You don't have to remove the front wheel - and the fold is a 10sec job. very easy and straightforward. See
here for demo (albeit rather more violent than my usual folding routine. Gloves aren't necessary. Since buying, I spent a fair part of a year on a mad multimode commute that at times involved multiple (packed) trains and had to fold and refold, and had no problems at all.
Definitely worth having a ride. A quality bike, that is well priced for what you get - manufacturing standards are high, finish is pretty much unscratchable (anodised, not powder coated), luggage system that is more elegant and more practical (I think) than the Brompton. All together very well thought out. Could do with an extra top gear, but I sorted by replacing the rear hub with a Capreo hub and smaller Capreo cassette. The bike as been around for about 3 years now, and has been slowly upgraded, so is a fairly well tested concept, with a fair few around in London. Although the stem looks odd, its practical and well engineered - providing a better fold and more space in the cockpit. Again, worth trying out before criticising.
As I've said in other threads, the comparator here is the Birdy, not the Brompton - its like a hard tailed Birdy,which is not a bad thing. Indeed a Birdy riding friend (who grew up on road bikes and) prefers its ride.
I generally discount A to B on the basis that they overate Bromptons and their reviews can sometimes be a bit um unreliable. Peter Eland was incredibly generous in his review in
Velovision a couple of years back. (For those who haven't subscribed yet, Velovision is by far the best cycling mag out there by some way)