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.

Chickens,

Love my z fold 4 a year in.

MargotRobbie,
@MargotRobbie@lemmy.world avatar

Anything particular you like about it?

Android007,

deleted_by_author

    •
    DoakSteezy,

    You’re the first I’ve heard doing this, how does the interior screen work with Graphene? Are there any optimizations to take advantage of it? Or limitations (split screen apps?)? Sorry if these are dumb questions

    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

    Gamey,

    Expensive, fragile and rather useless unless you plan to replace your computer and in that case you just made a bad decition. I think it’s a very desperate attempt to hype yet another generation of smartphones no one needs with a gimmick becuase sales go down.

    Kerred,

    All I want is practicality and replaceable parts. Still waiting for a FairPhone like device to reach the US

    Gamey,

    I got my brother to buy one but can’t affort one myself, it’s damn cool tho, especially while I watch it with my broken Battery and charging port!

    dunestorm,
    @dunestorm@lemmy.world avatar

    I replaced my tablet, I can’t replace my PC so easily lol

    Now I always have my tablet with me in the form factor of a phone. I wouldn’t call foldables useless, I love multitasking and consuming media on a large screen!

    Gamey,

    I kind of never liked tablets ether tbh 😅

    Mojojojo1993,

    Precisely. Yet people are buying.

    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.

    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.

    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.

    HardlightCereal,

    I am completely apathetic about them. I think they’re boring.

    echodot,

    They’re boring in the US because basically all you have is the Samsung fold and flip. and they haven’t really changed since the fold 2 and flip respectively.

    Although the pixel fold coming to the US (it may actually already be on) and that looks like an interesting device

    HardlightCereal,

    I’m not American

    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.

    pallettownbry, (edited )

    I love foldable phones and can’t wait for more manufacturers to hop on board. I have owned every iteration of the Samsung Z Fold series, Z Flip series, and Surface Duo series, and I am now rocking the Pixel Fold.

    This form factor that Google adopted is the way to go. A shorter, wider aspect ratio on the outer display makes for an excellent phone experience while allowing you to unfold the device into a proper mini tablet in landscape orientation. I never enjoyed the narrow screen on the Z Fold lineup, so I opened the phone to do almost everything. With the Pixel Fold, I open the phone up only for specific things, such as showing someone else content on my phone, reading, or watching videos.

    The biggest issue with foldables is that everyone seems to worry about the device’s durability, which is understandable. I have never had an issue, and I don’t baby foldable phones more than I would a standard slab. I also think the pricing of foldable is a massive turn-off for many folks. Last, many people either refuse to understand the “point” of foldable devices or simply don’t. For example, with me saying that I use the Pixel Fold closed most of the time, some would say, “What’s the point if you’re not going to use the inner display?”. The point with foldables is that you get options. You don’t have to use the phone as a tablet 24/7. At that point, you might as well just get a small tablet. Foldables are supposed to give you a phone experience first while giving you instant access to a larger screen capable of light multitasking and better media consumption experiences than your traditional phone. The beauty of a folding device is that you get the best of both worlds all the time, and you decide how you want to divide your time between the outer and inner displays.

    Long comment, but hey, I love foldables, and I will keep buying them. Unfortunately, I think it will take Apple releasing a foldable before they become mainstream :(

    iamahab,

    Thank you, until your comment I was one of the “not understanding the point”-people

    pallettownbry,

    Glad I could help!

    absGeekNZ,
    @absGeekNZ@lemmy.nz avatar

    I have the Z Fold 4.

    It is great, I do open it to do most things. I don’t really agree with “why not just get a small tablet”…I can’t fold the tablet and put it comfortably in my pocket.

    I mainly use the outer display for my calculator app, podcasts and have the calendar schedule widget showing.

    pallettownbry,

    I was trying to explain that some people will expect us to use the phone open 100% of the time. Like there’s a reason they have a smaller screen on the front. I don’t always have two hands free to keep the device open, so for those folk I say just get a small tablet since you think it HAS to be used opened 100% of the time or else, “there’s no point in owning a foldable,” as they say.

    I agree with you.

    echodot,

    I have had a Z Fold 2 since release. It’s still my phone.

    Over the years that this thing has been in a desert, been dropped off tables on to hardwood floors, been in my pocket with keys, and has been in a humid bathroom with the shower on. This iteration has no official waterproof rating.

    It’s fine.

    The casing is a bit better than scratched but the inner display is still fine. I even removed the screen protector they tell you not to remove, because frankly it became a mess.

    The people who say they are fragile don’t know what they’re talking about but of course they don’t they don’t have one.

    The problem is if they do break Samsung terrible at customer service. They will eventually agreed to fix the phone but only after having to go back and forth with them for several weeks solid. But that would also be true of a slab phone from them.

    pallettownbry,

    I feel it! I take my fold (took my past folds) with me everywhere. No issues on any of the phones. In fact, the only issue I ever had was completely unrelated to foldables rather a defect. My vibration motor went out but it was an easy, FREE, warranty repair at a local shop. As you said, I think most people who complain about durability definitely don’t have the device or were one of the unfortunate few who have to deal with a defective unit – the ones who wake up to a big crack down the middle.

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