I feel like its a bad idea for people to buy these. I mean… the screen are weak plastics that can get damaged by a fingernail. Seems like an expensive buy for such a terrible durability. A terrible deal in my opinion.
What even is the use-case for these, anyways?
2nd fold buyer here, love them. Use case is a lady in the streets but a freak in the sheets (spreadsheets). Desktop modes, RDP. It’s great!
I’ve had my Galaxy Tab for a couple of years, and it’s just fine. I mainly use it as a tablet, rather than folding it all the time, but it seems like it is holding up.
I have a Samsung fold 3 that I’ve been using since launch. Never had any issues with it and don’t use it with a case either. The inner screen is not cracked or missing anything but there is a visible crease, and the inner screen protector came off naturally a long time ago
I still have my Z Flip 3 that I got when it released. About 2 years ago the screen protector came off at the hinge, and I removed it as I couldn’t stand the bubbles. Since then cracks have formed in the hinge and scratches on the lowet half of the screen. But it still works, that’s the only problem I have with it. If I do ever replace it it’s going to be to another flip phone, I love how small it gets when folded up.
I’ve owned a Galaxy fold 2, 3, and currently on a five. I don’t think I can ever go back to a regular phone they’re just fantastic
My sweat is too aggressive. I’ve owned the Galaxy Fold 1 and within 7 months I’ve had smears from the dissolved non removable plastic screen protector.
If it wasn’t for that and the Apple Watch, I’d still be using it though.
I have a flip phone for a while now. A black line did form on the crease after ~6 months, but was replaced under warranty. No further problems since. I don’t use a case either and am rather clumsy.
The biggest upside to the design is reclaimed pocket space.
Everyone has accepted carrying a giant slab that takes up one pocket at all times. Manufacturers that attempt to make reasonable sized phones quickly abandon the idea because people don’t purchase them. Everyone says they’d love having a small phone, then buy something else when it’s time to spend money. Flip phones are the closest thing to a compromise we’ll get anymore.
Given that phones are cameras that just so happen to make phone calls and the industry continuously innovate backwards (headphone jack, micro sd expandable storage, removable batteries, physical sim trays, and potentially USB-C if Apple has their way), foldable screens are the first genuine innovation/progression.
Everyone says they’d love having a small phone
Not me. I want a bigger phone!
Oh indeed! Since phones had that shrinkathon, I was asking for more power, more battery, more thickness!
Don’t be so proud when you shave off another 0,3mm, add a 0,3mm more and put a bigger battery in it!
Around 10 years ago I worked in an electronics store. You know, when actual small smartphones were still a thing (think S4 Mini and stuff like that).
Every day people came looking for a small phone. Always were very interested in the smaller devices. And yet most never bought one, they eventually decided for a larger one. For each new Samsung series during that time, I’d guess it was about ~50% of people interested in the Mini series, but only ~5% of our actual sales were the Minis.It’s crazy and I learned a lot about people and their purchasing behavior back then. People often think they want something and never buy it and vice versa. It’s interesting, from a psychological view. In my current business it’s the same - people keep asking for stuff, and once you offer it, nobody cares about it.
That’s probably why Samsung kept on making these Minis until the S5 despite them not seeling. Customers kept just giving them feedback that didn’t reflect their behavior.
What moved them to pick the bigger devices?
Asking as someone who is currently trying to pick between the smallest options on the market
It was always the same. They came in saying they’re looking for a small device. I showed them the small devices. They played around with them a bit, then slowly moved on to the bigger devices. No reason given, they just said they liked the smaller ones more and yet still bought the bigger ones.
Everyone says they’d love having a small phone, then buy something else when it’s time to spend money.
I own a Palm Phone, a Unihertz Jelly, an iPhone 13 Mini, a Light Phone 2. Although, from that line up only the iPhone 13 Mini is viable. The rest of the phones come with other issues…
I also don’t have heavy phone usage, so battery life isn’t really a problem for me.
I feel like its a bad idea for people to buy these. I mean… the screen are weak plastics that can get damaged by a fingernail.
I’ve never had a screen scratch on my flipable from a fingernail. Also, how many people do you see walking around with a blown out cracked glass screen on non-foldables? People are hard on all phones.
Seems like an expensive buy for such a terrible durability. A terrible deal in my opinion.
They’re just not that expensive secondhand which is how I buy them. You can see you can get last year’s flagship model for $200 to $400. If you get the 2023 model its even cheaper at $100-$200.
At this cost who cares if it breaks in two to three years?
What even is the use-case for these, anyways?
They are VERY small compared to normal mobile phones and you can put it in your pocket. I really like that.
I have a Pixel 9 Fold and I absolutely love it. I don’t think I can ever go back to a regular phone.
That said, the fingernail thing isn’t a myth. I have a “scratch” (more like an indent) where I tried to clean something off the screen with my fingernail. It’s not bad and just like the fold, it’s only visible in certain lights, so it doesn’t bother me but you definitely have to be more careful with the inner screen than the outer. Though I suspect it’s the built in screen protector, not the actual screen.
Yeah, and they are actually a lot more resistant than you think. The technology came a long way.
I’m dying for a pixel flip so that I can finally have the ultimate phone:
- Clam shape - the superior phone shape
- FOSS OS - GrapheneOS
I’ve owned a Z Fold 5 for a little over a year. I’m a developer and often read dev articles, todos, code on a git repo and so on while traveling by buss/train. I find a regular screen size isn’t wide enough for reading code, but the z fold 5 unfolded is perfect. I don’t want to have to carry a tablet, and I definitely don’t want to pull my laptop out just for reading. I definitely won’t be going back to a non-foldable.
The inner screen definitely isn’t as fragile as you make it out to be. Can’t see any scratches on mine. It’s way more of a fingerprint magnet than my outer screen, but I can’t see that when the screens on, and the rest of the time it’s closed and hidden anyway, so why would I care?
I’ve got one. Moto Razr.
It fits in my pocket much better than a slab phone.
I don’t use the outer screen much. Generally when I need to fumble around and change media or unlock my car or something with stuff in my other hand. But Moto’s implementation of the second screen is pretty good.
I like a very large screen and I like portability. If this phone breaks, I’ll probably get either another one like it or a larger one like a Pixel Fold or something.
The solution to the fragile inner screen is - and I know this is a complex idea so bear with me - you close the phone when you’re not actively using it. Seriously, it’s a complete non-issue.
My biggest complaint is the Moto software. I’ve had other Moto phones before and had similar issues - they’re WAY too aggressive with battery optimizations killing background apps. Like holy shit. I have to go in every few days and reset settings that the phone changed on its own so that my VPN stays connected for more than 10 minutes at a time because it wants to kill the app to save battery. But that has nothing to do with the screen.
I have a Pixel Pro 9 fold and the original Pixel Fold before it. Frankly, for me, it’s like going multi-monitor for the first time. I can’t go back.
It fills all my tablet use cases while also being a tablet that I actually have on me whenever I need it. I’ve had so many tablets over the years, in all manner of sizes. They all collected dust in a matter of a couple weeks because I would always forget them or forget to charge it or it just wasn’t near me when I wanted it.
My biggest use case is remoting into desktops on the go, a boon for WFH though it isn’t perfect because I have yet to find an remote desktop app that fully takes advantage of the split screen functionality.
Though it’s not Samsung with their fancy productivity focused features, I still find having 1 app on each side to be very useful, especially when I’m on a Lemmy posting binge LMAO
I also play [email protected] and [email protected] from time to time and I love the extra space
Movies and shows are a meh, the aspect ratios are…weird and you don’t gain as much size as you think because of the resulting black bars. But I’ve never been one to watch TV and movies on my phone like that, except on a plane
Everyone I’ve talked to who owned one has complained that the screen either gets a line in it where the fold is or delaminates.
I think it’s a fad that will probably die off soon
the screen either gets a line in it where the fold is or delaminates.
Delamination is the factory installed screen protector, which can be replaced, not the screen itself.
Hopefully the materials will improve before then. I think foldable screens are a great idea.
My tech-normie co worker has it and loves it, it’s over a year old and the screen is in great shape to even my annoyingly issue-finding-prone eyes
If she can manage that with a slightly older one I can only assume the tech is improving quite rapidly
