Published 13:14 IST, January 11th 2019
Samsung will showcase fully functional foldable Galaxy phone at February 20 Unpacked event
Rumour has it that Samsung showed off its foldable Galaxy phone to a few customers behind closed doors at CES 2019
It is official. Samsung will launch its 10th anniversary Galaxy S10 phones on February 20. The company is hosting simultaneous Galaxy Unpacked events in San Francisco and London on February 20 where it will launch its next-generation Galaxy S10 phones. Samsung will also show off a ‘fully functional’ foldable Galaxy phone during the Unpacked February 20 keynote, according to a WSJ report.
Rumour has it that Samsung showed off its foldable Galaxy phone to a few customers behind closed doors at CES 2019. The company did not apparently opt for a broader showcase – at CES 2019 – seemingly because the product was not ready for prime-time: there were alleged structural issues with the folding process. The prototype, which was also possibly shown off at CES 2019, was seen leaving a crease when folded into its single-hand mode. Which invariably means, it would just split into two at some point of time.
Samsung is now working to fix the issue and should be able to iron out the chinks in its armour ahead of Unpacked 2019. Samsung is, in fact, expected to start selling its foldable Galaxy phone sometime in H1 2019 but because the device would be so very difficult to make, only limited quantities – reportedly about a million units – will be made available for buying. Also, it wouldn't’t be made available for buying across the globe like its Galaxy S10 phones.
Unpacked 2019 will see Samsung launch as many as three Galaxy S devices: Galaxy S10 Lite (or the Galaxy 10 E), Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+. While the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ are said to be high-end premium phones, the Galaxy S10 Lite or Galaxy S10 E is expected to come with toned-down specs and a relatively more affordable pricing. All the Galaxy S10 phones will reportedly pack punch-hole selfie cameras (with the Galaxy S10+ said to pack two of those), with the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ expected to also pack in-display fingerprint scanners. Samsung is also expected to announce 5G-ready variants of its Galaxy S10 phones at Unpacked 2019. Samsung is also reportedly working on 5G variants of the Galaxy S10 that may launch later.
Updated 13:14 IST, January 11th 2019