There are two distinct issues here, and only one is particularly fixable.
Just a couple of days after journalists, including us here at Android Central, got their hands on the Galaxy Fold for the very first time, multiple reports have surfaced that these initial review devices are having screen failures. At this point at least four different devices have failed, which may not seem like a lot until you realize that there are perhaps only a few dozen Galaxy Folds in the hands of people outside of Samsung employees.
From looking at all of the information available, and using a Galaxy Fold myself, there are clearly two distinct issues at play here — one that’s fixable, and one that should very much be a concern for Samsung as the Fold gets into consumers’ hands.
Problem 1: The screen’s plastic covering looks removable
This is the “fixable” problem.
The Galaxy Fold, as every other foldable phone, has a plastic display on top of the OLED display that allows the entire screen to flex. We don’t yet have flexible glass, so this is just how things are going to have to be for the foreseeable future. But the problem with that top layer on the Galaxy Fold is that it looks exactly like a pre-installed screen protector we’ve seen on phone after phone — including the Galaxy S10 — that you have the option of removing. On the Fold, though, the layer is not designed to be removed. It’s not just inadvisable to do so, it’s not meant to be removable. If you remove that top layer, you’ve effectively done the same as removing the cover glass from your Galaxy S10 — and, at that point, the display panel itself is going to fail. And it won’t take long to do so.
The phone comes with this protective layer/film. Samsung says you are not supposed to remove it. 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. pic.twitter.com/fU646D2zpY
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) April 17, 2019
PSA: There’s a layer that appears to be a screen protector on the Galaxy Fold’s display. It’s NOT a screen protector. Do NOT remove it.I got this far peeling it off before the display spazzed and blacked out. Started over with a replacement. pic.twitter.com/ZhEG2Bqulr
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) April 17, 2019
Samsung’s messaging to early reviewers explicitly reminded us that the top layer of the screen was not removable and that it would compromise the integrity of the display. But even still, the urge to remove that top layer has been ingrained in all of us for over a decade — plastic doesn’t feel right on a phone, and it looks like it’s removable. Even some of the most egregious offenders of pre-installed screen protectors in the past would still technically allow you to remove the protector and have the phone work properly afterward. This just isn’t the same case, even though it feels the same at first.
Samsung must make it clear to consumers that the plastic should not be tampered with.
So this part of the problem is fixable, but we don’t know what Samsung plans to do about it. Let’s remember that the Galaxy Fold is already up for pre-order, and will be shipping to regular consumers (albeit not in large numbers) with no hand-holding or extra information. They’ll just get a phone in a box, and in the case of our retail-ready boxes there was not a single warning on the phone or packaging that mentioned you should not remove this top film. Pair that up with the intense desire to want to peel plastic from new phones, and you’re set up for a bad news cycle of broken Galaxy Fold screens.
Thankfully, proper retail boxes are supposed to have a small warning on the protective film covering the entire phone out of the box. And for as interesting of a news story it is for reviewers to see broken screens, customers that paid $2000 will take this a bit more seriously. It would behoove Samsung to make changes to its packaging and software to make it explicit as possible that the plastic should not be removed like any other phone — a single warning on the piece of plastic that people hastily rip off of every phone really isn’t enough when the consequences are this serious.
Problem 2: The screen is just fragile, period
This is the bigger issue that Samsung inherently can’t “fix” without years more development of the display technology that enables these phones to fold over and over again.
So you shouldn’t remove the top layer of the Galaxy Fold’s display. We know this. But the fact that you can remove it (if you try hard enough) and simply doing that is enough to completely render the display useless and quickly broken is a bad sign. At least two of the reports of failed displays came while the Galaxy Fold’s top layer was kept in place and undamaged, which points to the larger discussion of just how fragile the display technology is no matter what you do.
SUPER YIKES: something happened to my Galaxy Fold screen and caused a bulge. I don’t know how it happened, and I’m waiting to hear back from Samsung. It’s broken. https://t.co/p1014uB01D pic.twitter.com/3FZJkWtSKr
— Dieter Bohn (@backlon) April 17, 2019
After one day of use… pic.twitter.com/VjDlJI45C9
— Steve Kovach (@stevekovach) April 17, 2019
If, as we’ve seen, all that’s keeping the display running is a thin piece of flexible plastic, it doesn’t bode well for its prospects of longterm durability. With very strong Gorilla Glass screen coverings, we’ve gotten used to being pretty rough on phones — and the Fold just isn’t going to be able to take that much abuse. Despite lots of engineering being put into keeping the folding portion of the display operational with thousands of folds, that doesn’t necessarily mean it can handle impacts and damage elsewhere.
Neither of the Galaxy Folds that Android Central has have developed screen issues, though it’s very easy to see how such issues could arise. All you have to do is run your finger over the folded portion of the display covering to see how, with repeated use, gaps in the display covering could develop and eventually compromise the integrity of the unit through the introduction of foreign objects.
Should this keep you from buying a Galaxy Fold?
There are many reasons why you should be skeptical of parting with $2000 to buy a Galaxy Fold, well before any of these reports of screen failures arose. The durability and longevity of a flexible display was always going to be in question on these first-generation consumer foldable devices — we just didn’t necessarily expect to see it start so spectacularly or so early.
If you were hyped enough about the Galaxy Fold to want to place a pre-order, or at least see it in stores at the end of April before potentially buying, it would be a good idea to remind yourself of all of these sorts of problems that can be associated with a device that introduces a brand new form factor and so many new technologies. The Galaxy Fold is not a normal phone, and it’s truly pushing the envelope in ways that we haven’t seen in years; that’s going to come with compromises, and you should know about them all before you decide to buy.
The customer is always right
Samsung Galaxy Fold
From $66/mo at AT&T
Two screens to love, two screens to break
Samsung’s foldable Galaxy Fold is a remarkable piece of engineering. Despite early signs that its tablet display is prone to breaking, there’s a lot to like about Samsung’s first foldable.
