Samsung Galaxy Fold: The Foldable phone confirmed for Australia first half of 2019

You’ve seen what Samsung showed off last year at their developers conference, and while that seemed a bit far fetched, just a few months later it’s an absolute reality with the Samsung Galaxy Fold coming to Australia for you to buy!

According to Samsung, Australian’s will be among the first in the world to buy the Galaxy Fold when launched  all we know right now is that it will be available in the first half of 2019.

They’re keen to know who’s interested – with an Expression of Interest form kicking off the campaign this morning at Samsung’s website.

Garry McGregor from Samsung Australia says “Galaxy Fold is a symbol of the future of mobile technology, ushering in a new category of smartphones that will change the way we live, work, and play on a mobile device.

“From the moment you pick up the Galaxy Fold and open it, you’ll discover an entirely new experience, seamlessly moving between displays without missing a beat. The Samsung Galaxy Fold is built to deliver all the power and performance Aussies expect from Samsung, now optimised for the foldable experience.”

This device is both a Smartphone, and a Tablet.  But as a smartphone it’s not what you’d expect or frankly want in 2019.

When folded it’s 17mm thick, wedging down to just under 14mm.  When opened it’s 6.9mm thick.  That’s less than the Galaxy S10+

Inside is a 7.3 inch AMOLED display.  When folded in half it’s a book-like smartphone with a tiny 4.6 inch screen on the front.

That screen is far from being anything infinite like the Infinity display on Samsung’s more modern phones – the reason for that – I can’t tell you, but it’s got a solid “forehead” and “chin” around that screen.

Samsung worked hard with Google so that Android would work ideally for this device.  If you’re using an app on the front screen and flip it open – the app will work on the inside larger screen.

It’s packing 12GB of RAM – 12!  Because it’s also capable of 3 app multi-tasking.

The amazing thing frankly here is that this is not just a screen gimmick phone.  It’s packing solid tech from the Galaxy range.  Wireless Charging of this device and reverse wireless for other devices.  

A cracking six cameras, three on the back, one on the front, two on the inside/front – and there’s UHD/4K video capture.

That inside screen is a 4:3 style screen ratio, so it’s not exactly tablet-like for your video viewing, but it’s a much bigger screen than the front.

However, at 7.3 inches in a 4:3 ratio, one wonders if opting for the largest S10 variant (the 5G) at 6.7 inches is just a better option?

The price? $1980 USD – yep, you read that right. WOWSERS. Could be near on $3,000 AU – It will ship on April 26, we’re yet to confirm if that date applies to Australia too.

There’s a lot to know about this phone, therefore a lot of questions.  For now, we’re excited, but only because of the technological advance here.  What’s the purpose? Who’s it for?  Not sure.  

How well that hinge works, how good the screen looks and feels – especially in that centre fold – not sure.

We’ll wait for a full review in the months ahead!

Trevor Long travelled to San Francisco as a guest of Samsung Australia