At the beginning of 2019, Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi and other mobile phone manufacturers were gearing up to fold mobile phones, eager to try, and successively released "folding phones"-concept phones, which attracted a wave Consumer attention. (For details, see Looda’s previous post by Samsung and Huawei for mass production, Xiaomi’s self-exploded prototypes, and there are many folding mobile phones in 2019)
Difficult to produce folding phones
But more than half a year has passed, and the domestic Huawei And Xiaomi pays more attention to 5G mobile phones. As early as the end of last year, the Rouyu mobile phone, which had already released the "industry's first folding mobile phone", did not make any waves.
"Mobile phone boss" Samsung's first foldable smartphone Galaxy Fold was unveiled at the IFA Berlin Electronics Fair after a delay of 5 months.
According to Samsung’s announcement, the Galaxy Fold will be available in South Korea from September 6, and will be available in Singapore, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and other countries from September 18. In the Singapore market, this Galaxy Fold will support LTE screens and 4G networks, and is priced at SGD 3088 (equivalent to RMB 15,942). In the European market, Galaxy Fold supports 5G network and non-5G network versions. The non-5G network version is priced at 2,000 euros (equivalent to RMB 15,770), and the 5G network version is priced at 2,100 euros (equivalent to RMB 16,559). It will be available in the UK and Germany Sale.
Samsung Galaxy Fold's new changes
This is the second time Samsung Galaxy Fold has announced the sale. Previously, the Galaxy Fold cancelled its pre-sale due to technical problems with its folding screen and folding hinge. The main changes of the Galaxy Fold that have come back this time are aimed at these two aspects.
screen, in the last user test, some users found that the phone screen was damaged after removing the protective film on the main screen surface. At that time, the main screen of the Galaxy Fold was covered with a protective film, but the user did not know that the protective film was not a protective film in the traditional sense of the mobile phone, but a part of the screen structure, designed to provide protection for the screen. After the screen is protected, the screen may be damaged, and foreign matter may easily enter the screen in the gap of the hinge, causing the screen to bulge and be damaged.
In order to prevent users from mistakenly identifying it as a mobile phone protective film, Samsung will extend the screen protection layer left on the front four sides to the entire screen, hidden under the mobile phone screen frame. Enhance the integrity of the phone.
As for the hinge part, the new Samsung folding screen phone minimizes the gap between the folding screens, and also adds accessories to cover the screen at both ends of the hinge.
In addition to the improvement of these two fatal flaws, in order to solve the problem that the folding part causes the unfolded mobile phone screen to be uneven, Samsung added a layer of metal under the new mobile phone screen to make it Connect with hinge. According to media reports, the new Galaxy Fold will hear a clicking sound when it is opened and folded, and then the screens on both sides will be locked for fixed use.
Folding mobile phone technology mature?
The successful sale of Samsung mobile phones this time shows whether the folding mobile phone technology has entered a mature stage?
looda I am afraid the answer is no.
First of all, the price of up to 15 thousand yuan indicates that the cost of folding screen related technology has yet to be overcome. At the same time that Samsung announced the sale of foldable phones, Samsung also broke the news that the 5G version of Samsung’s Korean version in the United States will be cancelled. With the reservation of screen phones, Samsung still has concerns about the mass launch of folding phones.
Followed by the Verge report, Galaxy Fold At the time of sale, it is equipped with a “Galaxy Fold Premier Service”, which implies that users of folding screen phones can obtain “one-to-one service” from Samsung experts at any time to handle possible The folding screen problem encountered. Samsung also guarantees in this service that if the user's mobile phone screen fails within one year, Samsung will provide 70% of the repair cost. This is not only to dispel consumer concerns, but also shows that the possibility of screen failure is still high.
Finally, whether the Samsung folding screen is durable, whether the large screen will consume too much power and other issues, all test the acceptance and willingness of the first batch of users.
These may mean that the folding screen technology has made progress, but it will take a little time before it matures.
The good news is that more mobile phone manufacturers are still actively promoting the application of folding screens. There are reports that Huawei's Huawei folding screen mobile phone Mate X will also be available this fall.
As a rare new innovation in mobile phones, major mobile phone manufacturers are reluctant to give up the folding screen, and the results have to be tested.
