China’s answer to the Samsung foldables more like
Apple is standing outside on the street watching the conversation through the window
Huawei had concept devices running before Samsung afaik
Foldable phones have been around for a while. I suspect they are an impractical novelty item.
A friend enjoys their Motorola razer a lot, the bigger ones seem a bit like a laptop replacement to me. The screens look really fragile though they really need to figure out a way to make a foldable glass to up the durability
They definitely are, which is why I’ve never seriously considered getting one after the initial hype died down. Its a neat concept, but getting stuck with $2,000 paperweight is not.
the price is definitely a big issue too. if it was like 500 bucks for a large screen (razr isnt my vibe, slab is fine, folding out to a big screen seems somewhat useful) id consider it
I’ve had folding phones for the last ~4 years and haven’t noticed any fragility. Only one I broke was when it fell out of my pocket when I fell off my one wheel, but I think that would’ve destroyed any phone.
I think the inner screens are probably more durable then glass as they’re plastic and can bend a bit without shattering like glass does. They’re more vulnerable to scratches but that’s what the screen protectors for
They are extremely fragile, even if you haven’t noticed. The folding screen will just fail after a limited number of cycles due to material fatigue, this is pretty much unavoidable. It’s a cool but inherently stupid design, at least with current material science.
Take back foldable phones, return to me a sideways slide-out qwerty phone please
They always have been
Had a razr for many years now, I like them as they fit in my pocket easier and they’re easier to prop up to watch videos or take pictures. Also the smaller folded screen is less distracting
I have had my Honor Magic V5 for a year now. It is a novelty item but with many practical uses.
What I like:
- I have a mini tablet with me at all times which is convenient when I want to read, edit or watch something. For example there were times when I had to fill a PDF and it is far more usable than on a standard smartphone.
What I don’t like:
- the retail price but I luckily I didn’t have to pay it and got a decent discount (~40%) on it
Our hallowed iPhone
Your authoritarian “device.”
Seriously “device” like it’s not obviously a thing they’d call a “gadget” or even drop the brand name (free press!) if it were made by Apple or Microsoft
They’re wouldn’t want you to look up the name to buy the thing, now would they?
I’m always tempted by foldables, but I feel like I’d mostly end up using the outside screen and rarely unfolding it. Most of the time I grab my phone I think I’m doing something quick. If I plan to do something more time consuming, I’ll use a laptop, PC or tablet.
If I mostly use the outside screen I’m carrying a thicker phone with a worse screen and smaller battery.
I would never get a foldable if it isn’t for the purpose of making the phone smaller, not the screen larger.
Has anyone used one of these foldables? Is it good?
I constantly find myself wishing I had a tablet for about half the stuff I do on my phone.
my mam got one and it broke after about 6 months
Oof. That makes sense tbh.
My parents as well got one and that crease was so noticeable that the phone would literally creak if you open it.
I have a OnePlus Open and I love it. I’ve had it for three years. The inner screen broke on the first one because of a high fall onto concrete that bent the hinge. Easily got a total device replacement. That was more than two years ago and the current one is great, absolutely no issues with the folding or inner screen (though the charging port is finicky).
It’s extremely useful for getting a lot of work done that would otherwise be impossible on a normal phone. Since I don’t have my own computer, it’s a necessity.
I wish I could get it off of Android or that there was a Fairphone equivalent. It’ll be hard to go back once this one kicks the bucket, but I’m resolutely against a Google, Samsung, or Apple phone, and OnePlus doesn’t release these for the US anymore.
Why not get a cheaper phone and also a laptop/tablet? I can’t imagine doing serious work on a touch display for more than 10 minutes. Besides input frustrations, the craned neck and eye strain would destroy me.
Mainly because it being a single device that fits in my pocket is really useful and convenient. I don’t want to carry around a tablet in a big with me at all times - I want to have one available by flipping my phone open. It also avoids the digital separation of two devices with different data, interfaces, etc. And it’s a convenient, easy experience. I can view something on the small screen, and if it needs more attention or scrutiny, open it up and view it on the big screen.
I have a Motorola razr 2024 I got for like 120 used off Facebook marketplace a few months ago
It’s fine. The small outer screen is a gimmick.
I’ll hold on to this for another year or two and pray I don’t break, before switching to a high quality Chinese phone off of AliExpress or something
Motorola has been sus since the original razr. I had two and the quality was really shoddy which is a shame coz apart from the keyboard cracking on both the ones I had I did like them.
I like them personally and am planning to get Apple’s offering.
You make a lot of design tradeoffs to get access to a folding large screen. Yes it’s soft, you need to keep sand away from it, etc. However, it’s just… really nice for web browsing and media consumption especially in the Apple aspect ratio.
But durability really isn’t the killer people say it is. One doesn’t just buy the phone, you are supposed to get the first party AppleCare/SamsungCare so you get it replaced for no additional cost if the hardware fails.
Yes it’s kind of a shitload of money. No it’s not really “worth it” for most people. But if it’s in the disposable income budget, and it makes your day about 1% less depressing, I mean get what you like.
One doesn’t just buy the phone, you are supposed to get the first party AppleCare/SamsungCare so you get it replaced for no additional cost if the hardware fails.
So they invented an even more fragile phone to basically force you to get their warranty subscription on top of the $2000 price tag? That just sounds like some late capitalism enshittification.
I have had them for almost a decade now, started with the Samsung fold, then a oneplus open, and now back to Samsung. They are gimmicky and the price is high but they legitimately work as phones and tablets at the same time and there’s something seriously transformative of having one device do the job of two.
I am expecting that after apple launches their’s I’ll have multiple friends talking about how innovative Apple is, but really the issue is that the west is limited in manufacturers: I’m switching from Oneplus because they are ending north America distribution, leaving us with Google Pixel, Motorola, Samsung, and (future) Apple. Meanwhile China/SE asia has Oppo, Oneplus, Vivo, Honor, and the other flagships. I’ve had a great enough experience that I’m not switching back to a “normal” phone, but it does feel like the companies don’t see it as a priority.
I have an Honor Magic V5 which I bought a year ago. So far so good. I like that when I need a tablet it can become one which has come useful when I need to fill in a PDF, or edit a document, watch something, or open two or more apps side by side. Most of the time I use it as a regular phone.
Carrying a phone and a tablet is cheaper, but most of the time you can’t carry both with you.
This is the Huawei Mate XT2, the second Huawei trifold. Huawei’s second answer in as many years to Apple’s nonexistent foldable that if released is still nowhere close to this.
