Samsung unveils up-close and personal look at Galaxy Fold hours after Huawei Mate X announcement

Samsung has shared a much closer look at its all-new foldable smartphone. The latest video (embedded below), which shows the hinged 7.3-inch so-called Infinity Flex Display opening and closing, was published on the Seoul-based company's official YouTube channel.

The video surfaced a few hours after rival Huawei announced its take on the foldable smartphone phenomenon, Huawei Mate X. Unlike the Galaxy Fold, the Mate X display folds around the outside of the hinge. That means the OLED is always open to the elements and could be more likely to suffer scuffs and scratches. 

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However, keeping the folding display on the inside means Samsung had to fit its Galaxy Fold with a second touchscreen so the device could still be used as a phone even when the 7.3-inch Infinity Flex display is folded and safely stowed. 

Since the fold takes place on the inside and the new breed of pliable displays aren't able be flat completely, the Galaxy Fold has to keep a small gap on the inside of the hinge. That's not something you'll see on its Huawei counterpart, since the screen is on the outside of the hinge and therefore never needs to be folded completely flat.

We already knew these details about the Samsung Galaxy Fold, but we hadn't seen them with our own eyes. Until now, the futuristic foldable has only appeared in a boxy case to disguise its looks, a slick product video shown at the Galaxy Unpacked keynote in which the Galaxy Fold was almost entirely obscured in darkness, or a blink-and-you'll-miss-it venture outside of the pocket of a Samsung executive.

In comparison, the latest YouTube clip shows the smartphone performing a number of new functions, including launching Netflix and a number of mobile games.

Watch the full video below:

Samsung’s DeX software even makes an appearance in the video. Like the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S10 before it, the Galaxy Fold can connect to an external display via USB-C and use the Android apps installed on your smartphone in a windowed desktop-like experience. Unlike the Galaxy S smartphones, which could connect via a Samsung-built stand for the phone, the Galaxy Fold is just laid flat on the table.

The new video also clearly shows the selfie cameras included in the top right-hand corner of the Infinity-Flex display. The cameras are housed in a small cut-out that looks like the sweeping fringe of someone who listens to Panic At The Disco. 

Samsung has previously confirmed the Galaxy Fold will have a 10-megapixel selfie camera, coupled with an 8-megapixel depth-sensing camera to enabled Live Focus photographs, which add an artificial, adjustable bokeh-style blur to the background.

We also get to see the different colour variations of the Galaxy Fold a lot more clearly. It ships in Space Silver, Cosmos Black, Martian Green and Astro Blue.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold will cost €2,000 in Europe and will be available May 3, 2019. That's a little later than the US launch date, which is scheduled for April 26, 2019. Unfortunately, there's no word yet on the UK pricing, but it's safe to assume you won't get much change from £2,000.

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