KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 — It’s real. I know I use this phrase a lot but this time it’s for real. Samsung’s most anticipated smartphone, the Galaxy Fold, will finally be hitting Malaysian shores sometime this month according to Samsung Malaysia. This is not a drill.
Then again, if you’ve been following our site, you would have probably figured this out by now. Yes, their timeline was a little off but the important thing is that Samsung Malaysia has just confirmed that the pre-order for this folding smartphone will begin soon, with the device expected to arrive in Malaysia this month.
This comes after we saw the smartphone selling out in every market that it launched in, globally. In fact, people were even paying double its retail price just to get their hands on this next-gen product.
Beyond that, the company hasn’t revealed much more, including the most important thing, which is the price. Local retailer Mobile 2 Go has already begun selling import sets of the Samsung Galaxy Fold and it’s priced at RM13,888. That being said, since this is an import set, of course it’s going to be more expensive as earlier sources tell us that the Galaxy Fold in Malaysia could officially retail for around RM8,000 — not much higher than a top-spec iPhone 11 Pro Max.
For that money, you’ll be getting two displays, a 4.6” HD+ Super AMOLED panel up front to use when the phone is folded, and a 7.3” QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED Infinity Flex display inside to use when the phone is unfolded. Powering the handset is a Snapdragon 855 processor that’s mated to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage. Keeping the lights on is a 4,380 mAh battery.
There are also six cameras on board. A triple camera at the back does most of the heavy lifting, with a 16MP ultra-wide camera, a 12MP wide camera and a 12MP telephoto camera. There’s also a 10MP selfie camera above the small 4.6” display for selfies when the phone is closed, and a 10MP+8MP dual camera inside for selfies when the display is opened.
Now, as exciting as the Galaxy Fold is, there’s no denying that it has had its fair share of controversy. The folding mechanism is a complex one and the company has received a lot of flak for how easily this expensive smartphone breaks. Dust gets into the crevices, then there’s that whole issue with the “screen protector” being peeled off — it was a bumpy ride for what was supposed to be the game-changing smartphone.
But I don’t like to use the term game-changing lightly. After spending time with the Huawei Mate X, I truly believed that the future of the smartphone was one that we could fold in half. I didn’t think it would happen at first, but the utility that smartphone offered was unparalleled, so I’m absolutely looking forward to getting my hands on a Galaxy Fold.
What about you? Would you pay RM8,000 for a smartphone like this? Let me know in the comments below.
Learn more about the Galaxy Fold here. — SoyaCincau
