EEVblog #1204 - Samsung Galaxy Fold Failure - Analysis

[EEVblog]

The new Samsung Galaxy Fold a folding OLED smartphone has failed spectacularly in the hands of early reviewers!
What went wrong?
Also, a rant about the pressures on reviewers from the manufacturers, Dave questions why Marques Brownlee won't show his failure footage.

3M Flexible OLED testing presentation: https://www.oled-a.org/uploads/9/6/8/6/96867108/20171010_3m_-_beagi_cummins_-_doe_ssl_3m_meeting_presentation_10-9-17.pdf
2011 article: https://phys.org/news/2011-05-foldable-crease.html

[TheAmmoniacal]

Samsung pushed this phone early because of Huawei Mate X.

[Bud]

You are folding it wrong! (Steve Jobs would say)

[tocsa120ls]

I don't know what you're talking about, I always open my laptop by grabbing the lower and upper lid on all the corners (for undisclosed reasons I can't wear socks while doing this), then I open it up without putting no upward stress on the joint whatsoever... 

[Cnoob]

I wonder how well both the Samsung and Huawei will hold up in freezing weather conditions as the plastic will become more brittle?

[Barny]

I think this guy didnt show the procedure of peeling of the top layer because he did this on purpose and had to try very hard in doing this.
I think that the first phones died & first reports got out.
And soon after this manny of this youtuber damaged their phones on purpose to get more atention.
But there are some reports that the screen died even the top layer didnt got touched.

.

I thought that this type of phone will die soon.
But not that soon.
I thought it will take at least 6 month.
(Because in most countries at this point the consumer have to proove that the product got shipped faulty.)

As person which got enough problems with faulty flex-cables in moving / folding / sliding control panels I'd never buy a product were the flexing part isn'd exchangeable.
This means that a phone with an delicate screen like this is the best excample of planned obsolescence.

[open loop]

I bet someone in the industry has said "don't worry they will be working on a firmware fix for this"....

Or maybe not... 

 

[SilverSolder]

Why not have a regular screen on the outside of the device... so you only need to unfold it on the rare occasions when you need a bigger screen?

And a keyboard on the other "outside", so it could be used either as a large pad, a phone, or a small lappy.   That will be the $4,000 model...

[EEVblog]

I wonder how well both the Samsung and Huawei will hold up in freezing weather conditions as the plastic will become more brittle?

I wonder how long that hinge would last when tossed in my bag side pocket filled with crud

[SilverSolder]

Smartphones seem to have taken over the role that jewelry used to play...   Why not just make them in pure gold or platinum, with diamond studded "Home" keys...   put a $3,000 price tag on it...   simpler to make, and the owners will be even happier!

[MT]

undoubtedly yet another management fuckup!

[langwadt]

Smartphones seem to have taken over the role that jewelry used to play...   Why not just make them in pure gold or platinum, with diamond studded "Home" keys...   put a $3,000 price tag on it...   simpler to make, and the owners will be even happier!

you mean? https://www.valuewalk.com/2018/05/top-10-most-expensive-phones/

[EEVblog]

Seriously, 

[bitseeker]

Seriously, 

#notanengineer

[EEVblog]

Seriously, 

#notanengineer

Even my 4yo couldn't "record over" digital footage.

[Cnoob]

I wonder how long that hinge would last when tossed in my bag side pocket filled with crud

The reason why I own a cheap clam shell it gets treated like a bunch of keys and it still working,
My previous one was a Samsung and the hinge broke on that.

[bitseeker]

Seriously, 

#notanengineer

Even my 4yo couldn't "record over" digital footage.

"Record over" probably wasn't the best choice of words. He erased the footage out of embarrassment and reused the memory card. Net effect: recorded over.

Engineer: Woah, I just captured a major issue! Glad I was recording.

Not an engineer: Oops! I guess I shouldn't have have done that. I'll look like an idiot. *erase* Restart recording.

[Fungus]

He records his blog on VHS cassettes? 

Seriously, how do you record "over" something these days?

According to him there's two types of user: The obsessive-compulsive screen peelers and those who might have damaged their phones under "normal use".

D'ya think?


Guy's an idiot.

(or looking at the way he puts an Apple logo in front of himself in the video, a paid-for reviewer pretending to be a blogger)

[Fungus]

I want to know why the screen needs to flex in one of these?

Can't they do two ordinary screens side by side with a really narrow bezel on one edge and some sort of light pipe in the middle to hide the gap.

[Brumby]

"Narrow bezel" is not the same as "continuous screen".

[wilfred]

He records his blog on VHS cassettes? 

Seriously, how do you record "over" something these days?

It's just supposition people are making that he accidentally recorded over it. The way I read it is he thought it doesn't show anything interesting. Just his mistake peeling the top layer off. So he reused the card.

I am relying on my memory at this point but  he did it before he started hearing of others experiences then he had no reason to think it is anything other than his own mistake. It broke as soon as he tried peeling that layer off. It wasn't folding that broke his screen.

[Fungus]

"Narrow bezel" is not the same as "continuous screen".

If the screen is flexible they could maybe curve it downwards at the edge and project the pixels into the light pipe. Somebody at Samsung must be able to design a suitable lens for that. They already do those "edge to edge" phones with zero bezel.



It won't be easy. Maybe they need to bunch the pixels closer together at the edge of the display panel. All I'm saying is that it seems easier than making a display that bends (eight years research and counting...) and it would be a zillion times more reliable.

[MrMobodies]

If additional protective film can't be put over it because of the adhesive or chemicals how will stand a cleaning with a bit of alcohol or a damp cloth.

[EEVblog]

He records his blog on VHS cassettes? 
Seriously, how do you record "over" something these days?

It's just supposition people are making that he accidentally recorded over it. The way I read it is he thought it doesn't show anything interesting. Just his mistake peeling the top layer off. So he reused the card.

That's not how Youtubers operate.
They shoot footage and either manually or automatically upload all the content to a PC in a separate directory for each video. Most will have that backed up on NAS and/or cloud systems just in case.
Only an absolute fool would delete individual videos on the camera card in situ as the possibility of deleting the wrong one is high.
No Youtuber deletes individual clips like that as there is almost zero benefit in saving space compared to the project directory size.
And no Youtuber would bother to just delete a clip because they were embarrassed by it, especially one that obviously could have been a really big deal, even if you goofed it you'd keep it for posterity.
He uses a RED studio camera and his setup is about as advanced as you can get.
I'm not buying it.

[EEVblog]

"Record over" probably wasn't the best choice of words. He erased the footage out of embarrassment and reused the memory card. Net effect: recorded over.
Engineer: Woah, I just captured a major issue! Glad I was recording.
Not an engineer: Oops! I guess I shouldn't have have done that. I'll look like an idiot. *erase* Restart recording.

Nope, and if you were a content producer you'd understand why you wouldn't do that.