Samsung Galaxy Fold: You can now pre-order your pre-order (not a typo)

Samsung’s biggest announcement of the year wasn’t the S10, but the Galaxy Fold. Despite the astronomical $1,980 price, early adopters will surely be lining in time for the April 26 release date. Starting Monday April 15, you’ll be able to pre-order the device. But because the device will be available in limited quantities, Samsung is now letting you reserve your spot in the pre-order line. You’re basically pre-ordering your pre-order, but thankfully, you needn’t put money down just yet

As a recap, the Fold has two displays. The larger display is hidden when folded, and on the outside there’s a small 4.6-inch for quick tasks like messaging and photos. Open the phone up, and you have a 7.3-inch panel for media and productivity. The specs are a bit higher than an S10 Plus, with a Snapdragon 855 or Exynos 9820, 12GB of RAM, and a total of six cameras. There’s also an S-Pen that should feel right at home on the larger panel.

Folding phones mean people will essentially be able to carry a tablet in their pockets (fitting your iPad mini in your cargo pants doesn’t count). We’ll have to see whether folding phones have staying power, but in the meantime, the Galaxy Fold is about to begin a whole new era of smartphone design. To place your pre-order, head on over here.

Samsung also says the Galaxy S10 5G will be available to pre-order soon. It’s even bigger than the S10+, and it’ll be one of the first 5G phones on the market. Specs include a massive 6.7-inch display, 8GB of RAM, 256/512 GB of storage, and a Snapdragon 855 or Exynos 9820. It’ll also include an addition depth-sensing camera on the rear for AR and video features.

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5G’s two big promises are ridiculous data rates and super low latency. 5G has a theoretical maximum of 10 gigabits per second, which is far faster even than most people’s home internet, let alone 4G. It means downloading high-resolution movies in a matter of seconds, not minutes. Meanwhile, latency reductions will allow devices to communicate in near-realtime, improving connections between smart devices and making mobile gaming more competitive.

Unfortunately, coverage will be too limited in most regions to make the difference over the regular S10 particularly notable – it’s likely 5G won’t really begin wide rollout until 2020. But you’ve got to start somewhere, I suppose. The S10 will be available to pre-order soon before its release in May.

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