X
CNET logo Why You Can Trust CNET

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement

Samsung Galaxy Fold review: The device that piqued our interest in a foldable phone future

Despite being riddled with problems, the Galaxy Fold makes for an interesting blueprint for future foldables.

Jessica Dolcourt Senior Director, Commerce & Content Operations
Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).
Expertise Content strategy, team leadership, audience engagement, iPhone, Samsung, Android, iOS, tips and FAQs.
Jessica Dolcourt
3 min read

Update, Aug. 10, 2020: The Galaxy Z Fold 2 is here. Read our ongoing coverage. Our Galaxy Fold review, originally published Oct. 3, 2019, follows.

7.4

Samsung Galaxy Fold

The Good

The Galaxy Fold's extra-large display is excellent for watching videos, photos and reading, and it makes for an excellent second screen. It proves that a foldable phone can be truly useful and not just a gimmick.

The Bad

Design problems abound. Its 7.3-inch screen is too fragile and the 4.6-inch display is too small to be effective. Battery life is short. Multitasking could become more intuitive. At $1,980, the Fold is overpriced. It lacks water- and dust-resistance. The huge screen notch and thick bezel make it feel cheap, despite the cost.

The Bottom Line

The Galaxy Fold makes a convincing case for foldable phones, but wait for Samsung and others to fix inherent problems that keep it costly and plague the screen.

It's unusual for a phone as new as the Galaxy Fold to be so battle-worn. In the course of its short life, the foldable phone went from the pinnacle of hype for our collective mobile future to cautionary tale about companies that rush to sell radical, under-tested technology. (Here's a brief history of what went wrong with Samsung's delicate plastic display.)

Read more: Forget the Galaxy Fold: This zigzagging foldable phone from TCL bends into thirds

Now, after testing and using two versions of the Galaxy Fold -- the original model and this redesigned version that fixes Samsung's biggest design flaws -- everything wonderful and terrible with the $1,980 (£2,000, AU$2,950) Galaxy Fold is crystal clear. 

As a blueprint for how foldable phones could be truly useful, it undeniably succeeds. There's something physically satisfying about using the Fold, and its 7.3-inch screen is a dream for watching movies, looking at photos and reading anything. Wanting to multitask felt natural, and more than once I used the Fold as a second screen that was easy to fold up and zip into my jacket pocket the moment I was done.

But as big a favor as the Fold does for all foldable-phone kind in proving that yes, we do want to see where foldable phones go, the Fold itself is still lacking when it comes to creature comforts. 

samsung-galaxy-fold-8

The Galaxy Fold has its charms, and also some rough spots.

Angela Lang/CNET

Microsoft has thrown a twist in the middle of this foldable awakening, introducing a surprising double-screen phone of its own. Although we won't see the Surface Duo for a year, Microsoft's dual-screen phone throws down the gauntlet against the Galaxy Fold and foldable design in general: Why use such a problematic folding screen when you can just have two displays?

Samsung fixed the most hazardous errors to the Fold's display, the ones that caused the phone to stop working. But it didn't fix some more baked-in problems. The phone remains too expensive and too fragile, with some puzzling choices that give the inner screen an enormous notch and a plasticky bezel, and the outer screen a cramped keyboard that's just no fun to use. 

Battery life is strangely shorter than it seems it should be, despite two cells (on on each side of the hinge) that forms the equivalent of a 4,500-mAh battery. It lasted an average of 12 hours, 15 minutes in CNET's looped video test in airplane mode, compared to over 21 hours for the Galaxy Note 10 Plus.

samsung-galaxy-fold-ifa-2019-product-photos-9

Samsung's foldable phone is about more than just its specs.

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

In its defense, the Galaxy Fold was always greater than itself. It's a proof of concept meant to prime the pump for later devices. That said, Samsung clearly wanted people to buy the phone as a luxury device, a status symbol that early adopters with plenty of cash could casually unfold to wow their peers with an unusual, instantly recognizable design. 

Unfortunately, that's backfired now. I'll argue with naysayers that, as a concept, the foldable phone has potential. Just as long as the industry figures out how to make a stronger screen, be it from thin, bendable glass that doesn't commercially exist yet to some other hardened plastic material. 

Galaxy Fold redesign: Here's how Samsung fixed its foldable phone

See all photos

But in the present tense, I don't recommend the Galaxy Fold specifically, even if you have cash to spare. More foldable phones are coming, from Samsung, Huawei and even Microsoft. Do yourself a favor and wait.

For more detail, here's a breakdown of the Galaxy Fold features we like most -- and least.

Galaxy Fold specs

Display size, resolution 4.6-inch Super AMOLED; 7.3-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED
Dimensions (Millimeters) Folded: 62.8 x 161 x 15.7mm ~ 17.1mm Unfolded: 117.9 x 161 x 6.9mm ~ 7.6mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams) 9.7 oz; 276g
Mobile software Android 9.0 with Samsung One UI
Camera 12-megapixel (wide-angle), 16-megapixel (ultra wide-angle), 12-megapixel (telephoto)
Front-facing camera Two 10-megapixel, 8-megapixel 3D depth
Video capture 4K (HDR 10+)
Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
Storage 512GB
RAM 12GB
Expandable storage No
Battery 4,380mAh
Fingerprint sensor Power button
Connector USB-C
Headphone jack No
Special features Foldable display, wireless charging, fast charging
Price off-contract (USD) $1,980
Price (GBP) £2,000
Price (AUD) AU$2,950

First published Oct. 3, 2019.

7.4

Samsung Galaxy Fold

Score Breakdown

Design 6Features 7Performance 7Camera 9Battery 8