Samsung Unveils New Foldable Phone, Costs $1,980

Samsung’s long-awaited foldable phone is finally here — and it costs $1,980, or more than the price of a MacBook Pro.

The South Korean tech giant unveiled the Galaxy Fold with foldable screen Wednesday in San Francisco to ring in the 10th anniversary of its Galaxy line of smartphones.

code: The Fold 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.

The added screen space allows for multi-tasking with three apps at once — as demoed Wednesday by Samsung execs who showed off their ability to use the device to watch YouTube, chat on WhatsApp, and browse Google all at once.

But the Fold’s $1,980 price tag drew audible gasps and laughs from the assembled audience in the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.

It also drew jeers on Twitter.

“Wouldn’t pay 500$ for this bulky contraption,” one Twitter user said. “No one needs to spend their time on 3 apps. Do one damn thing at a time.”

“My prediction is that the $2000 #SamsungFold will be the biggest flop in phone history,” another tweet read.

A 13-inch MacBook pro with 128GB storage costs as little as $1,299, or $681 less than the new Samsung device, which will hit stores on April 26.

Samsung launched the new gadget, which can be used as a tablet or phone, as mobile phone makers struggle to add new and exciting features to attract consumers to drop their old devices.

Samsung launched a slew of other devices on Wednesday, including the Galaxy S10 phone, which features a true edge-to-edge display with a small cutout in the corner for its two front-facing cameras.

Samsung’s new flagship phone also comes with an invisible, first-of-its-kind fingerprint sensor built under the display — rather than on a piece of plastic that covers the display, like on the iPhone.

The new Samsung phone features a built-in wireless charger, which allows the S10 to use its own battery to charge other Qi-certified devices.

The S10 comes in four different models, the standard S10 and S10+, the compact, cheaper S10e and future-focused S10 5G with a mammoth 6.7-inch display that is able to operate on the super-fast 5G networks that are being developed by wireless carriers.

Samsung also expanded its line of wearables, including a pair of wireless earbuds, dubbed Galaxy Buds, designed to take on Apple’s uber-popular AirPods.

But Samsung’s buds undercut Apple’s price $159 price by $30.

The gadget-maker also rolled out an update to the Galaxy Watch, and unveiled a new fitbit-like fitness tracker called the Galaxy Fit.

Source: Nypost