This one probably won’t break

Samsung has been working for five months on improving its first foldable phone, and it shows. The new version of the Galaxy Fold, which the company brought to the IFA trade show in Berlin doesn’t feel like a device that will easily break. 

Samsung says it has reinforced the screen with metal plates, improved the hinge, and extended the screen’s protective cover to make it peel-proof. Having held the phone in my hand for mere minutes, it’s hard to say whether these improvements will keep dust and particles out and the screen intact long-term, but it definitely feels sturdy in the hand. This is especially true of the hinge, which instills confidence, though it still feels odd to have a movable, mechanical part inside of a phone. 

There’s also the (big) question of the foldable OLED display itself. How well will it hold after you’ve folded and unfolded it a few thousand times? Samsung has definitely tested the screen for longevity, but only time can tell how everyday (ab)use over a month or a year will wear it down. 

The phone’s specs are the same as the original’s: a 7.3-inch foldable AMOLED screen on the inside, a 4.6-inch AMOLED screen on the outside 12GB of RAM, up to 512GB of storage, a total of six cameras (one on the outside, two on the inside, three on the back), a 4,380mAh battery, and Android 9 Pie. Yes, the phone still doesn’t run the newest version of Android, and I haven’t noticed any changes to the phone’s software. 

And despite the long wait (it was originally scheduled to launch in April), the Fold still feels like something from the future. The screen is large and beautiful when unfolded; watching a video or browsing through photos on it is a vastly better experience than on any regular phone. 

All the flaws are also very apparent, still. It’s impossible to operate the Fold with one hand, unless you’re content on using the small and narrow outside screen. And it’s still far bulkier than any flagship smartphone today. And let’s not even mention the price. OK, we’ll mention it: it’s still a heart-breaking $1,980. 

The Galaxy Fold launched in Korea today, it launches in France, Germany, the UK and Singapore on Sept. 18, and it should come to the U.S. in the coming weeks.