Ahead of the Samsung Galaxy Fold’s expected late April release date, numerous reports emerged claiming that the much-hyped device’s screen would break after just a few days of use. These included a report from The Verge’s Dieter Bohn, who claimed last month that his review unit had a “small bulge” that was big enough to “slightly distort” the display, and ultimately broke it just two days after he received it. Meanwhile, reviewers such as Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and famed YouTuber Marques Brownlee separately reported that their units’ displays were damaged after they removed the protective film, as noted by Trusted Reviews .
With weeks having passed since those reports were published and Samsung postponed the Galaxy Fold’s arrival in stores, the South Korean company has yet to announce a new release date for the foldable phone. However, Yonhap News reported this week on the steps Samsung is taking to make sure the Galaxy Fold doesn’t break as easily as it did for the aforementioned reviewers and others.
Citing the original Yonhap report, which was published in Korean, SlashGear wrote on Wednesday that the changes Samsung is making aren’t too “staggering,” as they don’t represent significant design changes and are arguably “band-aid fixes” for the issues mentioned last month. These include ensuring that the protective film cannot be easily removed, possibly by tucking the film underneath the Galaxy Fold’s bezel, as well as placing “a lot of warnings” on the phone’s packaging to explicitly tell buyers that they should not even attempt to remove the layer lest they risk damaging the Galaxy Fold.
Per SlashGear , Samsung also seemed to address the issue of bumps appearing on the screen and distorting it, as the company is reportedly ensuring that tiny pieces of debris cannot sneak into the display by reducing the gap in the hinge.
Samsung Galaxy Fold launch “will not be too late” following corrective measures https://t.co/LRfCku0Gnc pic.twitter.com/MkfPee1hHf
— Digital Camera World (@DigitalCameraW) May 14, 2019
In a separate article that also cited Yonhap’s information, Engadget wrote that Samsung is currently testing the Galaxy Fold on local networks to further prevent the chances of another troubled launch. The outlet added that these tests might “affect the timeliness” of the Galaxy Fold’s new release date, which is now expected to take place sometime next month. That timeline, however, remains subject to change.
While Engadget expressed hope that the reported changes would be enough to “prevent glaring durability problems” and allay the concerns of consumers hoping to be among the first to purchase the Galaxy Fold, SlashGear had a more critical take on the matter. The latter publication’s JC Torres wrote that Samsung’s supposed fixes are “small things” that the company should have checked before it sent out its Galaxy Fold review units, adding that doing this earlier would have helped Samsung “save face” and avoid the PR issues it is currently dealing with.