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Leaked Galaxy Fold hands-on video shows everything, display crease included

By Joshua Swingle

Published: Mar 19, 2019, 8:48 AM

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Even though the Galaxy Fold was introduced at MWC 2019, Samsung is treating its release with quite a bit of caution. At last month’s event, the South Korean giant didn’t allow any interaction with the device and instead locked it away inside a secure glass box.

Access to the premium device will also remain limited once released because Samsung plans a very short production run and won’t make the phone easily available inside its stores.

Despite all of this, the company did publish an official 4-minute video of the Galaxy Fold last month. It’s also released a range of press renders which, as you’d expect, showcase the phone from all the best angles. But today, a new hands-on Galaxy Fold video has shown up online (viaSamMobile).

There's a very visible crease in the middle of the display

The Samsung Galaxy Fold depicted in the video is the AT&T-bound model. As expected, the smartphone displays the usual Samsung animation followed by AT&T’s own branding during the power-on process. Once complete, it proceeds to the lock screen and triggers the animation for the butterfly-inspired default wallpaper.

The angle of the shot and lighting conditions in the video also provide a good look at the Galaxy Fold’s display crease. Samsung did its best to hide this during MWC 2019 with strategic lighting placements and obviously didn’t include it in official press renders. But there’s no denying it’s there.

Samsung Galaxy Fold default wallpaper

As a result of Samsung’s chosen design, and unlike the Huawei Mate X, the Galaxy Fold’s crease faces inwards rather than outwards. This means that, in terms of day to day use, it might not be that noticeable. In fact, some could argue that it’s like having a curved edge in the middle of the panel.

Another noticeable design feature is the lip that surrounds the front display. Due to the panel’s foldable nature and the need to maintain a constant level of tension, Samsung has extended the panel into the outer frame slightly. When closed, this stops the display from being folded completely flat, which in turn should help prevent long-term damage.

The Galaxy Fold's hinge seems pretty sturdy

After a quick look through the Galaxy Fold’s UI, the user handling the smartphone proceeds to close it. This process is quite seamless and, as visible in the video, a rather loud snap can be heard suggesting Samsung’s hinge definitely provides the rigidity it promised.

The small external display works as possible and is accompanied by the other external features Samsung listed – a triple-camera setup on the rear and a side-mounted fingerprint scanner.

On a separate note, a few images have been embedded into the video. These confirm the presence of Android 9 Pie and One UI, and also list SM-F900U as the AT&T variant’s model number.

Leaked Galaxy Fold hands-on video shows everything, display crease included

Samsung Galaxy Fold price, release date, and availability.

In terms of this video’s veracity, the 2-minute clip appears to have originated in Vietnam. Samsung manufactures quite a few of its smartphones in this market and also conducts a lot of its R&D development efforts there, so the device in question could easily be a pre-production unit.

The Galaxy Fold, as some of you may know already, will first reach consumers on April 26th. The 4G LTE variant of the smartphone (which will be available on AT&T and T-Mobile) will cost a whopping $1,980 upon release, but Samsung has confirmed the launch of a 5G variant too. Unfortunately, the retail price of the latter remains a mystery.

Prior to the release on April 26th, Samsung has committed to holding a separate event a few weeks earlier that will properly introduce the smartphone to the world. Once launched, the company hopes to offer a concierge-like service.

According to the South Korean giant, owning a Galaxy Fold will be a “very personal experience.” It’ll also entail “intensive aftercare” which will presumably reduce the possibility of long-term damage.