Samsung Galaxy Fold long-term review

Wrapping things up

The Samsung Galaxy Fold is one of those odd devices that is somehow both very, very different and exciting, yet, at the same time, surprisingly familiar and even mundane and times. Since there is a lot to unwrap, or rather, unfold here, and some of you probably skipped straight to the conclusion, we'll do our best to keep it as simple as possible.

That being said, there's nothing straightforward about the Fold. If you're not the kind of person who overanalyzes things and then worries about them constantly and you are perfectly fine with investing over EUR 2,000 in a fancy futuristic gadget, then it's as simple as forking said sum over to Samsung and continuing to enjoy your life. What you'll get is a solid flagship Samsung experience, wrapped up in an incredibly exciting, even if first generation form factor. Plus all the bragging rights, stares and early adopter experiences that come with that.

As for the potential negatives. Well, these have been re-iterated time and time again and have pretty much been reverberating throughout the tech realm for some time now. The main things to consider if you are really thinking about shelling-out for a Fold remain durability and longevity-related, as well as usability ones.

Since the former has been over-explained and often a bit exaggerated at times from various sources, guilty us included, we feel the focus needs to be on the software side of things. Even if you can live with the hurdles of first-generation foldable display technology, the software "magic" to leverage the next wave of exciting form factors in all their potential simply isn't there yet.

The groundwork is already there, and there are many things to look forward to. Most notably, in the case on the Galaxy Fold, One UI 2. Fingers crossed on that end. If you're OK with this kind of uncertainty about the future and if you are willing to live with some other compromises, like the lack of a headphone jack on the phone as humongous as the Fold or with a pretty sizeable notch biting into the futuristic foldable display. Or the fact that you might have to re-train a lot of your existing smartphone muscle memory and re-think some use cases and habits. If you are up for all that, then there might just be room in your life for the Fold. Just be sure not to dive into it headfirst unprepared.