Three reasons why Samsung’s new folding phone should be a smash hit

But my guess is, as soon as August 18, which is when this very appealing little phone goes on sale.

The Galaxy Z Flip5 solves two of the three big issues that have plagued Samsung’s pocketable folding phone since its first release in 2020, and a new repair and returns policy should go a long way to resolving the third.

Third issue first: folding OLED screens still aren’t as durable as non-folding, glass-coated screens, and the screen protectors that help make them more durable have a tendency to bubble and peel off after months of heavy usage.

Only time will tell whether Samsung has done enough to improve the durability and adhesion of its screen and screen protector with the Flip5 and the Fold5.

The company says the screen/screen protector is now 20 per cent “tougher” than the screen on previous models, but whether this added toughness applies only to scratches, and not to cracks and bubbles, isn’t yet clear.

But what is clear is that, in Australia at least, it’s going to be much easier to resolve the problem. Samsung says that most people should be able to walk into a store and do an immediate swap for a new phone.

For most people, this should inspire confidence that the issue is solved in an economic sense, if not necessarily (though maybe?) in a technology sense.

The solutions to the other two problems are much more fun.

The Flip5 now has a 3.4-inch screen on the outside that covers much of one side of the folded phone, making it vastly more usable than previous models.

You can’t use that outside screen to run regular Android apps, but at the time of launch there will be a dozen or so Samsung widgets that can run with the phone closed, with the promise of many more to come when third-party developers release versions of their apps that follow Samsung’s new style guidelines.

One of the key market segments keen on bigger outside screens will be influencers (the folding shape combined with the outside screen makes flip phones ideal for selfies and selfie videos) and if influencers are in any way true to their job title, that should flow on to many more sales among mere mortals, too.

Which is to say, a bigger outside screen is big news, and that one improvement alone will be enough to tip the purchase decision for numerous buyers.

The other problem the Flip5 solves is slightly related to durability, but mainly solves an aesthetic issue with previous models.

Prior to the Galaxy Z Flip5 (and the same is true for the Fold5), Samsung’s folding phones didn’t close fully. They closed at the edge farthest from the hinge, but at the hinge there was always a small gap.

Partly that was a problem because it could allow dust, or even keys, into the phones to damage that all-too-sensitive folding OLED display.

But mostly it was a problem because it looked kind of naff, like Samsung hadn’t yet figured out how to make phones fold the way nature intended them to fold.

Because, mark my words, nature does intend phones to be folding. They are such a good and compelling idea, it’s only a matter of time before we all have one.

August 18. Mark it in your calendar. That’s when nature’s unstoppable force will be on full display, all 3.4 inches of it.

But also, come back in a week or so, to see if I’ve changed my tune.

John Davidson is at the Unpacked event in Seoul, South Korea as a guest of Samsung