Samsung Galaxy Fold: Details, Specifications, price

Now, we know why Samsung chose the Bill Graham auditorium in San Francisco for the launch of its new devices. It was here that Steve Jobs showed the world the Apple II in 1977, a device that changed computing for ever. Over four decades later, Samsung is kick-starting the next era of smartphones with the Galaxy Fold, a smartphone that opens up into a 7.3-inch tablet, offers seamless flow of content from one screen to another and gives a foldable screen where you don’t see the fold or the hinge underneath.We’ve been hearing so many rumours lately of all kinds of manufacturers – from Dell to Lenovo and even Microsoft – looking at creating foldable laptops with flexible screens, but the Samsung Galaxy Fold is the first time we’ve seen a foldable device that appears to work as well as it promises, while remaining a desirable bit of kit.With Samsung proving that it can be done, we’re now even closer than ever before to seeing foldable-screen laptops.

With the Galaxy Fold sporting a 4.6-inch HD+ Super AMOLED (21:9) display that folds out into a 7.3-inch QXGA+ (QHD+) Dynamic AMOLED (4.2:3) Infinity Flex display, it shows that this is a form factor that is viable and could conceivably be used for larger screens.Samsung is using 512GB of Universal Flash Storage 3.0 (eUFS) for fast speeds, alongside a Qualcomm 7nm octa-core processor and 12GB of RAM. Samsung has even built two batteries for its Galaxy Fold, that are separated by the fold but combined in the Android operating system to represent a total of 4,380 mAh.

Samsung has built a sturdy backbone to the device, with a hinge system that has multiple interlocking gears. All of these gears are hidden at the rear of the device, and allow the Galaxy Fold to transform from tablet to phone modes.Also, this new phone takes multi-tasking to a whole new level. This is the only phone on which you can do three-app multi-tasking. While this is a testament of how Samsung has worked on the software, it also tells you the kind of power this device packs. Moving one of these apps to a larger display is as easy as drag and drop.

The phone also packs six cameras in it. At the rear there are three cameras, while inside on the tablet side are two cameras for selfies. The folded phone offer one camera on front.At the rear of the device there’s also a triple-camera system that will be used for both tablet and phone modes.There’s a 16-megapixel ultra-wide camera, alongside 12-megapixel wide-angle and telephoto cameras at the rear, and a 10-megapixel cover camera for selfies. This is the new standard for what a smartphone can achieve.

When Samsung makes a premium product, it usually comes with a very premium price tag, and the Galaxy Fold is no different, with a staggering asking price of $1,980 (around Rs 1,42,500, £1,500, AU$2,800). That’s hugely expensive for a smartphone – no matter how innovative it is – and if a lot of that price is down to the foldable tech, then I imagine that any foldable laptop, which will come with a larger foldable display, along with more powerful components, could see the price climb even further.