The biggest conundrum when it comes to the Android ecosystem has always been the tablet. Initially, the approach that a lot of Android manufacturers took was to just supersize the mobile experience. However, it has slowly become more evident that the tablet isn’t just a supersized screen. In fact, it has become a required commodity for some to keep productive. That behaviour change is what has led to the tablets becoming what they are now – productivity devices.
Samsung’s latest attempt at this is the Galaxy Tab S7 series which takes a more holistic view in how to empower productivity. It brings a whole bunch of new improvements and brand new features that make working on the go with it that much more enjoyable, accessible and effective. That said, let’s walkthrough some of the first impressions you get from the tablet.
Initial Setup
Like any other Samsung or Android device, the tablet turns on pretty fast. The first thing you’re going to see is the setup interface asking you to sign in to your WiFi or to all the different accounts you want to have on your tablet. If you’ve got a version capable of mobile connectivity, it will ask you to insert and unlock your SIM.
Samsung SmartSwitch
Setup was a breeze and, if you’re coming from another tablet, the Tab S7+ will prompt you to use Samsung’s SmartSwitch to seamlessly transfer your data over to the new tablet. This includes all your settings such as WiFi and your accounts.
However, we chose to set it up as a new device. It took less than 10 minutes to get my essentials like WiFi, Google Account and more setup. Then it was on to setting up our apps which was simple enough. We downloaded apps such as Microsoft Office, Any.Do and more. We tried to make sure we got the apps which Samsung was touting as optimised for the Tab S7+.
Premium Finish with Heft
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+ gives a pretty first impression. It’s design is clean with clean, rounded edges and screen that covers nearly the whole face of the tablet. On the back you have a pristine machined aluminium body with a brushed finish. The camera is emblazoned with a black, reflective bar which also acts as an indicator as to where the magnets for the S Pen are.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+ is the one of the most premium feeling tablets I have had the pleasure of using from Samsung. The angular design and rounded edges give the tablet a more premium feel. I was pretty impressed with the initial feel of the device as well, it had a good amount of heft and the build itself felt sturdy and well-built. The Mystic Black colour makes it look even more premium and gives it a sleek, timeless look.
The S Pen Mightier than Before
The S Pen of the Tab S7+ brings along with it a whole array of new features but more importantly, it has been redesigned to feel so much more natural in hand. The smooth, rounded body of the S Pen make it more ergonomic and the positioning of the button this round is in a place that feels a lot more natural – even clicking the button some how feels more satisfying.
The new S Pen features bring a layer of productivity that hasn’t been around in previous entries. However, the biggest improvement that comes to mind is the amount of apps that can now effectively take advantage of it – from apps like Adobe’s Photoshop and Illustrator to the Microsoft Office suite, the level of integration and compatibility of the S Pen puts it on par with it’s largest competition – the iPad.
First Impressions After 24 Hours
The Galaxy Tab S7+ leaves an impression alright. The first 24 hours of using the tab felt a lot like using and setting up a new laptop. The keyboard, which comes together with the Tab S7 series in Malaysia, allows a sense of freedom to be productive answering emails and even typing out articles. To be very frank, it was hard to not try to do everything on the tablet.
The interface is smooth and feels more optimised than before. There’s sense of refinement in the overall experience – at least in the first 24 hours compared to the tablets before. Things felt cleaner, more organised and built for productivity. The best part of the tab is that every thing is in reach – the tablet, the keyboard and the S Pen; making it easy to seamlessly transition from answering emails to sketching to reading and highlighting.
When it comes to tablets, Android has had the shorter end of the stick – particularly when it comes to optimisation and overall usability. However, Samsung has steadily been imbuing their approach to tablets with more and more features and software enhancements that have steadily made their Tab S one of the best Android tablets out there. This year, with their Galaxy Tab S7+, they’ve created one that gave me one of the best first impressions I’ve had from an Android Tablet.
Samsung is one of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer. They are larger than anyone else for a reason though. They never fail to amaze and surprise the likes of us, for example. One of the surprises that they came to is their new Galaxy F series launched on the 8th October.
The Samsung Galaxy F though is designed and made in India. The Galaxy F series will start in India as a mid-range option. The mid-range option from Samsung will emphasize camera functionality. That is culminated into the first Samsung Galaxy F device that is the Samsung Galaxy F41
Source: Samsung
That being said, the Samsung Galaxy F41 comes with a relatively high-resolution camera. Samsung’s new Galaxy F41 comes with a triple camera – a 64-Megapixel main camera, an 8MP Ultra-Wide sensor and a 5-Megapixel depth sensor. According to GeekBench scores that has been running around the internet lately, the party of cameras are apparently running on the Samsung Exynos 9611. The Samsung Galaxy F41 packs 6GB of RAM, and runs on Android 10.
Out of the 6.4-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display up front is a 32-Megapixel front-facing camera with smart beauty function. We are not kidding when we say that Samsung wants this to be a photography beast.
Source: Samsung
The Samsung Galaxy F41 does come with a large 6,000mAh battery that is quoted to last up to 26 hours with non-stop videos. That also means that the device should last more than a full day on a single charge. 15W USB Fast-Charging takes you from zero percent to full in just only 160 minutes, in case you need that kind of power.
In the box is a modern USB Type-C to USB Type-C data cable and a USB Type-C 15W Fast Charger, among other usual things. Curiously, the Samsung Galaxy F is only made for the Indian market. In Malaysia we see Samsung launching the M31 entry-level device with very similar specs to the Samsung Galaxy F with some extras in the camera department.
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
The Samsung Galaxy F41 is available in Fusion Black, Fusion Green, and Fusion Blue colour finishes. You can choose between a 64GB storage option or a larger 128GB option. The device is an India exclusive device and is already available for purchase. It will set you back from INR 15,499 (Approx. MYR 875*) onward. More information on the Samsung Galaxy F41 on their website.
* Based on approximate conversion rate of INR 100 = MYR 5.65 as of 19/10/2020
Samsung A series has gotten awesome over the years. The latest and greatest Galaxy A71 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 processor. The processor is paired with a minimum of 6GB RAM or 8GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage. A new and improved quad system main camera consisting of a 64MP wide, 12MP ultrawide, 5MP macro camera and a 5MP depth sensor. For the selfie camera, it gets a 32 MP wide camera. Packing a relatively large-sized 4,500mAh battery that could last you the entire day.
Priced at MYR 1,799 in Malaysia and USD$429.99 in the US. Is the Samsung Galaxy A71 the daily all rounder? Is this the ultimate daily driver for the average joe?
Looking for more details? You can head on over to our in depth review.
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The #Samsung#GalaxyA71, placed in the #GalaxyA(w-Suh-m) series. Is the new mid tier all rounder that you never expected. Giving you decent power together with a #SuperAMOLED+ display and a high megapixel camera. With Samsung’s new design language, most of Samsung’s devices looks similar but with an attention to detail each phone has its own unique touch to make it stand out. For the #A71 is the 3 slahes on its back and simultaneously refracting light giving you and array of red, green and blue. The Galaxy A71 is now available in Malaysia for MYR1,799
Running a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 paired with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. All that goodies is power by a 4,500 mAh battery that can last you all day long. If you are running low on battery, not to worry as it comes with a 25W fast charging to get you ready and going as quick as it can.
Samsung’s A series comes with the proposition of bringing some of the best features to the company’s mid-range. Initially relaunched with the Galaxy A3, A5 and A7, the series brought along features such as water resistance which were once thought to be exclusive to flagship devices. Recently, Samsung retired it’s J series and folded the phones into it’s A series as well. The company has announced another model in its ever expanding A series: the Samsung Galaxy A31. The smartphone joins the Galaxy A71, A51, A21s, A11 and A01 in Malaysia.
The Galaxy A31 comes with a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display with a Full HD+ resolution of 1080×2400 pixels. It comes out of the box with Android 10 with Samsung’s One UI 2.0 and has dual SIM support. It is compatible with dual band WiFi (2.4GHz and 5.0GHz) with support for the 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac standards. It also
The new entry level smartphone comes with an undisclosed octa-core processor with two cores clocked at 2.0GHz and six cores clocked at 1.7GHz. This should give the device pretty good battery life while being able to keep up with some pretty intense workloads. The smaller cores allow the device to perform menial tasks with ease while sipping on battery while the larger ones will kick in when more demanding tasks are undertaken such as gaming or even processing pictures with editing apps.
The processor is supported by 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal memory. The Galaxy A31 comes with support for up to an additional 512GB of memory through the microSD card slot. It comes with Bluetooth 5.0 as well and Near Field Communication (NFC) as well as GPS support.
The battery on the Galaxy A31 is a large 5,000mAh. Samsung has rated the battery for 20 hours on WiFi and LTE with up to 33 minutes active talk time. Topping up your battery shouldn’t be a problem with the A31’s 15W fast charging.
Pricing & Availability
Samsung’s Galaxy A31 will be going on sale from 6 June 2020 in Malaysia at a recommended retail price of MYR1,099 (USD$257.91). It will be available in Prism Crush Black, Prism Crush White and Prism Crush Blue.
The Samsung Galaxy A71 is the highest spec’d phone Samsung has to offer in its Galaxy A Series. Marketed as the phone that does it all with its awesome Super AMOLED Plus screen, quad camera, and long battery life.
The Galaxy A71 is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 Octa-core processor giving you all the power you need to game and do heavy tasks on the phone. Paired with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.
Wait, did I mention that the quad-camera set up on Galaxy A71 comes with a 64-megapixels wide sensor, 12-megapixel ultrawide sensor, 5-megapixel macro sensor, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. For the selfie camera, it has a 32-megapixel wide sensor. It’s battery is a non-removable, 4,500mAh Li-Po battery.
Best part? It comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack! It’s available in in three colours of Prism Crush Silver, Prism Crush Black, and Prism Crush Blue. The prices of the Galaxy A71 start at MYR 1,799.
The midrange smartphone is looking to make it’s way to the U.S. in the near future with a 5G variant. The A71 will be joining a slew of devices under the Galaxy A series which will be making its way to U.S. for the first time since it’s launch. The Galaxy A51, A01, A50, A20 and A10e have already made their way to the U.S. and are available on contract or unlocked.
Samsung’s Galaxy A51 was launched in Malaysia back in January, 2020. The midrange offering is now making its way States side for the first time. The Galaxy A series has been available in emerging markets since it’s first iteration, the Galaxy Alpha back in 2014. The series was revitalised and refocused the years following and, last year, the company’s entry level J series was folded into the A series.
The original Samsung Galaxy A51 that was launched in Malaysia came with the Samsung Exynos 9611 paired with 128GB of internal memory and 6GB of RAM. Samsung has announced that a new version with 8GB of RAM will be available starting 8 May, 2020 in Malaysia. The new version will be retailing for MYR1,399.
The Galaxy A51 is also making its debut in the U.S.. The mid-range device has been making its way to carriers in the States for USD$399 (MYR1,720). However, the version that is being made available is powered by the Exynos 9611 with 128GB with 4GB of RAM. The LTE version of the A51 is currently available directly from Samsung (Unlocked), Sprint, Verizon, AT&T and Xfinity. The 5G version of the Galaxy A51 seems to also be making its way to the U.S. pretty soon.
Samsung has announced a new tablet in their line up, the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite. The new tablet complements their recently announced Galaxy Tab S6. The S6 Lite brings most of the Tab S6’s cutting edge features at a more affordable price point.
The new Galaxy Tab S6 lite will be running on Android 10 with One UI 2. This will be powered by an octacore Exynos 9611 processor with 4GB of RAM with either 64GB or 128GB of internal memory. The setup promises a pretty comparable experience to the Tab S6 and other competitors on paper.
Samsung is focusing on productivity and entertainment with the S6 Lite. It has equipped the tablet with AKG tuned dual speakers as well as a large 10.40inch TFT screen. It has a WUXGA resolution of 1200 x 2000 pixels and a pixel density of about 224 ppi. In addition, Samsung is bundling 4 months of YouTube Premium with the Tab S6 Lite. Spotify also integrates seamlessly into the new One UI setup on the Tab S6 Lite.
The Tab S6 Lite will also be coming with an S Pen in the box. You won’t need to worry about losing your S Pen as it will be able to stick to your tablet thanks to a magnetised right side. The S Pen comes with all the bells and whistles that come with the S Pen on the Note 10 series. However, given the camera setup of the S6 lite, we doubt it will have the AR features. That said, if you want to enhance your productivity even more, you’ll be able to get an optional keyboard magnetised case for the tablet.
The camera setup on the Tab S6 lite is a single 8-megapixel sensor on the back. This sensor comes with a wide lens and has a 1.12µm pixel size. It is capable of shooting 1080p at 30fps. On the front is a 5-megapixel sensor capable of shooting in 1080p at 30fps. These cameras should be able to handle most of what you need a camera to on tablet.
On the connectivity front, the tablet supports 4G LTE connectivity and also dual band WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac. It also has support for Bluetooth 5.0 LE and WiFi Direct. It is powered by a 7,040 mAh battery with Adaptive Fast Charging.
Pricing & Availability
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite will go on sale starting in Q2 2020 (April – June 2020) priced from USD$349 (MYR1,526.54). It will be available in Oxford Gray, Angora Blue and Chiffon Rose.
Samsung has released the Galaxy S10 Lite equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor. The processor is paired with a minimum of 6GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage and up to 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. A new and improved triple main camera consisting of a 48MP wide, 12MP ultrawide, and 5MP macro camera. For the selfie camera, it gets a 32 MP wide camera. Packing a relatively large-sized 4,500 mAh battery that could last you the entire day.
Coming in three different beautiful colours of Prism White, Prism Black, and Prism Blue. It is Priced at MYR 2,699 in Malaysia and USD$649 in the US. Will the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite live up to its other S10 Series? Is this Samsung’s answer to go against Chinese’s smartphone flagships?
The Samsung Galaxy Fold made a triumphant debut last year at Galaxy Unpacked along side the Samsung Galaxy S10 series. It’s announcement and eventual roll out to consumers has made it one of the first commercially available foldable smartphone. Packing a unique form factor and multiple screens, the foldable has the unique ability to provide even larger visual real estate when unfolded.
Being one of the first on the market has its merits, however, does its form factor show promise? Is it worth buying? Is it a must have? Or are we still in early days when it comes to foldables?
Those are the questions we’re looking at as we unfold the Galaxy Fold and its many features in this review.
Design
It comes as no surprise that the Galaxy Fold’s design would be the talk of the town. In the past decade, we’ve not seen a smartphone come with a design that allows it to bend the same way. In fact, the combination of Samsung’s design, the multiple displays and the design materials used, make the smartphone truly unique.
Let’s start off with the aesthetics. The Galaxy Fold is undoubtedly a looker. It’s a smartphone cum tablet that is designed from the bottom up to be a premium device. The outer later of the Galaxy Fold is made of a combination of metal and glass, like many Samsung flagships before it. The outer shell of the smartphone feels sturdy and well built. The shimmer and reflective nature of the outer glass layer gives it a sense of allure and prestige. The hinge’s outer design complements this quite perfectly.
Since we’ve mentioned the hinge, it was one of the problem areas for Samsung when it initially sent out review samples. However, the company was quick to delay its commercial launch and improve the hinge design. It capped the sides of the hinges with plastic T-caps to prevent dust getting into the hinge and wreaking havoc. Personally, I think the tighter design of the hinge lent to more sturdy build of the device.
That said, one thing that stood out like a sore thumb to me was the gap between the two halves of the screen when the smartphone is folded. The Galaxy Fold leaves a gap of about half a centimetre at the hinge and tapers down to the edges when folded. While I know that Samsung designed the hinge as such to prevent creasing, some people are definitely going to find this a little aesthetically unpleasing.
Let’s move on over to the inside of the Fold, where the 7.6-inch display of the Galaxy Fold lies. Samsung should design their tablets like this! The sides of the screen are flanked with a raised plastic bezel which prevents the screen from getting scratched should you place it on the table face down. The plastic bezel also elegantly frames the dual camera sensors on the inside of the Fold. The outlook of the Fold’s insides scream premium and are pretty nice to use and interact with. I’d go so far as to say that it was made for pudgy fingers like myself!
The location of the volume rocker, power button and the fingerprint sensor make so much sense on the Galaxy Fold. Everything is in reach. You don’t have to struggle to power on or scan your fingerprint to unlock your phone. In fact, the smaller form factor of the Fold when folded makes for some of the most ergonomic placements for the buttons. But, it also lends to a display that I found a little bit of a let down. We’ll dive into that in the display section of this review.
Hardware
Samsung didn’t compromise much when it came to hardware in their first foldable flagship. They’ve packed a top of the line Snapdragon 855 paired with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal memory. You’ll definitely have more than enough performance to go around. With these specifications, you can expect smooth sailing when it comes to doing performance intensive tasks or running larger apps.
That said, Samsung’s approach to the multiple displays on the Fold leaves a little bit to be desired when it comes to practicality. That said, the company didn’t hold back when it comes to display quality – well, at least for the foldable screen. We’ll dive into the nitty gritty later on.
Aside from the screen, the hardware on the Galaxy Fold is commendable. Everything from having wireless charging, a unique battery design, supporting eSIM and even having HDR10+ all lend itself to an overall experience I can grow to like – with time and refinement.
The User Interface on the Galaxy Fold is your run-of-the-mill Samsung OneUI interface. That said, Samsung has introduced some optimisations specifically for the Galaxy Fold. These optimisations make the overall experience of the Fold truly cohesive and more productive compared to any of their other flagships out there.
The first is multiwindow. Yes. I know, any Android device out there can do multiwindow. However, the way Samsung has made optimizations for the Galaxy Fold allows you to be more effective with your work and productivity with the increased screen space. Naturally, I really couldn’t be effective using multiwindow in the smaller screen. There simply isn’t enough screen.
The second is app continuity. Samsung has made so that some applications are able to seamlessly move between the two screen environments of the Galaxy Fold. They automatically go from a the normal experience we’re used to on any phone to a tablet optimized one on the 7.3-inch foldable screen. That said, not every app is able to do this with some apps getting stuck in a 4.6-inch window. These apps end up as 4.6-inch letterboxes in the middle of the 7.3-inch display. The only way to get out of the app is to go back to the smaller screen and relaunch the app from the 7.3-inch display. This was particularly apparent with high intensity apps such as games.
The biggest difference between the Galaxy Fold and the other Samsung and Android devices is that there are two environments which you interact with. The smaller, 4.6-inch display on the outside and the foldable 7.3-inch screen. The optimisations are great – individually. However, when it comes to how Samsung has dealt with the experience, it feels disjointed and bridged. What I mean is, the spaces on the 4.6-inch screen and the 7.3-inch screen feel like they are two separate spaces. The home screens have to be set up individually. While I can appreciate the fact that some of us may customize our home screens differently with the two experiences, others may just want to setup a home screen that works on both displays. The experience feels like a scaled back version of Samsung’s KNOX. I would have much preferred if the home screen experience was more cohesive. Even if it was an option to turn on, it would have made the user experience a little better overall.
Other than that, the UI and user experience (UX) on the Galaxy Fold is pretty well optimized – as is expected from a Samsung device. The UI is similar on both screens which makes sense. You wouldn’t want to learn two different UIs on a single device. However, the let down when it came to UX is the poorly optimized apps when it comes to the larger display. Android’s lack of native tablet or large screen optimizations is glaring in the Fold but that’s not something that Samsung has control over. They are limited to the offerings and backbone that is provided by Google’s Android development.
Performance
The Galaxy Fold was no slouch when it came to performance. The device was pretty consistent and was able to take quite a beating when it came to high performance apps. The processor and software optimizations lent themselves to one of the most delightful smartphone experiences I’ve had to date.
Call Quality & Connectivity
Call quality on the Galaxy Fold was pretty good as is expected. The Fold was able to provide consistent call quality. The person on the other end sounded really clear and warm. There wasn’t any tinny resonance or distortion when it came to the speaker. People on the other end also noted that the audio was clear. In fact, I jumped from the smaller screen to the larger one during a call and the person on the other end couldn’t tell the difference between the two modes. This was literally a jump from an earpiece to speaker. This was a pleasant surprise for me.
The Galaxy Fold was pretty consistent when it came to connectivity over WiFi and even on cellular (4G). The smartphone was able to pick up line where my S9 was struggling to. This was a welcomed surprise. It is also most probably due to the updated antennae that come with an update processor. Even when I was getting no signal on the S9, the Fold was able to register one to two bars. That aside, there were no dropped calls or sudden drop in cell and WiFi signal when I was using the Fold. Even when it came to using Bluetooth headphones on the Galaxy Fold, the connection was pretty stable and was able to be maintained even when I left the room.
Multitasking
Multitasking on the Galaxy Fold is a truly enjoyable experience – especially when it came to the larger screen. With the added display real estate and Samsung’s optimisations, I was able to get more done with more windows. As mentioned before this, the smaller screen was a little too small when it came to multitasking.
Samsung enhanced the multiwindow multitasking on larger display of the Fold. I was able to use 3 – 4 apps simultaneously which allowed me to be more productive. I was constantly using my email, note taking and to do apps simultaneously when I was working on the Fold. Even with the keyboard activated, there was still ample display to read and reply emails while taking notes. I was also using apps like Spotify for music in the background.
During these multitasking sessions, I rarely experienced any lag or stuttering. In fact, the experience was pretty smooth. I’d go so far as to say it was a lot smoother than the experience I’ve had on many other flagship class smartphones. The optimizations that Samsung has put into the Fold are a boon to the smartphone’s uniqueness.
Gaming
Gaming on the Galaxy Fold was a rather mixed bag. This was mainly due to the poorly optimized apps on Android itself rather than a problem with the device itself. Many gaming apps couldn’t use the extra display real estate afforded to it by the larger screen of the Fold effectively. Many, if not all, of them simply stretched the smartphone layout which really didn’t do justice to the Fold’s extra real estate. However, gaming on the smaller screen was not too bad as it was more native for the apps.
That said, when it came to performance, the Galaxy Fold wasn’t hindered. Games such as PlayerUnknown’s Battle Grounds (PUBG) ran well on both displays and this was at the maximum settings afforded by the game. There wasn’t much tearing or lag and the gameplay was as good as it could get. Other, less intensive games, were able to run smoothly and games such as Candy Crush, Two Dots and even Angry Birds managed to retain a pretty good user experience even on the larger display.
Battery Life
The Samsung Galaxy Fold had really good battery life especially considering that it had two displays – one larger than most smartphones. I managed to get about one and a half days usage on average during my time with the foldable. However, when I was doing more intensive tasks, this was a lot lower at about 10 hours. That said, the inclusion of fast charge both through wired and wireless charging allowed me to quickly top off charge if battery levels dropped too low. This managed to get me through whatever I was doing until I could charge it properly.
Benchmarks
The Benchmarks for the Galaxy Fold are commendable. However, as with all our mobile reviews, we reiterate that benchmarks only tell part of the story. In fact, in the previous sections, it has been highlighted that the hardware of the Fold isn’t the main drawback. It has more to do with software optimizations and app support.
Displays
The Samsung Galaxy Fold comes with two displays: a 7.3-inch Dynamic AMOLED display and a 4.6-inch Super AMOLED Display. Both are good displays but there may be a few things that put the smaller screen at a disadvantage.
7.3-inch Foldable Dynamic AMOLED Display
The foldable display is one of the first of its kind in the world. Samsung wasn’t fooling around when it was designing the fold. The company decided to go with one of their best displays on the Fold and this definitely bolstered the viewing experience on the device.
The Dynamic AMOLED display is definitely one which allows content to shine. The colour reproduction and accuracy is one of the best when it comes to smartphone displays. The larger size of the display also lent to content being more immersive. The display was sharp and crisp. It had no problems when it came to performing under bright light. I was able to use and interact with the display without problems.
There is, however, one major issue with the display – the crease. Given that it’s a first generation foldable, I’ll cut it a bit of slack; But, to be honest, the display experience of the Galaxy Fold is disrupted, quite literally, by the crease. It is especially jarring when you’re viewing content that’s bright. Even when you’re using apps like Amazon’s Kindle app or reading a piece on a website, it’s hard not to notice the crease. In fact, you’re reminded of it every time you run your finger to swipe on the display.
The screen is also pretty fragile. Samsung had to repeated remind us to not press or interact with the screen recklessly. In fact, they reminded us that even putting your credit card in the middle of the fold could lead to the credit card number being permanently indented into the screen. While I didn’t have much issues with the screen getting scratched or indented during my time with the device, it was always in the corner of my mind. This also meant that I was constantly walking on eggshells when I was using the smartphone.
4.6-inch Super AMOLED Display
The cover screen is a run-of-the-mill Super AMOLED Display. The details were crisp and sharp and the lower resolution was really not noticeable cause of the screen size. Colour reproduction and accuracy left a little bit to be desired and, to be honest, it was constantly highlighted by the Dynamic AMOLED display underneath.
While I understand prioritizing the larger display, the smaller screen essentially became the one I was interacting more with since I would answer calls and texts with it. I was constantly looking for more display real estate when it came to the front screen. The elongated display and design of the screen made it so that things felt cramped which led me to do most of my typing on the larger display. I was also beginning to realise the flaws in colour reproduction and accuracy more and more as I used the Fold cause of the immediate availability of the larger Dynamic AMOLED Display in the Fold. Samsung could have opted to have a lower resolution Dynamic AMOLED Display for the cover display to have a more cohesive experience.
That said, the displays aren’t a deal breaker though. They serve their purpose and, to be very honest, I wasn’t consuming much media when I was using the front display. Instead, I found myself spending more time on the larger display as it was easier on the eyes, had more screen real estate and it was also more functional.
Cameras
The Galaxy Fold has six cameras in total. That’s more than a lot of smartphones when it first released. Samsung’s design sees a triple camera array as the main camera, a single camera on the cover and a dual camera setup in the Fold. It’s smart, but I think a bit of an overkill when it comes to cameras.
I found myself favouring the back camera array. The pictures taken with the main 12-megapixel sensor was always crisp and had really good details. This was the same for the 12-megapixel telephoto and the 16-megapixel ultrawide sensors. It was a really easy to use experience with photos turning out really detailed (with the right conditions). Samsung’s AI features also bolstered the camera experience giving suggestions and activating relevant modes seamlessly when I was in shutterbug mode.
The front, cover camera is a single 10-megapixel sensor and it became my go to camera when it came to selfies. The details and crispness of the photos were comparable to any other Samsung flagship. While the dual sensors would have allowed for more modes to shoot in, the convenience of having this camera on the outside made it a default for selfies.
The cameras I used the least were the ones in the Fold: the 10-megapixel and 8-megapixel dual sensor setup. Perhaps it’s cause I was rarely in video calls, but it felt more seamless taking pictures with the front, cover camera. However, when I did use it, the pictures and video were really good. I could see a lot of detail and even when I was in video calls, people on the other side remarked that the image was a lot clearer compared to other smartphone cameras.
So Much Potential, Let Down by Software that Feels Like a Work in Progress
All in all, the Galaxy Fold is a device I would get – in the future. The smartphone is definitely a step in the right direction when it comes to foldables, the Fold still feels like a work-in-progress. It feels like a collection of ideas which need a little bit more tweaking to be ready for prime time. The form factor has a lot of potential but it feels like Samsung was a bit rushed with the Fold. It doesn’t have that Samsung finesse we’re used to seeing with their flagships and higher end devices.
That said, the Galaxy Fold is in no way a bad device. It’s actually one of the best devices that Samsung has designed to date. It’s a breath of fresh air in an increasingly stale smartphone market. Samsung was able to excite a market that had grown to become routine with minimal design updates. In fact, if you do have the cash to spare, it can be a valuable investment especially if you’re the type of person that is always looking to be productive on the go.
