Galaxy Fold first look at Samsung's Unpacked

Samsung gave its foldable phone an official name and revealed when you can buy it. (Warning: It isn't cheap.)

By Elyse Betters Picaro, Managing Editor on Feb. 20, 2019

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Welcome to Unpacked 2019

Samsung is at Unpacked 2019, where it is unveiling its latest Galaxy devices. First up, it's talking about its foldable phone.

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Disclosure: ZDNet earns commissions from some of the products featured in this gallery.

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Galaxy F? Galaxy Flex? What will it be called?

Samsung first teased its foldable phone last November. We've been waiting -- ever so patiently -- for an update since.

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Say 'Hello' to Galaxy Fold

Here is it! It's officially called Galaxy Fold. Samsung is confirming the name and giving us a good look at the device, along with more details about what it features and when we can buy it.

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It has two modes

It's a chunky little thing when folded, eh? It features a 7.3-inch Infinity Flex Display and can have either a tablet-like screen when folded out (tablet mode) or a phone-like screen once folded (phone mode).

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'We changed the shape of tomorrow'

Samsung is really driving home the innovation factor now...

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It has a hinge

The Galaxy Fold has a backbone that consists of a hinge system with multiple interlocking parts. It's all hidden at the rear of the device.

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The phone display is quite small

The Galaxy Fold has a backbone that consists of a hinge system with multiple interlocking parts. It's all hidden at the rear of the device.

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Lots of options for taking pics

There's also a front dual camera shooter on the cover. It has a 10-megapixel sensor and 8-megapixel RGB depth sensor.

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What do you think of this final design?

It truly is a cool-looking device.

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But that tablet display is huge!

When folded out, you get a 7.3-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED display with a 1536 x 2152 resolution.

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Just stunning

It certainly looks like a tablet from this angle.

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Can you see it?

You can get a better glimpse of the hinge in this shot.

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Not one, but two batteries

Samsung said it's using two batteries with a 4,380mAh capacity. These are separated by the fold, although used together with Android.

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The future is now

The Galaxy Fold can run a total of three apps simultaneously.

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Notice the split-screen effect here

Samsung is using a continuity system that allows you to move between the tablet and phone modes.

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Supported apps at launch

Apps like WhatsApp, Microsoft Office, and YouTube will be optimised.

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Full Android support is promised

Samsung said it's working with Google so that Android will support the Galaxy Fold.

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This is a top-end device

And here's the full spec list.

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...With a top-end price

And now the price. Ouch. Galaxy Fold will start at $1,980 for 512GB of storage and 12GB of RAM.

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Won't have long to wait

Samsung hasn't confirmed when you can preorder, but the phone will launch on April 26, 2019. There will be an LTE model and a 5G variant. No word yet on whether there is a price difference there.

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