You’ve Got to Know When to Fold ‘Em

At its flagship phone event this week in San Francisco, Samsung announced not one but four different versions of the new Galaxy S10: A phone with a 6.1-inch display, a plus-sized model, a “less expensive” version of the phone, and a handset that will support 5G networks when it ships. But the most interesting part of the launch was undeniably Samsung’s reveal of its new foldable phone, the Galaxy Fold. It wasn’t the very first time this phone was shown off, but this time around Samsung showed a demo, shared a ship date, and announced that it would cost a whopping $1980. How will a foldable phone fit into our lives? How does any super-expensive smartphone fit into our lives (and our budgets) these days? These are a couple of the questions we had for Axios chief tech correspondent Ina Fried, who has tracked the mobile industry for more than a decade and who joined us on this week’s Gadget Lab podcast. Ina brought nearly half a dozen phone models with her to compare to the new Samsung wares, and, even though it was visual demonstration on an audio podcast, you’re not going to want to miss this. Show notes: You can read all about Samsung’s new phones here, along with all of the other hardware Samsung announced this week. Here’s Brian Barrett’s story on the folding phone. If you’ve already made up your mind to order one of the new Galaxy S10 phones, here’s how to do it. Recommendations: Ina recommends seeing The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, as well as the third and final installment in the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy. Arielle recommends the astrology app Co-Star, especially if you’ve deleted Facebook and are having trouble keeping track of birthdays. Lauren recommends Purple Carrot, a vegan-friendly meal-kit service. Send the Gadget Lab hosts feedback on their personal Twitter feeds. Arielle Pardes can be found at @pardesoteric. Lauren Goode is @laurengoode. Michael Calore can be found at @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. Our theme song is by Solar Keys. How to Listen You can always listen to this week’s podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here’s how: If you’re on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts, and search for Gadget Lab. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed. If you use Android, you can find us in the Google Play Music app just by tapping here. You can also download an app like Pocket Casts or Radio Public, and search for Gadget Lab. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed. We’re also Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices