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.
Yeah I have the flip 6. I upgraded from the flip 3 for a larger cover screen. No issues with either of them.
I like that it takes up less pocket space and most tasks can be done on the cover without opening the phone. The flipping is neat but honestly I’d rather have a modern 4-4.5 inch android slab. Too bad all the major phone manufacturers have switched to only making giant pocket tablets.
I have the same fears about them and would personally never buy them, but the people I spoke who have one all said that they had no issues and loved the screen size. Personally I wouldn’t feel comfortable using it knowing that a single grain of sand in the wrong place can fuck it all up. But apparently it’s not too bad, at least anecdotally.
My last support worker had a samsung z flip or whatever it is. the one that is a normal phone size, but it folds in half. She reported no issues with it.
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?
a friend has one of the massive samsung(?) phones that folds out to a huge screen
he loves having that much screen to use and not reported any particular problems
My teamlead had a Galaxy fold (the big one, not the flip-style) second-hand so it was cheap-ish. She liked it, unfortunately she broke it (though not in a fold-specific way iirc). She now uses a regular slab phone due to the price difference.
I’ve seen her phone and a display model in the store, the crease really doesn’t look that bothersome to me. I’d buy one if I could (somewhat) easily install another OS on it, if my current phone breaks or loses support for my apps. Assuming that they stick around and the price won’t be as exorbitant in a year or two, that is…
I have a Motorola razr 2023. It’s absolutely great.
The use case is that it fits in your pocket.
I have a Galaxy Z Fold 2 and it’s my favorite phone I’ve ever owned by a mile. I bought it secondhand (refurbished) in 2022, two years after it came out, and have been using it for three years myself.
There’s sort of a crease down the center of the folding screen that you can see if you’re looking for it specifically, but if you’re looking at the phone head-on like you usually would be and aren’t trying to pay attention to the crease, it fades right out of awareness.
I bought this phone with the intention of reading books on it, and playing some games that are otherwise more tablet-friendly (Slay The Spire for instance) and it’s by far the best mobile reading and gaming experience I’ve ever had with a phone.
If I wanted to I could have the screen replaced to remove the crease but it doesn’t bother me enough to pay for that. I’ve folded this phone open and closed probably a minimum of two dozen times per day every single day for the past 3 years and I’ve never had to replace a part yet. When I bought the thing I expected it to be usable for about 1-2 years and then need repair or replacement, but we’re now cooking on the third year of daily use and it still looks as good as it did in year 1.
This very post was made on that phone and was folded and reopened twice in the process as I did other things.
i have actually never seen one in the wild.
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.
Not sure how this reclaims pocket space. You’re just trading width/height for thickness.
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!
Especially when you have giant hands like me. Small phones are just plain, uncomfortable to use. I like me a wide device I can actually grip and not wrap my entire hand around the thing while I’m using it.
I finally upgraded my six year old iPhone to a 16 pro max because they made the screen even bigger (and 120hz!) Love this phone.
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.
I buy the smallest phone I can find… But they keep getting bigger, there just aren’t smaller options available.
I love the idea of a flip phone, if only for the promise of increased durability, a more protected screen. But so far I think these foldable phones have been generally less durable than more traditional phones. So yeah, I’ll wait until the tech matures.
My wife loves her Jelly phones, she’s had two now over the years, and they are TINY. So much so I can’t even type on them, her hands are way smaller than mine. I think the screen is like 3x2 inches.
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.
