It's unusual for a phone as new as the Galaxy Fold to be so battle-worn. In the course of its short life, the foldable phone went from the pinnacle of hype for our collective mobile future to cautionary tale about companies that rush to sell radical, under-tested technology.

The Galaxy Fold's extra-large display is excellent for watching videos, photos and reading, and it makes for an excellent second screen; It proves that a foldable phone can be truly useful and not just a gimmick

Design problems abound; Its 7.3-inch screen is too fragile and the 4.6-inch display is too small to be effective; Battery life is short; Multitasking could become more intuitive; At $1,980, the Fold is overpriced; It lacks water- and dust-resistance.

The Galaxy Fold is now available in the U.S, shortly after selling out in Korea during its initial debut.It brings a new smartphone experience centered on what Samsung calls "a new dawn in display technology." The company pitches the Fold as being "phone and tablet" in one device.

Next-generation visual comfort; Highly innovative product; Excellent camera

Larger screen reduces battery life; A bit heavy; Expensive

The Samsung Galaxy Fold comes with too many compromises to justify its sky-high price. It's too expensive, too fragile, and too niche for us to recommend. U nless you're an exceptionally gentle early adopter and willing to drop $2,000 on what is very clearly first-generation hardware, you'll get...

Solid performance; Excellent battery life; Nano SIM and eSIM support; Comes with Galaxy Buds

Expensive; Questionable durability; Unfolded display is hard to see in direct sunlight; Front display has huge bezels; Lots of bloatware on AT&T version

Let's be clear, no other smartphone in years has inspired me as much as the Samsung Galaxy Fold in a review. Yes, the smartphone is very expensive, yes once folded it is thick enough and yes we do not yet know the durability of this type of device.

Concept and realization; A tablet in smartphone format; Battery life; Performances

Small second screen; Extreme fragility; No waterproofing; Very high price

The Galaxy Fold is a sign of things to come, but you should wait for the next one

Speedy performance; Solid multitasking features; The 7.3-inch expansive screen is great for reading; watching videos; Good battery life; Folding it up is satisfying

Expensive; The front screen looks ugly and is too small; Worries about durability haven't been assuaged

Given all the bad press from its false start earlier this year, the enthusiasm for the first mainstream foldable phone to hit the market had certainly dimmed a little. Perhaps that's why I now find the Galaxy Fold a surprisingly handy phone on the go.

There's no doubt that there's room for the Galaxy Fold to evolve, to improve on the experience. We originally questioned the tablet-esque size of the display and thought we wanted a phone that got more compact like the new Moto Razr , but the Samsung's glorious big display experience sells itself...

Huge display is vibrant and sharp; Good battery life; Cameras everywhere; Sensible software adaptation; Galaxy Buds in the box; Engineered to fits neatly into a pocket

Cameras aren't class-leading; Exterior display is too small; Display notch feels unnecessary; Screen crease is visible from some angles; Very expensive

The Galaxy Fold delivers a ‘wow' factor that no other phone offers today, and yet we'd only recommend it to early adopters with a penchant for impressing their peers, and who have money to burn.

Supremely cool form factor; Gaming taken to the next level; Samsung's biggest battery

Outrageously expensive; Vulnerable plastic screen

After months of delays, the Samsung Galaxy Fold is finally ready to be released . After initial models broke, Samsung has tweaked the design slightly and it looks like the issues might have been sorted.

The Fold is innately compelling, truly innovative and impossibly expensive.

Versatile and unique form-factor; Great specs and performance; Makes you think about how you use your phone

Ridiculously expensive; Inconsistent app continuity; Limited durability