Bottom line: It's entirely possible that this is little more than an unfortunate coincidence although given the device's history, the odds aren't in that theory's favor. With the handset now available to the masses, we'll know soon enough whether or not this is an isolated incident.
Samsung's revised Galaxy Fold smartphone is out today in the US. In a recent piece, I advised waiting at least a week or two before parting with $1,980 in order to gauge the durability of Samsung's foldable flagship. One day in and well, things aren't looking so hot.
Brian Heater with TechCrunch received a review unit directly from Samsung. After roughly 27 hours with the device, however, he noticed a "brightly colored, amorphous blob" in the center of the screen. That's right, after just over one day with the new Galaxy Fold, the screen was already broken. Sound familiar?
The damage to the review unit is minimal compared to what happened to the first wave of samples months ago, but it is damage nevertheless. Considering Heater didn't drop the phone, dunk it in water or even "feed it after midnight," that's not reassuring.
Heater surmises that pressing the display to close the device caused the damage. In its defense, Samsung warns against applying pressure to the screen. "Just use a light touch," the company notes in its "Caring for your Galaxy Fold" video.
Images courtesy TechCrunch