The Mate X postponed by Huawei could now go on sale in October :Samsung is finally ready to sell its redesigned foldable phone this month

Months after putting the Galaxy Fold on ice, Samsung is finally ready to sell its redesigned foldable phone this month. The Fold is the first device of the company with a screen that folds in half, and also the first to go on the market of any major brand. (The Mate X postponed by Huawei could now go on sale in October). But the rush to hurt the Fold embarrassed the CEO of Samsung and questioned the durability of these very risky devices. It is a lesson that Samsung is unlikely to forget, and hopefully not to repeat.

Right after reviewing Fold's initial design, I said a folding phone is as good as the quality of its screen. That is because, more than with any other phone, the screen is the reason for the folding.

All its value is based on its ability to provide a meaningful experience on a larger screen than you can have with a 6.8-inch phone such as the Note 10 Plus, and on a surface that is half the size of a tablet. $ 2,000 is a lot to spend on a delicate piece of technology whose main asset is prone to gouges and worse.

Turns out I was half right. The integrity of the screen is only one element of the larger image. The Galaxy Fold did not have a rocky start just because the top layer of the plastic screen is softer than glass. The damage occurred because the entire design was weaker than it should have been, with the screen as the central point of failure.

The problems with the Galaxy Fold began almost immediately, when a handful of reviewers noticed three different problems that damaged the screen. There were lumps. There was blinking. And in more than one case, a protective layer that looked like a protection against common disposable dust turned out to break the screen when it was removed. The Galaxy Fold was more prototype than finished product, and it showed.

Samsung said it solved the Fold's problems by adding plastic and metal reinforcements at all times. It closed the air spaces where dirt can enter, strengthened the layers of the screen and made that crucial protective film difficult to remove. I went to practice with the renewed Galaxy Fold and found it more resistant than the first time.

It reminds me of the iPhone, Samsung's arch-rival on mobile devices. The reviews that date back to 10 years complement Apple's first-class build quality. The iPhone feels solid and cohesive. The buttons do not wobble in their housings. You don't see many holes where dust and crumbs get stuck.

Yes, the iPhone has experienced problems over the years (for example, Antennagate and Bendgate), but not on the scale of Samsung's public relations nightmares with the Galaxy Note 7 prone to fire and this delayed Galaxy Fold. Samsung took a risk in its search for being the first to be foldable, but in the end, it only pushed the company back. It would have been better to follow the example of Apple's building spirit.

Samsung's solutions for the Fold tell us a lot about the design to begin with. It is unknown if enough internal time was tested for problems to arise or if Samsung agreed to take shortcuts to meet its self-imposed deadline.

It has certainly been a costly mistake. Samsung had to spend more time and money to review the problems and solve them, cancel advance orders and credit initial buyers $ 250 each for their problems (this is what we know about Fold advance orders now). The company also seems to have reduced its sales expectations, eliminating its two best colors from the portfolio.

Meanwhile, competitors are watching and waiting to see what happens next. Huawei, LG, Motorola, TCL and Apple announced their intention to launch a foldable or rumored phone that are in the planning stages.

LG is also covering its folding phone bets with a case that converts a normal 6.4-inch LG G8X into a dual-screen device. These brands will surely avoid the same design weaknesses that lead to Fold screen problems in the first place

Now the trick is to see how well Samsung improvements work. Plastic caps and internal metal architecture can help keep the screen healthier this time, but it does not address other potential design problems, such as a large notch, an external screen that is too small to write comfortably, and a reader of fingerprints that is uncomfortable to use when the crease is closed.

Samsung may have corroborated the most obvious mistakes of the Galaxy Fold, but I'm already eager to see what better folding design next time.

Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment.