Samsung’s foldable phones haven’t even shipped yet and are already breaking

The Samsung Galaxy Fold was meant to usher in a new era. Assuming we’re talking about the era of epic fucking PR disasters, it just very well may have succeeded. 

The $1,980 smartphone finally landed in the hands of tech journalists this week, ahead of it’s official April 26 sale date, and was met with decidedly lukewarm reviews. And that was before the phones started breaking — which, at least according to a few reporters with early access, they did almost immediately. 

Maybe this is why Samsung was so secretive about the whole thing?

At least part of the reason for the digital mishap may be that tech reporters — who, remember, deal with weird phones for a living — didn’t realize that they weren’t supposed to remove a thin “film” plastered across the phone screen.

If they couldn’t figure that out, however, it’s safe to assume most new buyers won’t either. And anyway, should an almost $2,000 phone really immediately break just because you peeled off a tiny layer of protective coating?

We reached out to Samsung for comment, but received no response as of press time. If we had to guess, we’d say everyone is too busy brushing up their résumés to bother with email.