Samsung unveils its Galaxy Z Flip phone during the Oscars

Posted:
in General Discussion
The forthcoming foldable Samsung Galaxy Z Flip was revealed in a commercial during the live telecast of the Academy Awards -- and so was a crease, its display "feature."

Samsung revealed its Galaxy Z Flip phone during the Oscars. (Image: The Next Web)
Samsung revealed its Galaxy Z Flip phone during the Oscars. (Image: The Next Web)


Samsung has launched its Galaxy Z Flip smartphone with an advert that premiered during the ABC network's live telecast of the 92nd Academy Awards. The 27-second ad demonstrated the flip clamshell phone in action, but underneath the hero shots, there was a footnote about screen quality.

"You may notice a crease at the center of the main screen, which is a natural characteristic of the screen," it said.

That note was shown for six seconds. As well as being hard to spot, you'd be forgiven for then not seeing the crease in any of the product shots because of the next footnote. "Screen images simulated," it added.






Samsung has not yet announced pricing or a release date for the phone, but it is expected to reveal more at its Samsung Unpacked event on Tuesday February 11.

The new Galaxy Z Flip phone follows the Galaxy Fold, which was revealed at 2019's Samsung Unpacked. The Galaxy Fold is a $1,980 smartphone and initial review units proved so poor that they were retrieved by the company and launch plans were delayed.

The company eventually released the Galaxy Fold seven months later in September 2019, although for its first few weeks it was only available in Korea.

Samsung's warning of a visible crease in the new phone's display suggests that the company has not surmounted the issues that affected the previous version.

Motorola has also been working on a foldable phone, version of its classic Razr flip device. The new Motorola Razr was formally announced it in November 2019 and has yet to ship -- but initial reviews are not good.

Apple is reportedly working on foldable phones too, but with a more robust bend radius.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 28
    Folding a phone that way makes a lot more sense.  I can see the potential for what they're showing there.  Having said that, unfolded phones fit just fine in my pockets and don't require me to unfold it to use it.  And I don't see too many people using a phone in the not-completely-unfolded tiny-laptop mode.
    radarthekatwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 28
    omasouomasou Posts: 564member
    Is Samsung totally incapable of having an original thought of their own?
    olsseanjlordjohnwhorfinguscatAppleSince1976watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 28
    Once a flip phone, always a flip phone.
    doozydozengilly33guscatcornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 28
    zimmiezimmie Posts: 651member
    Foldable screens like this look cool and all, but do they solve an actual problem? Who has pockets which could fit this phone folded, but not unfolded?

    Pants with pockets shallow enough for halving the phone's length to be relevant also tend to be very form-fitting, so the extra thickness would be really uncomfortable. Looser pants which can handle the thickness comfortably generally have much deeper pockets.

    It makes a little more sense in an orientation like the Galaxy Fold's, since pockets generally aren't wide. Even in pockets wide enough, storing very wide flat objects is really uncomfortable (thus the curvature of pocket flasks). Even then, does anybody think previously-available phones were too narrow?
    minicoffeeguscatradarthekatwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 28
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    To me, trying to ignite nostalgia is an admission that you have nothing left in the innovation gas tank. It's like the game boxes these days that have the old standards like Donkey Kong. I suppose there's a small market for nostalgia.
    olsgilly33jony0guscatAppleSince1976watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 28
    It's a feature, not a bug!
    jbdragonguscatwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 28
    Flip phones were easier to loose. I can just see it now, a rash of people leaving their flip phones in ride-share cars, cabs, and other places. As long as its not an Apple product, it’ll get a pass by tech pundits. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 28
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,305member
    I really don't get the point. It's not a huge phone. Folding in have benefits you how? Really now you have a thicker phone when closed. It's now basically a square shape. It have a center crease in the screen that is made from plastic. Plastic which just doesn't have the same feel as glass and can scratch much easier.

    Still the biggest point is what benefit do you get out of this thing folding in half? What am I missing?
    edited February 2020 olsguscatwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 28
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    I've got your flip phone right here...

    🖕📱
    GG1razorpitRayz2016lordjohnwhorfinStrangeDayscornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 28
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    zimmie said:
    Foldable screens like this look cool and all, but do they solve an actual problem?
    That’s been my question, not just about these, but a number of high tech gadgetry that has come online in the last few years. Yes it’s cool that they can build a phone that folds in half. But what does that solve? I very much want to point out that if this was from Apple, I’d be asking the same thing. Why? Give me a good reason to put up with a noticeable crease in the middle of my screen, or a ripple in the middle of my drawing tablet, for the sake of folding it in half. Especially if it’s at such a premium over what I have that does the job just fine.
    guscatwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 28
    omasou said:
    Is Samsung totally incapable of having an original thought of their own?
    On the contrary, I think this and other things they've done show that they do have original ideas.....so original that absolutely no one else in the world wants what they are spending millions to develop and produce.

    No one ever asked for screens that wrap around edges. No one ever asked for foldable screens.
    radarthekatllamawatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 28
    Why? No one knows.
    radarthekatcornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 28

    zimmie said:
    Foldable screens like this look cool and all, but do they solve an actual problem? 
    They don't look cool, they look broken. I mean the things already looks broken before you even start using it. It just has built-in cringe. That's on top of the fact that it is guaranteed to break within minutes of actually using it.

    Considering the billions of smartphones in use by people all over the world....no one is complaining about not being able to fold it in half.
    radarthekatcornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 28
    seanjseanj Posts: 318member
    In this form factor, a folding screen is a solution in search of a problem.
    SpamSandwichpscooter63llamawatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 28
    lkrupp said:
    To me, trying to ignite nostalgia is an admission that you have nothing left in the innovation gas tank. It's like the game boxes these days that have the old standards like Donkey Kong. I suppose there's a small market for nostalgia.
    This is a flawed argument, though. Nintendo has built an entire industry around nostalgia, but I don't think anyone would claim they aren't innovating with the Switch and games like Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, etc. Disney is also a company that relies heavily on nostalgia, but they simultaneously are pushing boundaries both in film and their theme parks. The entire structure of the MCU was a novel idea that, with less capable hands, would have completely blown up in their face (hello, DC Universe). Also, they are pushing theme park innovation with their new Galaxy's Edge (say what you want of the sequel trilogy, but the Rise of the Resistance ride is the most immersive, impressive experience in any theme park ever), Avatar land, etc. These two companies know that there needs to be a solid balance between innovation and the nostalgia that causes us to keep coming back.
  • Reply 16 of 28
    I’ve seen this ad before, but the device was an iMac.
    cornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 28
    mac_dogmac_dog Posts: 1,069member
    Flip phones were easier to loose. I can just see it now, a rash of people leaving their flip phones in ride-share cars, cabs, and other places. As long as its not an Apple product, it’ll get a pass by tech pundits. 
    I left my phone in a cab, not bcoz it was a flip phone, but bcoz of too much tequila. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 28
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member

    zimmie said:
    Foldable screens like this look cool and all, but do they solve an actual problem? 
    They don't look cool, they look broken. I mean the things already looks broken before you even start using it. It just has built-in cringe. That's on top of the fact that it is guaranteed to break within minutes of actually using it.

    Considering the billions of smartphones in use by people all over the world....no one is complaining about not being able to fold it in half.
    I’ll accept that. Maybe they Sound cool when an engineer pitched the idea. When Marketing pushes them as the next best thing. I agree though. A flexing hinge like this is just acting for trouble. 
    radarthekatwatto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 28
    Speed1050Speed1050 Posts: 22unconfirmed, member
    Solution in search of a problem... It adds a step to any single function of the phone, for what benefit?
    radarthekatcornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 28
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    Apple will watch this disaster continue to unfold (deliberate) and continue to quietly take notes …

    And after careful study, years of prototyping and clandestine testing, Apple will reveal …


    the AppleFlipCar!


    It’ll fit in a space the width of telephone kiosk, but it will need eighteen feet of headroom. 
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