Folding phones

Submitted by being_igor t3_10k633t in iphone

So I’m on the bus observing a person who’s using a folding phone. As they’re holding it, yeah, it’s shorter so looks smaller. But it’s thicker, so you don’t seem to be gaining any benefits from there. Then I watch them open it every few minutes, using their arm as leverage to flip the screen because their other arm is occupied, and then repeating the process to close it. Seems very clunky and unwieldy.

So my question is…why? What problem is this solving? In fact from what I’m seeing, it makes the experience worse.

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NineSwords t1_j5ol8fk wrote

Novelty I assume. The Smartphone market is pretty stagnant with just minute details changing year to year, so something like folding phone is some fresh air. But for me it's not of interest until they manage to get it into a form factor close to the original Motorola Razr (Not the recent reboot fold). another huge turn off is the visible crease you get with current tech - a huge no-go.

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ImChimeraX t1_j5onpyy wrote

I had the Fold 1, 2 and 3. You don't notice the crease when you're using it. It's only really noticeable when the display is off or you're looking at it from an angle.

I don't see the point of the Flip but the Folds are great phones, just not as durable so I went back to regular phones.

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NineSwords t1_j5oof12 wrote

I just had folds in hand at store displays and there every model had both tactile and visual creases. Maybe it's because they get opened and closed more often than usual day-to-day usage, but I would expect that a week-old display phone wouldn't be opened and closed more times than a personal phone after a few months.

Maybe it's more like noise pollution where you just don't notice it anymore after a while. Let's call it "crease pollution".

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ImChimeraX t1_j5or1e6 wrote

I think it's more the lighting in a store is a lot brighter than you'd have at home and in many office environments. Also you're not using it as you would at home or sitting at a desk. It's not a true representation of your use case. Even from day 1 I never noticed it unless I tilted it and looked for it.

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serge_kills t1_j5onqi5 wrote

These folding phones are just a proof of concept and nothing more. You are not getting any superior user experience over the standard phones that are everywhere these days.

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being_igor OP t1_j5p406y wrote

In fact from what I saw you’re definitely getting an inferior user experience.

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wiffleplop t1_j5oksqw wrote

I suspect they’re showing off, like people with flip phones did back in the day. I doubt I’ll ever get one myself because of lots of reasons, including thickness, vulnerability of the screen and mechanism, the fact that I don’t like a crease down the middle of my screen, weight, extra points of failure, water ingress and dust, plus others I can’t remember.

Some people like em. That’s cool. I have an iPad for when I want a bigger screen, and am cool with not having it with me all the time.

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tysonjmedford t1_j5qz3c0 wrote

Apple not making a foldable phone ☠️

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Secret_Ad_6520 t1_j5t8n4u wrote

They did it’s called the iPhone 6 or the a fold 1 💀😂

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TheHomieAbides t1_j5rcf1p wrote

Only advantage i saw was that the main screen is protected when it’s closed. So you’re less likely to have a scratch but then you have to deal with a crease from the get go.

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Pleasant-Worry-5641 t1_j5s95cb wrote

Folding phone’s are supposed to bridge the gap between phones and tablets, IMO. What the Samsung is doing with the other phone I don’t kno, it just looks like a gimmick.

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dave_the_n00b t1_j5stzq2 wrote

Z Fold 4 owner here (soon switching back to a yet undecided slab phone).

>I watch them open it every few minutes

There is something wrong with them as I never find myself doing that. From my experience it tries to eliminate the need for smaller tablets, which it more or less does.

As for the rest. I have relatively small hands and despite the phone being larger and heavier I found it much easier with one hand despite the screen being narrower, that's about it.

As for the "what problem is it solving" part, I can share my experience and that is:

  • multitasking - having two reasonably sized windows next to each other is actually quite useful, if you try to troubleshoot some issue at work remotely or taking notes from a website.
  • better media consumption on a larger screen, but it's debatable because of the square-ish aspect ratio.
  • in-phone photo/video editing is easier and less clunky as there is more space for the elements (e.g. in LumaVision/LightRoom).
  • taking notes, sketching with the Pen again easier as there is more room to draw, but I find the crease too distracting.

I also agree with others saying that currently is just a proof of concept, despite the whole phone came a long way from Gen1 to current Gen4.

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