It's been a long time coming, but Samsung today announced the Galaxy Fold will be available in Australia from October 30 at a price of $2,999. You will find Galaxy Buds (worth $249) and a case included in the box.
You'll be able to grab the Galaxy Fold from any Samsung Store, and through select JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman stores. Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone will all range the Galaxy Fold, but it will only be available in select stores. The Galaxy Fold is eSIM enabled on all three telcos.
If you've previously pre-registered your interest in a Galaxy Fold, Samsung will be getting in touch this week to organise an order. You'll be invited to come into a store to pick it up, where a Samsung representative will walk you through an on-boarding process.
No matter where you're buying the Galaxy Fold, you'll have to pick it up in-store. At this stage, Samsung will not be selling the Galaxy Fold online.
If you need a recap, the Galaxy Fold, Samsung's first foldable smartphone, is made up of two displays: a small display on the outside of the phone, and a larger display hidden inside. The phone's sizeable 7.3-inch screen can close up like a book, which then leaves you with a candy bar form factor with its own 4.6-inch external screen. In some ways, the Galaxy Fold doubles as both a smartphone and a tablet.
The Galaxy Fold, was initially meant to go on sale in April, but the release was postponed just days before it was meant to hit stores. Questions were raised about the Galaxy Fold's durability after multiple review units failed due to a variety of screen-related issues.
In some cases, the protective layer was accidentally removed from the screen. In others, debris managed to make its way inside the hinge. Some devices failed for no apparent reason.
Samsung says it has spent the last few months addressing these issues. According to the company:
- The protective layer cannot be removed
- The top and bottom of the hinge have been strengthened with newly added protection caps
- Additional metal layers have been added under the display
- The space between the hinge and the body of the Galaxy Fold has been reduced
- In addition, Samsung has continued to refine the Galaxy Fold's software and optimised more apps for the foldable form-factor.
While the redesigned Galaxy Fold has addressed the initial problems, it still sounds like a phone you'll have to handle with baby gloves. Samsung recently released a video about caring for your Fold, which advises against applying "excessive pressure" to the touchscreen when tapping it. Samsung also recommends you don't take your Fold to environments like the beach, due to the lack of water and dust resistance.
Samsung is pitching the Galaxy Fold as a lean, mean multitasking machine, and is backing this up with some hefty specs including a Snapdragon 855 processor, 12GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a 4,380mAh battery (split evenly across the two halves to make the phone feel balanced).
In terms of cameras, the Galaxy Fold has a 10MP selfie camera on the cover, and dual 10MP and 8MP front-facing cameras on the inside. On the back, you'll find a 12MP standard lens, a 12MP zoom lens, and a 16MP ultra-wide angle lens, as we've seen on most Samsung flagships this year.
Check out our Samsung Galaxy Fold preview here.
Alex Choros
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