PERFORMANCE: Overall the Samsung Galaxy Fold did well but was not among our top scorers. Many users will be satisfied with its performance especially if you're looking for a mid-range smartphone. Ease of use on the Galaxy Fold was excellent. The touchscreen's use of menus, web browser, camera, buttons, and unlocking the phone were top notch. You should be able to comfortably hold the phone and use its buttons and touchscreen easily. Performance of the Galaxy Fold was excellent. The maximum upload and download speeds and tested processor performance were very fast. You should be able to accomplish most tasks with no delays. Call quality and convenience on the Galaxy Fold were not the best but they were very good. Sound while on a call was very good in a quiet room and with background noise. Your sound quality will vary due to many factors including background noise, if you are moving between cell towers, the quality of the phone on the other end of the call, and the quality of the cell tower and antenna.
DURABILITY: Overall, the durability of the Galaxy Fold was Fair. The phone scored a Fair on our scratch resistance test. This phone failed our tumble test. The tumble test results are as follows: After 50 drops in the tumbler, our experts rated it as Excellent. The phone was tested and scored folded and came out with only a few scratches. We also tested it open and again, it had only a few scratches. Overall, it was in good working condition. After our more strenuous 100 drops in the tumbler the screen proved to be rather fragile. Our experts rated it only Fair. When tested folded, the backside glass broke. But when tested unfolded it emerged with only a few scratches. We used the folded test results in our scoring. For this phone, a protective case is a must have.This phone passed our rain test where a gentle rain falls on the phone for 5 minutes. This phone is not IP rated for water intrusion and was not tested for that.
PORTABILITY/BATTERY: The 7.3-inch screen on the Galaxy Fold comes in a body measuring 6.3-inches tall, 2.5-inches wide, 0.7-inches thick, and weighs 9.8 ounces. Those measurements mean the phone is narrower than most and also the phone is taller and heavier than most. At 31 hours, it has an above average battery lifespan. Its battery is not removable but the phone does support wireless charging.
CAMERA: The main rear camera on the Samsung Galaxy Fold measures 12-megapixels. The camera has optical image stabilization to improve your chances of taking better handheld photos under low-light conditions. Overall the camera performance was very good. The main camera is among our top performers for shooting stills. Images are evaluated on high quality LCD displays. The test photos are taken in a brightly lit studio and in a controlled studio simulating sunlight. In the viewing tests the images were rated very good overall. These images are among the best results for color quality, exposure level, sharpness, and image noise. The Galaxy Fold comes with a 10-megapixel selfie cam. Overall the selfie camera quality was very good.
DISPLAY: Overall the display quality was very good. The display resolution was high enough, close to or greater than 300dpi, so you see a smooth, crisp display but it didn't appear quite as crisp as our best displays. If the display does have a higher resolution, most people will not be able to tell the difference. Readability outdoors is a combination of brightness, measured in candelas per square meter, and reflectivity. The readability rating was good. The maximum brightness level measured 1 meter from the screen was a little dim for outdoor sunlight at 330cd/m² and reflective glare was slightly noticeable.
