Foldable smartphones have reached their fifth major generation, as heralded by Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Fold 5, and...
Foldable smartphones have reached their fifth major generation, as heralded by Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Fold 5…
For me it’s definitely the durability concerns. I’ve valued my phone’s water and dust resistance since getting an ip67 phone years and years ago. My brother had a flip and a grain of sand in his pocket got under the display; when he closed the phone the display died. And they expect me to pay more for the privilege.
How would “I already have one” apply to a poll a poll specifically to find out why people who don’t have one haven’t gotten one? If you already have one, the poll isn’t for you.
I don’t see the point of it. It might be smaller in height when folded, but it’s twice as thick. That doesn’t make it any easier to pocket.
It also seems unnecessarily over complicated. The folding screen technology also doesn’t seem mature (high crease failure). I would think at least one or two phone companies would design them so they just met at a bezel-less seam rather than trying to actually fold an oled/lcd screen.
Same with me. I just don’t see the point. I can’t think of a situation where I need my screen to regularly get bigger or smaller. It might be helpful once in a while, but not enough to get a phone that does that.
The fact that there will always be a seam in the folding screen. If I feel it while swiping over it or there’s weird glare because the surface is uneven that would drive me bananas
I respect your opinion, but for me is it hardly a gimmick. I don’t need a tablet in my bag to view websites that aren’t compatible with mobile layouts, I have a tablet in my pocket whenever I want. Sure it’s not for everyone, just like iPhones vs Android, but the form factor of foldables absolutely solves the needs of some customers and I’m grateful there’s a line of products out there that fits my needs.
It took me a week or so to get used to the form factor but since then I can’t imagine going back to a slab. Different strokes for different folks.
I work with a lot of crappy websites and embedded systems. I can’t always carry a laptop, so a mobile device fits my use case very well. I also use my large screen to do split screen with two apps open at once, it makes taking notes and observations from videos and documentation a breeze.
The crease is still far too noticable for me. That and the outrageous price that some of these things close when they eventually make it to the shelves with the “Australia tax” applied to it.
Exactly this. I actually loved using the ZFold 4 when I tried it out, but losing the quality of the main cam and 10x zoom was a huge bummer for the price I was paying.
The Galaxy Note series used to have the absolute best cameras that would eventually come to the S line. If you’re going to charge a premium for a phone it needs to be the best.
Yeah, the price is definitely the big issue with those for me. I love the form factor (especially the ones that look like the flip phones of old), but I’m not paying triple what a regular phone with similar specs would be just for that.
doesn’t provide a benefit for me for the tradeoffs in smaller battery size, screen size, lower water resistence, lower durability, no open source documentation/parts to enable comsumer repairability
To contrast some of the comments here from people who’ve clearly never used one of these foldables outside of a display case, I’ve had my Fold 3 (the larger folding tablet style) for two years. I came from the Note and S lines, Windows Phone, and have bounced between iPhones. My Fold 3 is in great shape and has survived many falls. It’s definitely durable enough for me. I take care of it, but I get that some people don’t desire to take care of their devices and expect them to be exceedingly durable. Never had anything under the screen. Never take it to the beach unless it’s in a sealed ziplock. I take care not to put it in dusty environments or let sawdust or shavings get into it (hobbies).
Unfolded, it’s better than any other phone out there. Viewing videos enlarged or widescreen is great depending on video and application. During normal usage, the crease is not noticable enough to be a distraction unless viewed from a severe angle (think the person sitting next to you). Unfolded scrolling of Lemmy, the internet, and reading is a better experience than anything else out there - bar none, no argument. The screen is just huge and viewing websites in mobile or desktop is fantastic. It makes the web actually useable from a mobile device. I never use my Galaxy Tab anymore. Samsung does a pretty good job software-wise adapting apps to fit the foldable aspect ratio if a guveb app doesn’t officially support it. More apps are supporting foldables every day.
I would agree with the sentiment that the Z Flip line likely has a more gimmicky purpose. At least the Fold line functions as a tablet and is a decent phone folded up. At least, that is my experience with a Z Flip 3 before swapping for a Fold 3. But I’ll be buying foldables exclusively from here on out. After using the Fold 3 for two years, I can say it’s folding screen is definitely NOT a gimmick.
The question wether flips/folds are gimmicky or useful is a very personal one: I.e. for me the foldables seem excessive and flip phones finaly a way to get smaller phones.
The flips smaller size is awesome, but I think that positive is offset by the annoyance of having to open the phone the every time.
The fold I could see myself buying in a later gen. Once the hinge and screen are through a few more iterations I think I’ll buy one. The huge screen is just so nice. But folded up it shouldn’t be much heavier, larger, thicker than a normal phone, I already think modern phones are way too big as it is.
That’s kind of the magic of the flip, it forces you to purposefully decide to open your phone, so for some folks thats a benefit! Being more present in everyday life is something I was focusing on when I was considering the flip for my next phone. I ended up with a fold for other reasons, but that was one of the best benefits I was considering.
To double or more the storage for much cheaper than the internal storage upgrades cost… is that not enough? Even the folds don’t have more than 512gb and they cost over $1000. My sub $500 phone from years ago is running a 512gb SD card, which I can seamlessly slot into my next phone when I swap.
Sure, but why do you need Storage in the first place? I have always had less than 100gb and it’s plenty for all apps etc. Everything else goes in the cloud
Sure, let me pay the same I did for the SD card for half as much storage that will expire in a year ($40 for 200GB in GDrive). It’ll be super handy when I am on 250MB of cell data or have no reception at all and want to listen to my music in the cloud.
I don’t mind spending on good tools, but I won’t buy a highly locked down device at any cost. An open source OS is a must, any new device will have to compete with my current phone that also has an SD card, headphone jack and is easy enough to open so that I can change the battery myself. Folding phones are inferior in all those aspects.
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Too new, I’ll wait and pick one up further down the line when more they are more established.
Their poll doesn’t have the option of “I already have one”
Talk about selection bias.
How would “I already have one” apply to a poll a poll specifically to find out why people who don’t have one haven’t gotten one? If you already have one, the poll isn’t for you.
price and reliability
I don’t see the point of it. It might be smaller in height when folded, but it’s twice as thick. That doesn’t make it any easier to pocket.
It also seems unnecessarily over complicated. The folding screen technology also doesn’t seem mature (high crease failure). I would think at least one or two phone companies would design them so they just met at a bezel-less seam rather than trying to actually fold an oled/lcd screen.
Same with me. I just don’t see the point. I can’t think of a situation where I need my screen to regularly get bigger or smaller. It might be helpful once in a while, but not enough to get a phone that does that.
The fact that there will always be a seam in the folding screen. If I feel it while swiping over it or there’s weird glare because the surface is uneven that would drive me bananas
Huh… the folding. I’m already mad that I can’t get a solid 5 years out of a $1200 phone, there’s no way I’m shelling out for a first wave foldy.
We’re already in the 5th generation for Samsung, far from the first wave!
It’s a gimmick that makes phones less reliable and doesn’t add value to the experience.
I respect your opinion, but for me is it hardly a gimmick. I don’t need a tablet in my bag to view websites that aren’t compatible with mobile layouts, I have a tablet in my pocket whenever I want. Sure it’s not for everyone, just like iPhones vs Android, but the form factor of foldables absolutely solves the needs of some customers and I’m grateful there’s a line of products out there that fits my needs.
It took me a week or so to get used to the form factor but since then I can’t imagine going back to a slab. Different strokes for different folks.
I have literally never encountered the problem you’re describing.
I work with a lot of crappy websites and embedded systems. I can’t always carry a laptop, so a mobile device fits my use case very well. I also use my large screen to do split screen with two apps open at once, it makes taking notes and observations from videos and documentation a breeze.
Then you realize that your special niche case is uncommon to say the least.
Durability and the fact you still have to make significant cuts to battery life and cameras.
The crease is still far too noticable for me. That and the outrageous price that some of these things close when they eventually make it to the shelves with the “Australia tax” applied to it.
They don’t have the actual answer in their poll for me which is, you pay 1800 for the z fold but get the camera of the s23 basic model. Which is wild.
Give me the ultra cameras and I’ll buy it
Why? Are you in professional photography? All cameras after like 2020 are so good it hardly matters.
Source:I have a fold4
I use the 10x zoom frequently
Exactly this. I actually loved using the ZFold 4 when I tried it out, but losing the quality of the main cam and 10x zoom was a huge bummer for the price I was paying.
The Galaxy Note series used to have the absolute best cameras that would eventually come to the S line. If you’re going to charge a premium for a phone it needs to be the best.
Yeah, the price is definitely the big issue with those for me. I love the form factor (especially the ones that look like the flip phones of old), but I’m not paying triple what a regular phone with similar specs would be just for that.
doesn’t provide a benefit for me for the tradeoffs in smaller battery size, screen size, lower water resistence, lower durability, no open source documentation/parts to enable comsumer repairability
To contrast some of the comments here from people who’ve clearly never used one of these foldables outside of a display case, I’ve had my Fold 3 (the larger folding tablet style) for two years. I came from the Note and S lines, Windows Phone, and have bounced between iPhones. My Fold 3 is in great shape and has survived many falls. It’s definitely durable enough for me. I take care of it, but I get that some people don’t desire to take care of their devices and expect them to be exceedingly durable. Never had anything under the screen. Never take it to the beach unless it’s in a sealed ziplock. I take care not to put it in dusty environments or let sawdust or shavings get into it (hobbies).
Unfolded, it’s better than any other phone out there. Viewing videos enlarged or widescreen is great depending on video and application. During normal usage, the crease is not noticable enough to be a distraction unless viewed from a severe angle (think the person sitting next to you). Unfolded scrolling of Lemmy, the internet, and reading is a better experience than anything else out there - bar none, no argument. The screen is just huge and viewing websites in mobile or desktop is fantastic. It makes the web actually useable from a mobile device. I never use my Galaxy Tab anymore. Samsung does a pretty good job software-wise adapting apps to fit the foldable aspect ratio if a guveb app doesn’t officially support it. More apps are supporting foldables every day.
I would agree with the sentiment that the Z Flip line likely has a more gimmicky purpose. At least the Fold line functions as a tablet and is a decent phone folded up. At least, that is my experience with a Z Flip 3 before swapping for a Fold 3. But I’ll be buying foldables exclusively from here on out. After using the Fold 3 for two years, I can say it’s folding screen is definitely NOT a gimmick.
The question wether flips/folds are gimmicky or useful is a very personal one: I.e. for me the foldables seem excessive and flip phones finaly a way to get smaller phones.
The flips smaller size is awesome, but I think that positive is offset by the annoyance of having to open the phone the every time.
The fold I could see myself buying in a later gen. Once the hinge and screen are through a few more iterations I think I’ll buy one. The huge screen is just so nice. But folded up it shouldn’t be much heavier, larger, thicker than a normal phone, I already think modern phones are way too big as it is.
That’s kind of the magic of the flip, it forces you to purposefully decide to open your phone, so for some folks thats a benefit! Being more present in everyday life is something I was focusing on when I was considering the flip for my next phone. I ended up with a fold for other reasons, but that was one of the best benefits I was considering.
That’s where I think the larger ext. displays on this years flipables could help a lot…
Cost
durability
Size
difficult to repair (if not impossible)
lack of sdcard (on such a large body)
No open source ROMS
Why do you need SD cards in 2023? Most phones don’t have this?
To double or more the storage for much cheaper than the internal storage upgrades cost… is that not enough? Even the folds don’t have more than 512gb and they cost over $1000. My sub $500 phone from years ago is running a 512gb SD card, which I can seamlessly slot into my next phone when I swap.
Sure, but why do you need Storage in the first place? I have always had less than 100gb and it’s plenty for all apps etc. Everything else goes in the cloud
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Why need storage at all?
Have the thing connect to the Internet to do even basic tasks like answering the phone.
A mainframe of sorts.
For one thing- if you take lots of photos and videos.
Sure, let me pay the same I did for the SD card for half as much storage that will expire in a year ($40 for 200GB in GDrive). It’ll be super handy when I am on 250MB of cell data or have no reception at all and want to listen to my music in the cloud.
Just because it works for you means it should work for me? I want more storage than you need.
To carry the backup data to another phone If it fails.
To have my high quality music and movies with me, at all times.
I don’t mind spending on good tools, but I won’t buy a highly locked down device at any cost. An open source OS is a must, any new device will have to compete with my current phone that also has an SD card, headphone jack and is easy enough to open so that I can change the battery myself. Folding phones are inferior in all those aspects.