The Samsung Galaxy Fold was supposed to be a classy smartphone that unfolded into a full tablet at will with its foldable screen which, according to the company, was supposed to withstand 200,000 folds – approximately 5 years of usage. However, according to early reviewers, a phone that costs $1,980 develops a bulge and a crease after just one day of use.
“The bulge eventually pressed sharply enough into the screen to break it. You can see the telltale lines of a broken OLED converging on the spot where the bulge is,” a reviewer from The Verge said.
Reviewers at CNBC and Bloomberg have also already reported that the screens on their phones were broken after a single day of use.
Mark Gurman, who reviews tech for Bloomberg, noted that the phone comes with a protective film layer but that he removed it. “Samsung says you are not supposed to remove it,” Gurman tweeted. “I removed it, not knowing you’re not supposed to (consumers won’t know either). It appeared removable in the left corner, so I took it off. I believe this contributed to the problem.”
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Todd Haselton at CNBC had similar problems, but he revealed on twitter that he had not removed the protective film.
Samsung has not yet commented on the problems with the Galaxy Fold screen. The company’s new foldable smartphone is still set to launch on April 26.