I really dislike my Pixel Fold.

Unfortunately I purchased this device on impulse with a carrier deal over the summer. The idea that my phone could be a tablet as well being essentially an all in wonder device was incredibly appealing.

In practice however the experience leaves a lot to be desired. Very few apps are developed with foldables in mind and either stretch to accommodate the extra real estate or take up a fraction of the display. Sure you can multitask side by side apps, but I have very little reason to ever do that.

That leaves watching media on the larger screen. Unfortunately even that is hampered by the aspect ratio with black bars accommodating such a large portion of the display the actual viewing area is barely larger than a slab device if at all.

The hardware is also lackluster. Google decided to put a last generation processor in this years most expensive phone for some reason. Also the camera is worse than last year’s Pixel release (7 Pro). The phone is very very heavy and even when closed I often need it to rest on something to be able to use it for any amount of time.

Such a bummer. I’m stuck with a phone I hate until next year when I can ditch it for an early upgrade. I received $800 off on a carrier deal but it’s given in monthly bill credits which locks me in paying MSRP of I want to cut my losses.

Fortunately next year I can do an early upgrade, but for now I’m stuck with this damn thing. I should have waited for the Pixel 8.

Encode1307,

I’m loving the OnePlus open. I wasn’t interested in the fold or z fold. Thinner, lighter, better outer screen, very little crease, and best OnePlus camera yet (not as good as the pixel 7 or 8 though). They really did it right.

aubertlone,

I have the z fold 5 and absolutely love it

First upgrade in several years for me. I got the one plus 7 pro a couple months after it came out, and used that until the fold 5 recently.

Jonna,

I actually like my Motorola Razor. First, it fits in girl pockets when folded! Second, the smaller screen on the outside is actually useful for checking a notification or an alarm without opening the whole phone and being tempted to keep using it. So that’s all good. The hinge seems really well designed and, after two years of using it seems fine. I’m a little miffed about what I would guess is a smaller antenna and battery life.

Plus on the rare occasion I take a voice call it is REALLY satisfying to close the phone to hang up.

K9life,

Same here! Love my Razor. I’ve had it for 3 years now and would love to upgrade to the new model, yet there is nothing wrong with the one I have. Love how small it folds up. When it’s open the screen is the perfect size. Fits comfortably in my hands. Tap to pay with it folded up is really nice too. I will be sticking with the razor for a long time.

penquin,

Man, these foldable phones never appealed to me nor even made sense. I can never justify paying so much money for something like this. They’re just made weird and impractical. Their aspect ratio is weird on the inside and outside. The creese is something I can never get over. The risk of the screen cracking in the middle from folding and unfolding so much is another thing. You have to baby these things. I just can’t, and I think they’re just a gimmicks. Still rocking my Galaxy note 20 ultra from 2020. The thing is still running like a champ. Zero issues. Let’s all face it, phones have plateaued and companies are trying to excite people with “something new” and it’s not working like they expected it to.

burgersc12,

The plastic screen you can leave marks with your fingernails on is a big deal breaker to me

penquin,

Yup, forgot about that one. Nah, I’m cool with my slab phone.

ChaoticNeutralCzech, (edited )
@ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.de avatar

ditch it for an early upgrade

Sell it as lightly used, and get a community-built software upgrade for your old phone (GrapheneOS for the Pixel is a solid choice). Getting a phone every 1-2 years is not worth it given the stagnation in specs and lack of actually useful new features (which is why the manufacturers are trying what nobody asked for: discontinuing all sub-5" phones, adding notches, reverse wireless charging etc.) Old phones also generally have fewer hardware anti-features (lack of headphone jack and physical nav buttons, brittle bezelless screens and glass backs, no microSD slots…)

Invest in yourself or improve something around you instead of getting a shiny new toy. You’ll find that the increase in performance and customizability from an unthrottled, debloated, rooted smartphone is more than what you’d natively get from the “next-gen” model, and it’s very satisfying to have so much control. This is especially true for the Pixels, which are fully supported by lots of custom ROMs thanks to being AOSP-compatible out of the box.

dinckelman,

The current state of foldables really reminds me of the early days of 21:9 monitors. Great idea, with a lot of potential, but it strongly relies on software adoption. Even though basically anything runs perfectly on a 21:9 screen now, I cannot say the same about foldables, despite them being 5 generations in now. Most of the software is just either zoomed in, or stretched beyond the point of usability

Tb0n3,

Foldable phones are a product looking for an audience. They figured out how to do it so they figured everybody would want one. I want nothing to do with it

Jezebelley,

Please take mine…please.

Oha,
@Oha@lemmy.ohaa.xyz avatar

I’ll take it if you give it away for free lmao

Klystron,

The issue with the fold is that it opens into a tablet from factor that Android has notoriously been awful at supporting. Even after the release of their new tablet and now the fold their support is severely lacking. Ive owned both the pixel and Galaxy fold and experience wise the Galaxy fold is vastly superior. Just the fact that whenever you open the phone it’s defaults to a portrait mode means 99% of apps “just work” and the ones that support a tablet ui get 10x better. As cool as the passport form factor is and how bad (to some, not me) the Galaxy’s super thin design is, the pixel fold just cannot compete due to Google’s failings in gathering support for tablets. I ditched my pixel fold for my old Galaxy fold and couldn’t be happier.

I don’t think there’s not an audience however; old people who want a bigger screen, people addicted to their phone, kids for big screen gaming, all great examples of how foldables succeed. I honestly think most of the hate for them comes from the fact that they’re big and bulky, especially from a userbase like Lemmy, which from what I’ve seen are predisposed to small phones. I think if every carrier just gave out a Galaxy fold then everyone who didn’t care about a small form factor would fall in love. I sincerely believe that they are the future and am dying for apple to release one, since that’ll be the nail in the coffin for traditional slabs.

Open_Mike,

I've never used one, but I'm guessing that for someone who uses Rustdesk a lot, it'd be useful.

Maiznieks,

Pleasantly surprised that there are no major hw issues.

NoDoy, (edited )
@NoDoy@lemmy.ml avatar

Same. I don’t even mind Tensor 2 in it. It runs fine enough and I never had any overheating. It’s a beautiful piece of hardware.

My main gripe is with how heavy it is. It’s tiring having to hold it for extended periods when I mostly use the outer screen (which is the perfect screen size, but that’s a whole other thing). And yeah… watching media on the inner screen with a crease and with the size of the media the same as a normal smartphone… it’s just something I looked over before purchasing.

I regret buying it also. But… I would have also regretted buying the Galaxy Fold, OnePlus Open, or any other foldable. Right now, my Pixel Fold just sits in a drawer as an overly expensive backup device while I use a Pixel 8 Pro as my daily. Will likely use the Fold as a trade-in for the Galaxy Ultra in January/February.

Jezebelley,

This guy phones. I wish I had that kind of disposable income.

grouma,

What carrier deal did you get? I’m with Google Fi and I think I get a similar discount as long as I’m a customer. If I read the fine print correctly I don’t have to keep this device.

I’m on the fence with my Fold as well. Some things are objectively better. The apps that do take advantage of the extra real estate make the experience pretty amazing. That being said, as you mentioned, many apps do not. I don’t find the camera that much worse than my wife’s Pixel 8 Pro. It’s also extremely handy to have a built in kick stand. We’ll see if I go back to a candy bar style phone next cycle. If I do, I’ll miss YouTube, reading, photo viewing, and chess on this device.

Rentlar,

It’s too bad but it’s probably because most media is adapted for your typical phone sizes.

Why don’t more manufacturers make more devices that are half the size like the Samsung Galaxy Flip that are compact but become a normal phone unfolded? Phones have just gotten too big imo.

Jezebelley,

If I go foldable again I’d do the Flip. It makes more sense with today’s mobile landscape and media.

ahornsirup,
@ahornsirup@sopuli.xyz avatar

Honestly, off all foldables I find the Z Flip like devices the least desirable. You don’t get a bigger screen, you just trade height for depth, so they fit in pockets even worse (especially if you wear tight-ish clothes) and if you’re not carrying your phone on your body it makes literally no difference - all of my bags fit my regular form factor phone easily anyway.

HerbalGamer,

they look like modern nintendo ds sp’s

Rentlar,

Still better than twice depth, same length with limited additional utility…

I still have an S7 and it fits snguly in my jacket pocket. Longer phones today would stick out. I’m so sad about how so many good features were removed from most brand-name phones. I’m ready to move on from some (like no physical home button) but not others yet (like no SD card slot).

lolcatnip,

I have a couple of friends who swear by them. I’m not even remotely convinced, though.

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