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.

zikk_transport2,

Dreaming of Pixel Fold. AOSP Android is the only Android I will buy.

However, announced price of 1.9k eur (or 2500eur in e-shops) is something I would not spend on a freaking phone. Price has to go down…

root,

Personally I find the current range of phone options simply too huge. Having owned a Sony Z3 Compact followed by the XZ1 Compact, I didn’t have many choices. I ended up with the Asus Zenfone 8.

I really like the formfactor of the Oppo find N where in it’s folded form it’s a really usable size and I can unfold it if I need a bigger screen. I don’t mind the Samsung Flips or the Motorola Razrs but I think the outside screen can be bigger. There’s a market for the Samsung Folds but it’s not for me.

Tl;dr - my idea of a foldable should be a good sized phone which folds down to something very compact and pocketable.

Buckie,

Currently typing this on my Fold 4 that I’ve had since launch. I don’t see myself ever going back to a normal slab style phone. I use it as a tablet that easily fits in my pocket, more often than not unfolding it for most uses. I also got a case that holds my stylus so I can draw on it when I want to. The stylus not being in the phone like in the S23 Ultra is my only complaint. Genuinely don’t notice the crease at all during use.

Oh, and price, of course. They’re so expensive. I got mine with a trade in and some heavy incentives, so I wound up with the phone, earbuds, and watch for ~$1300.

zephiir,
@zephiir@lemmy.world avatar

I love mine! Flip 4. But there are some areas that are lacking: camera and gaming capabilities mostly.

Also there’s the whole durability issue.

unce,

I’ve had my zflip3 for a couple years now. Lots of people in the comments seem to be saying that they are fragile but I haven’t had any problems with mine. Lots of drops off tables and flipping it open one handed. I really like how it fits in my pocket.

Sigurd,

I think they seem like an interesting concept. After a bunch of work from different companies (mostly samsung to my knowledge) they are actually starting to seem viable well exept for the price. But i bet you that we will be getting foldable tablets that you can turn into large screens at some point.

StoicLime,

Never used one, (can’t afford to right now), but I adore the idea of the smaller flip ones. I would definitely take one if they reduced the crease in the future, it’s too noticeable right now.

nexussapphire,

EDIT: I thought it said affordable phones

I personally believe in getting the fastest new/used/refurbished phone you can get with the features you want and keep it as long as you can.

A cheap phone usually ends up being about the same performance as a 4-10 year old flagship and a lot more compromises in cameras, ram, storage, durability, etc.

Pillarist,

I tried the Pixel Fold because I’ve been using their phones since the Nexus days. I went into it very skeptically… Meaning I made sure I was thoroughly aware of the return policy.

I’m sold. Weight doesn’t bother me and the benefits of being able to swap into a screen with that much real estate for viewing, multitasking, playing games, etc far outweigh a little thickness and weight. It fits in my pocket way better than I imagined and the front screen is actually more functionally sized that my 7 Pro’s due to how damned tall it is! If you’re not hard on your phones (I don’t imagine it takes a beating as well as a regular phone) then I suggest you give it a shot. I’m definitely never going back.

waterbogan,

Since I need a phone that can withstand being dropped on concrete every other day and having tools, hammers, 4x2 offcuts dropped on it etc every so often I dont think a foldable is for me. My current phone has two screen protectors and a case and its still got a cracked screen

LurkNoMore,

Its a lame gimic IMO. Requiring replacement batteries should slow them down. I’ve no interest and would only get one if it was the only chooce. I want my headphone jack back.

waterbogan,

They do appear to be genuinely useful for some people on this thread though. I’m not one of them - a headphone jack is far more important to me too, that and durability

candyman337,
@candyman337@lemmy.world avatar

The passport foldable is fucking awesome imo, Regular phone screen on the outside, 7ish inch tablet on the inside, super awesome as an e-reader, for productivity, etc. And if the inside screen breaks, you will have a usable outside one.

That being said, I Def thing the tech has a ways to go, the soft screens we have today are flawed. I’d really rather see two screens where they are edgeless when the hinge is flat. We have curved screens, just curve two screens and don’t use the part under the curve. Samsung was doing that for years to get edge to edge displays.

Knightfall,
@Knightfall@lemmy.ca avatar

I love the concept and idea of them and could see myself utilizing the ones that unfold into a tablet with the S-Pen. But the durability of those screens made me nervous.

UltraBlack,

garbage idea. Putting unnecessary wear on screens. They just break too quickly and instead of making phones bigger every year you could start making them smaller again

electrogamerman,

I think they are the obvious next step for mobile phones. But we are not there yet, where I would pull the trigger and buy one for me. I think they are too flimsy right now

Mojojojo1993,

Why would they be next steps ?

electrogamerman,

I think the trend is getting bigger screens but then having a big ass phone is annoying, so imo foldable phones is the obvious next step

Mojojojo1993,

Why would bigger hardware be the next step. Isn’t that kinda dumb ?

Next step are wearables.

Next logical step is a bigger viewing platform. Screens are dumb, but we need to see information, so really smart glasses or projectiors should be next step

electrogamerman,

I agree with you. Maybe I meant the next doable step. I think we are too far from smart glasses that can replace phones. Specially at low cost

Mojojojo1993,

I disagree. 350 xreal are pretty good.

It’s just mirroring your screen. Yeah it’s not going to be as good as native and nothing compared to apple. It’s the next steps which I think should be modular.

Wearables.

Glasses, hearable. Which is just a hearing aid but better and smart watch wrist band. With the phone tying everything together.

Obviously will near near perfect latency and much more powerful batteries. Plus some kind of wireless charging for all devices.

Screen should obviously be on glasses. Just makes sense. Only need a viewing platform don’t need anything else from it. Leave grunt in phone or computer box. It streams to watch glasses wrists and hearable.

Wrist can show small information, maybe reply to easy message and give notifications. Hearable is music and audio playback. And anything you need to view is from glasses

electrogamerman,

I wouldn’t change a phone for glasses, but maybe I am a minority

Mojojojo1993,

Why ? Is not really the phone change though. It’s just the way you view content. From laptops to phones to whatever is next. We view data so going straight to eyes would cut out middle man

electrogamerman,

I dont look good in glasses

Mojojojo1993,

Fair enough. Good point.

Maybe they will get significantly better.

Rathernotsay,

Love the Flip and will likely never switch back to a candy bar. It’s the new small phone, which barely exist nowadays

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