Samsung Electronics’ first foldable smartphone Galaxy Fold ranked 19th in the smartphone segment in the Galaxy Fold Consumer Reports.
Although the phone receives high marks for its innovation, the actual product is too heavy. Its ranking was one notch lower than that of Samsung’s Galaxy S9+ released last year.
Galaxy folds have received positive reviews for their basic performance, batteries that last 31 hours, and 12 million-pixel cameras. Consumer Reports also evaluated that Galaxy Fold’s selfie screen has high performance for front and rear cameras with 10 million pixels.
“Galaxy Folds need cases to protect them,” Consumer Reports said
However, its weakness was that it is too thick and weighs 9.8 ounces (276 grams. Moreover, the report stamps the phone’s durability as weak.
Consumer Reports said the endurance test, which drops the product into a rotating metal canister, showed a vulnerability in durability when it dropped it 100 times. Although it had no problem until the 50th times. The rear glass of the product was broken when it was dropped into a metal can after the 50th time.
Meanwhile, Galaxy Fold is entering the Chinese market as of November 7th. Different from its South Korean version, the Chinese version is available in 4G, not 5G. And it is slightly more expensive than its South Korean price.
However, it is still 1,000 yuan cheaper than Mate X, Huawei’s foldable phone that scheduled to launch next week on the 15th.
Mate X failed to launch its overseas market due to the U.S. sanctions because it failed to install its official version of Android. Therefore, competition between Samsung Electronics and Huawei for foldable Smartphones will only take place in Chinese markets.
In its home country, Galaxy Fold managed to sold out the pre-orders within only 10 minutes.
According to market information provider IDC, Samsung Electronics ranked second in China’s 5G smartphone market in the third quarter with a 29.0 percent market share, trailing Vivo with 54.3 percent.
On the other hand, Huawei, which has been encroaching on foreign markets such as Samsung due to U.S. sanctions, is now trying to secure its home turf market with its own life.
