by a thin strip of adhesive, is accordingly easy to remove. Because it is made of plastic instead of glass, the danger of breaking it to zero runs the risk.
The chance that the display designated as fragile by iFixit will be damaged for other reasons is even higher. Although the halves of the display are glued to thin metal plates to give them stability, a bit too much pressure is enough to damage the thin display. Not to mention the inevitable display death when you peel off the protective film, as some testers have done.
On the mechanics of the hinge, however, iFixit has nothing to complain about. The construction seems as if it is designed to last a long time. However, the hobbyists were also here many ways on how foreign bodies penetrate and could be trapped inside.
iFixit
The construction of the hinge is valuable, but offers too much space for foreign bodies
In the end, the repair experts come to the conclusion that the Galaxy Fold is entitled to no more than 2 out of 10 possible points for the reparability. Among other things, they criticize that a battery replacement would be costly and therefore expensive. The protection of the bending screen, which they considered to be inadequate, would sooner or later necessitate an expensive screen exchange "almost certainly".