Hands-On Samsung Galaxy Fold Video Gives Close-up Look At Controversial Display Crease

One of the most hyped smartphones that was unveiled earlier this year was the Samsung Galaxy Fold. It represented the first entry from a mainstream smartphone OEM into what’s sure to be a hot category over the next few years: folding smartphones.

Today, we’re getting a closer, real-world hands-on look at the Galaxy Fold and more specifically, its ingenious folding display. While we’ve seen the smartphone on video from multiple angles before, that was Samsung-produced footage with quick cuts and careful camera work to minimize the appearance of the crease where the display folds. This new footage gives us a more realistic idea at how the display looks in everyday use.

The video showcases the Galaxy Fold (SM-F900U), which is the AT&T variant destined for U.S. customers. From the moment the video starts, you cannot “unsee” the crease running right down the middle of the smartphone. The crease is readily visible when the display is fully unfolded, although we would presume that the effect may be somewhat minimized with a lighter display background.

As this is a first-generation device, it’s stands to reason that this is just one of those things that users will have to contend with. We haven’t seen similar real-world video footage of the Huawei Mate X, so we can’t say for certain if it suffers from the same creasing problem as the Galaxy Fold. With that being said, it’s likely that Samsung’s future iterations of the folding display design will work to further minimize or completely eliminate the crease (perhaps with the introduction of Corning’s foldable glass). 

Even so, dropping $1,980 for the Galaxy Fold and having to stare at that crease may be unbearable for all but the most dedicated hardware enthusiasts.

The Galaxy Fold has a primary 7.3-inch QXGA folding display and a secondary 4.6-inch HD cover display. The device is powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 855 SoC which is paired with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage. It has a total of six cameras onboard and dual batteries that combine for 4,380 mAh of capacity. According to Samsung, the Galaxy Fold will be available in the United States during the second quarter.