T-Mobile gives Samsung Galaxy Fold a hard pass

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Galaxy Fold specs
T-Mobile has followed Kenny Rogers’ advice on knowing when to fold ‘em.
Photo: Samsung

T-Mobile was the first US carrier to commit to Samsung’s cutting-edge Galaxy Fold. Now it is un-committing. Perhaps that’s to be expected from the un-carrier.

This comes right after Samsung revealed that will finally ship its folding phone in September, months after it was originally scheduled.

You gotta know when to walk away

“T-Mobile will not carry the Galaxy Fold because we already offer customers a wide range of the latest smartphones,” a company spokesperson told The Verge.

It has also taken down a page dedicated to this device, though the Wayback Machine still remembers it.

AT&T, the only other US carrier to commit to this super-expensive model, told Engadget it’s working with Samsung. Whether this company will also change its plans is apparently still up in the air. This carrier cancelled customer pre-orders months ago. T-Mobile never took them.

Samsung plans to offer an unlocked version of the Galaxy Fold that will work with any of the Big 4 US carriers.

The troubled Samsung Galaxy Fold

There was a race on to see which company would come out with the first semi-mainstream folding phone. Clearly, this caused Samsung to rush the development of its offering, because many of the Galaxy Fold units loaned to the press this spring to write reviews failed almost immediately.

Samsung promises it has, “taken the time to fully evaluate the product design, make necessary improvements and run rigorous tests to validate the changes we made.”

Given its $1,980 price, the Galaxy Fold is always going to be for a select few. But it could be a harbinger of folding phones of the future. Apple is definitely exploring this concept, and might introduce one in 2021. This might have to wait in the release of flexible glass screens from Corning.

 

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