Samsung's Galaxy Fold reveal kicked off Unpacked with a bang on Wednesday, showing off an eye-catching foldable phone with an astounding price tag of $1,980 (about £1,500 or AU$2,800).
It's a high price, but it does contain a lot of luxury-level specs. The phone has six cameras, two batteries, a 4.6-inch cover display when the phone is folded up, a 7.3-inch display when the phone is unfolded, 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage space.
But unless you have money to burn and a craving to fold and unfold a phone, there's a pretty good chance you aren't going to buy it. Odds are the also-revealed Galaxy S10-family of phones will be a much more palatable purchase, and even the most expensive iPhone XS Max is cheaper than the Galaxy Fold.
Samsung showed off the new foldable phone during its Unpacked event in San Francisco.
The device has a 4.6-inch display when folded.
And a full 7.3-inch display when it's unfolded into a tablet. It uses a new screen technology called Infinity Flex Display that lets you repeatedly open and close the device without screen degradation.
Aside from the innovative display, the Fold comes equipped with some powerful specs including a whopping 12 gigabytes of RAM.
The phone will be available April 26 and will come in four colors: Cosmo Black, Space Silver, Martian Green and Astro Blue.
But it won't be cheap, with a starting price of $1,980.
The Galaxy Fold is a compact smartphone when closed and a more expansive tablet when fully opened.
Apps seamlessly transition between the display sizes, letting you pick up on the tablet where you left off on the smartphone.
When the device is unfolded, you can use three active apps through something Samsung calls Multi Active Window.
The gadget has six cameras, with three on the back, one on the front and two inside. The phone will come in two versions, with a 4G and a 5G edition.
Samsung has been talking about a foldable phone for years and finally revealed a prototype in November.
So is the Galaxy Fold the next great phone innovation? Or is it a cheap trick that is commanding a super-high price? Many of CNET's commenters reside somewhere in the middle. Below are some of our readers' comments from our Galaxy Fold articles around CNET, and we'd love to know whether or not you agree with them.
Is being able to do this worth $1,980 to you? CNET
Comments from around CNET:
"Foldable phones have been science fiction for sooo long. It's great it's finally coming to fruition. People have been opting for larger and larger smart phones for a reason. Foldable gives you both a small phone and a tablet." -- CNET member superkev72
"There's a lot going on. The folding hinge - does it fold then extend/retract to keep the polymer (plastic not glass) screen within the device shell? Why is glass considered "premium" material? How does the polymer compare to Gorilla Glass product? Water/splash resistance? Pocketable? ...looks like it when folded." -- CNET member DumpSty
"Not the least bit interested. All I had to hear was 2,000 bucks and I fell off my chair laughing. Just another rich man's toy. I don't see this thing getting too far at this price. Doesn't matter, really. I'm out." -- CNET member Raptor168A
This is just a small sample of all the varying opinions on this new phone. We'd like to see your reactions to them. Do you think this phone is just a gimmick? Or could it be something that really catches on? What are your hesitations or reasons for liking it? Will you buy one? Vote on the poll, and hit the comment section below to have you say. We can't wait to read your reactions.
This article, Samsung Galaxy Fold: Eye-catching or a new gimmick?, originally appeared on CNET.com.
