Samsung is about to release the Galaxy Fold after months of refinement and damage control. A handful of units have gone out to select reviewers, and they haven’t fallen apart like the original design. However, there are early signs of some issues. Over at TechCrunch, their Galaxy Fold unit is already showing screen damage after just a day of use.
The first time Samsung tried to launch the Galaxy Fold, it had to pull back after multiple review units developed issues after a few days of testing. The issues mostly had to do with the internal folding OLED, which is where the Fold gets its name. Simply opening and closing the phone seemed to cause the OLED matrix to break down, and dust infiltrating the thin flexible layers caused localized damage.
Samsung recalled all those units and set to work toughening up the phone. I don’t think anyone was expecting the Galaxy Fold to be perfect after the redesign, but it’s reasonable to expect that it wouldn’t break right away. Yet, after a day of use, Techcrunch reporter Brian Heater says the screen already shows some OLED damage.
As you can see in the image above, the device developed a cluster of what appears to be stuck pixels right in the middle. That’s different than the defects last time — those phones had unusable screens that flickered or had large dead zones. Still, this isn’t normal for a phone after 24 hours of use. TechCrunch sent the phone back to Samsung so the company can investigate.
A cluster of damaged pixels on the Galaxy Fold about 1cm across. via TechCrunch.
Heater confirms the phone wasn’t abused or dropped on the ground, suggesting this is a problem people could encounter from daily wear and tear. The location of the defect led Heater to speculate that it could be caused by pressing on the screen to fold the device. Samsung has several notices in the package warning people to apply very gentle pressure to the screen during use. We know from a recent YouTube video that the Fold’s 7.3-inch plastic screen is extremely soft. Perhaps that’s all it takes to damage the screen.
The Fold costs nearly $2,000, which is a lot for a phone that you can break by pressing too hard. You can’t buy a Galaxy Fold right now — Samsung has sold through its initial batch. But you can sign up to get a notification when (and if) more become available.
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