Samsung pushes the envelope
In February 2019, Samsung Mobile introduced two smartphones that would change the smartphone landscape: Samsung Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Flip.
Galaxy Fold encapsulated novel tech philosophy; a 7.6 inches Android tablet that you could fold into half (like a book) to create a 4.6 inches smartphone. Galaxy Flip; a Samsung Galaxy S10 that you could flip into half so that it did not bulge while in your Levis jeans pocket.
Samsung Galaxy Fold was touted as the messiah that would liberate us from static smartphone design philosophies since 2017. The promised one did not enthuse. The tablet/smartphone combo was riddled with design issues.
For start, the smartphone part was ugly, it had huge bezels. That took away the borderless and sea-flow beauty of Galaxy S10. What looked to be a factory screen protector was to become a nightmare; whenever a customer peeled it off, the display would be rendered unusable.
The hinge that made it a foldable piece was big enough to form a visible slight depression in the smoothness of the display surface. Those learned in Shakespearean prose call it a crease.
While Samsung Galaxy Flip did not have many issues, it did not impress either. The non-functional 1.1 inches display when the phone was flipped into half was a big minus.
Samsung followed with Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 and Galaxy Flip2 in 2020. Almost all issues were resolved.
Samsung is back and has perfected the art, ladies and gentlemen, I hereby announce a wedding between art and technology; Samsung Galaxy Fold3 5G and Galaxy Z Flip3 5G.
Samsung Galaxy Fold3 is a 7.6 inches extremely glorified LED (Fordable Dynamic AMOLED) tablet that ‘camouflages’ into a 6.2 inches crisp-clear Gorilla Glass Victus smartphone.
Imagine keying in messages in WhatsApp or Telegram while at the same time watching a satire clip on TikTok. That is what this is all about.
While Samsung Flip3 5G is beautiful; the 1.9 inches cover display is surely a pimple on a damsel’s face. Motorola’s Razor version with a bigger and more functional screen means that one can fully-function with the phone flipped into half.
The seduction on the Samsung Galaxy Flip3 is the price, a thousand dollars. Samsung seems to be saying; why buy iPhone 11 for the same price when the iPhone seems so lifeless that it can’t flip into half? Cheeky or what else is it?
Meanwhile, South Korea is ablaze with pre-orders for these new kids on the block. So far 800,000 units have been ordered in South Korea alone.
Apple will be announcing the next iPhone next month. Meanwhile Jonny Ive has a lot to do.
