Samsung’s new $2,000 smartphone doesn’t go on sale until next week — yet it’s already falling apart.
Numerous tech reviewers who received the $1,980 Galaxy Fold — known for its unique foldable screen as well as its hefty price tag — are now reporting that their devices are breaking.
Reporters from outlets like Bloomberg, The Verge and CNBC all took to Twitter to share photos of how their supposedly-flexible screens were blacking out or breaking at their hinges.
“The screen on my Galaxy Fold review unit is completely broken and unusable just two days in,” Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman tweeted Wednesday.
Attached to the tweet was a photo of the phone with two-thirds of the 7.3-inch screen blacked out.
“When I tap the screen as well with the top of my finger and the fingernail hits it (very common), it also leaves a seemingly permanent indent,” Gurman tweeted shortly thereafter. “There is a very small tear at the top part of the hinge and after I poked at it, the screen got worse.”
Other tech reviewers complained of phones with flickering screens.
Multiple reviewers tied the problem to a thin plastic layer over the screen that they thought was a screen protector— leading them to remove it when they were not supposed to.
The disturbing reviews come as the Fold, which was unveiled in February, gets ready to hit stores next week. It recently sold out of preorder units, Samsung said.
The phone features a tablet-sized 7.3-inch display that bends, allowing it to fold to the size of a regular smartphone with a 4.6-inch screen.
Samsung claims that the Fold’s hinge can withstand 200,000 holds. But so far it’s looking like it can hardly withstand two days.
Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It’s not the South Korean phone maker's first embarrassing phone launch. Back in 2016, the company was forced to halt sales of its Galaxy Note 7 because the phone’s battery had been overheating, catching fire and blowing up in customers’ pockets.
This story originally appeared in the New York Post.
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