How does everyone here feel about foldable phones?

Previously on Lemmy:

Past Discussions:

Well, as promised, we are talking foldable this week. The excitement is palpable, and it looks like the rest of our mod team have already started the conversation here. Go check it out.

I honestly don’t know very much about foldable phones, so I’ll let the rest of our (very smart and knowledgeable) mod team handle this one this week. :)

Last thing for future reference at the end of the week, we also have a great thread discussing foldables here too, go check it out if you want more great discussions.

SmoothSurfer,

Fuck them

hubobes,
@hubobes@lemmy.world avatar

I need one which comes with /e/OS or at least has proper support for it.

Also the Z Flip form-factor seems to be the only reasonable.

Chickenstalker,

I went to the Samsung™ store and fondled their latest foldable phones lineup. Even on the demo models, you could clearly see the crease. It will only get worse as you use it. I think there is a market for folding phones but as separate screens, i.e. 2 or more panels side by side. If you gonna have a crease, might as well separate the screens.

MeanEYE,
@MeanEYE@lemmy.world avatar

I doesn’t get worse as you use it and you stop seeing crease after two days of use. It’s there just like camera cutout or bezel is. Just another part of device you start ignoring, just like you don’t notice your nose most of the time.

ExtremeDullard,
@ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

What I want a phone to be:

  • Thick with a (reasonable) bezel, so I can grab it easily and not activate the touchscreen at the edges of the screen
  • Reasonably usable with one hand
  • Sturdy, somewhat shock-proof and waterproof
  • As serviceable / repairable as possible
  • Long battery life (not use time, life of battery before it needs replacing)
  • Built to last

Basically everything a foldable phone isn’t.

001100010010,
@001100010010@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Sturdy, somewhat shock-proof and waterproof

As serviceable / repairable as possible

Yea those two are a bit tough to find together on a phone. I mean you have fairphones which are very repairable, but it’s only splash resistant, not submerge resistant.

But I found this phone called Nokia XR21 which is $499 and is has IP rating of IP68/IP69K and it’s build as a rugged phone which is very resistant to drops. 6.49 inch display and has a 3.5mm headphone jack! No removable battery tho. It has 3 years of OS updates and 4 years of monthly security updates. Personally this phone looks great to me, but this is a midrange and they don’t make flagships so I went with a Samsung Galaxy S23.

ExtremeDullard,
@ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

I have a Ulefone Armor 3W . It’s MIL-STD-810: built like a tank and waterproof. And that ain’t no marketing: I dropped that thing on the road while riding my bike so many times, and it just doesn’t care. And I use it regularly to take photos underwater. It’s fairly repairable too: it’s held together with a truckload of little Torx screws, but once they’re all out, the innards are easily accessible - and from what I can see, the battery easily replaceable.

My only problem with that thing is, it’s not deGoogled. And it’s Ulefone, so there’s a non-zero chance that it’s running Chinese spyware too.

So I retired it, much to my chagrin, and I’m currently rocking a Fairphone 4 running CalyxOS. I’m a bit more careful not to drop that one, and I can live without the waterproofness. Small price to pay to free myself from Google’s corporate surveillance to some extent.

MeanEYE,
@MeanEYE@lemmy.world avatar

Then get FairPhone.

Rooki,
@Rooki@lemmy.world avatar

Foldable phones have the problem with the hinge and that the display is not very suited for constant folding. I would think those phones will even last half of a normal phones lifetime aka 2 years and thats profit for the Companies!

MeanEYE,
@MeanEYE@lemmy.world avatar

Am not sure if you own a foldable, but that comment kind of sounds like you don’t. Inner screen is not a problem and hinges are quite well built. Devices have other issues but inner screen is not one of them. Mine is some 8-9 months old at the moment and there isn’t a single scratch on that inner screen. By now pretty much every phone I had would get at least tiny scratches, regardless of the fact they are made from better material.

Whether it would last 2+ years, I’d say they would by the feeling alone but your guess is as good as mine, however I don’t see rampant complains online of people saying first versions dying on them. Whole hardware is sturdy and feels good as new after almost a year of daily use. I do know Samsung says first inner screen replacement is 10$ or so and they take the hit for most of the price. My device is also insured but I am not sure I need it really.

Oneobi,

If they can somehow shove in an spen I’d be sold.

Damn spen has me hooked on Samsung. Its such a killer feature that is so underused by the masses.

Only yesterday did it bail me out of a password issue on my Jap PlayStation account via its translation feature. Totally seamless.

But yah, needs internal housing since I choose to not rock a case.

MeanEYE,
@MeanEYE@lemmy.world avatar

To me they are necessary evil. I currently have Fold4 and use it as a replacement for my laptop since I have to be available 24/7 or close to that. I grew tired of lugging my laptop everywhere, which admittedly is very lightweight but charger, bag, accessories and the rest are not. So I decided to give Fold + bluetooth keyboard a shot at replacing my laptop which worked and I can get away with 85-90% of my work from my phone. Not as comfortable as laptop or desktop, but it’ll do.

Biggest downsides are that I can’t use my phone (easily) for navigation. One would think with such big screen that would be even easier, but naah. Mounting foldable phone is near impossible. It can be done in a car where you just buy tablet mount and you are good, but I don’t drive a car.

For me it’s been a game of tradeoffs. I gain some, lose some. At times it’s awesome on other times it’s annoying. Big screen and pen come very handy when signing documents for work or giving instructions to developers by drawing on screen shots. At the same time it’s heavy and bulky. Note series from Samsung was pretty much spot on what I needed, but they turned that into S2x Ultra, which I think would be too big for me, but I might change my opinion.

Everything else am fine with and I can get use to weight and all. Samsung needs to do few things for me to be happy. Pen needs to fit in the phone itself, lugging it around as addon to your phone case is not an option. Make a slim case which grips corners only like they did with S7 Edge series, this would solve all of my mounts and protection problems. Weight loss would be welcome but I can live with that.

ljdawson,
@ljdawson@lemmy.world avatar

After my flip 3 broke not so positive.

MargotRobbie,
@MargotRobbie@lemmy.world avatar

Hi LJ!

ljdawson,
@ljdawson@lemmy.world avatar

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/366214e3-d583-4fd8-ae47-4ee64befbb5e.mp4

clueless_stoner, (edited )
@clueless_stoner@lemmy.world avatar

How’d it broke? I have a flip 3 since it came out and its upper case fell out, but phone’s not broken yet lol

ljdawson,
@ljdawson@lemmy.world avatar

Whenever you open and close the screen flickers. Half the time when you open it doesn’t realise…

Rooki,
@Rooki@lemmy.world avatar

And you probably cant get it repaired. As those are declared most of the time as “Prototype” or similar.

HelluvaKick,

Flip 4 broke when I bumped the hinge in my pocket. Caused the middle of the screen to bubble, and then it cracked down the crease. Neither side would work after that.

MooseBoys,

Dumb. But I also thought smartphones without keyboards were dumb and look where we are now.

RobotToaster,

I’d rather have a hinged physical keyboard.

essteeyou,

Manufacturers are being forced to make their phones last longer with sensible things like replaceable batteries, so they’re coming up with fresh designed obsolescence by adding things that will wear and tear to keep everyone spending $1-2k every couple of years.

witx,

My first thought exactly when I read the question. It’s just another point of failure for the phone, using people’s nostalgia for something that never was that great anyway

chaosppe,
@chaosppe@lemmy.world avatar

I’ve owned the Samsung fold2 & 3. Personally to me they are cool phones. However they just aren’t made to last, and that’s not the only problem. Realistically they are heavier, bulkier and have less specs than the top end smartphones. I found that each time I was holding it, I would rather be holding a normal phone just because my arms would get tired, it felt finicky to be holding such a large screen in public situations. It has its perks when sitting down in a plane, shopping mall, train. But again you could have an even larger screen and more power of you just brought a laptop. What makes me enjoy these products is the fact I’ve been dreaming about foldables since I was a kid, and that never disappears.

Sea_pop,

I had the Razr 5G and now am on the Razr+ I love this phone and love the form factor! Even with heavy use I get a day out of my battery. But I am usually around some form of a charger or power so I don’t worry about battery life.

I had to replace my 5G two times but those were all my fault. I practically threw my phone across a concrete floor two days into having it and shattered both the back and front glass. Honestly, it fared a lot better than my previous OnePlus (same fate). Inside screen was perfect. Same fate with the second (I’m a klutz and always have insurance).

With that said, the increased width on the Razr+ and vegan leather back have proved to be very easy to hold. The screen is recessed inside the frame of the phone so phantom touches on the aidesnor when opening are not really possible. I use my phone for work and am always flipping it open to take photos. This thing is covered in grease on the regular.

For those people who dig their nails into phones. Why? It’s a flexible screen of course it’s plastic.

I doubt I’ll ever get a flip-free phone. Perfect form factor. Durable. And Motorola has been very supportive of all my phones the past two years.

MargotRobbie,
@MargotRobbie@lemmy.world avatar

I’m actually very interested in the razr+. That viva magenta color looks great!

Sea_pop,

It has held up surprisingly well and the back hasn’t discolored even from heavy use.

AnonymousLlama,
@AnonymousLlama@kbin.social avatar

I'm still not sold on the displays. Every time I've seen one the promise has always been "the screen is better", but when eventually I get hands on with them all I see is a massive crease in the middle and I can't unsee it

Purplexingg,

Some points you can’t really refute are cost and repairability. Yes, they’re expensive and yes, they’re quite difficult to repair, there’s no getting around that. One thing you don’t have to worry about is the screen though. I’m not sure what people have told you about it being “better,” because at this point most phone screens are pretty incredible; great brightness, contrast, oled, 120hz. Where foldables do shine is content consumption. I use my phone A LOT. And trust me when I say that the experience is pretty unparalleled. Multitasking, large video streams, gaming, browsing Reddit and now Lemmy were all absolutely incredible experiences and I can never go back to a slab phone. I bought both the 14 pro max and the pixel 7 pro to try to come back but it’s just not the same at all.

And the crease thing 100% disappears after 1 hour of using it. A lot of people hear about the crease, decide they don’t like it, try to have a hands on, see the crease and focus solely on it the whole time saying to themselves, I hate the crease, why would anyone buy this. It’s analogous to when apple did the notch; tech people were like what the fuck is apple doing, why are they making phones so ugly, I use that part of the screen, Samsung made mocking ads about it. And now every phone on the market has some variant of it because people learned it’s really not a big deal. Your fingers never go in the middle of the screen to feel it and as long as you have your phone on like 10% brightness it will wash out the crease from being apparent if you look at it dead on.

Trust, next time you’re at best buy check out Google or Samsung’s offerings. The phones are incredible.

Mr_Dr_Oink,

I actually find it quite nice to fidget with the crease. Like when im scrolling in portrait mode ill use my index finger and move up the crease. Its one of those weird things people do. I like caressing the crease 😜

wasney,

I’ve had the full three since launch and just pre-ordered my phone to five. For me the main draw was the fact that I wanted a tablet experience but I didn’t want to have two devices to maintain and bounce back and forth between.

I’ve only broke a phone once in my life, and that was when I was being cocky with one of the older Motorola’s that advertised it couldn’t be cracked. I’ve dropped my fold three several times, breaking three cases as well as scuffing up my hinge. Still works perfectly fine. The crease never got any worse, and I barely notice it unless I’m in a room with very bright overhead lights, or if a UI element is directly on the crease. Most of the time my fingers rarely touch that part of the screen and I couldn’t even tell there was a crease when I put 30 hours in remote play for the PS5.

I did get protection on my fold 3, it was significantly discounted during my pre-order. I also decided to do it this time around due to all the promotions and cash back resulting in it costing less than $5 a month.

Mr_Dr_Oink,

Similar experience to me.

Got the fold 3 at launch. Dropped it a few times (one time i threw it to the ground, scratchy gravel pavement as i got scared and it was fine) scuffed the hinge and one of the edges but all in all its completely fine.

Inner screen is great no complaints.

Outer screen had one protector replacement because i put a cheap case on which wasnt cut right so it pushed the edge of the screen protector away from the screen and left a bubble i couldnt get rid of so i replaced that.

Its the best phone i ever bought and i could never go back to a none foldable.

I have a full tablet folded in my pocket and i cant stress enough how useful that is.

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