- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
Smartphone manufacturers still want to make foldables a thing::Foldables are barely 1% of the market, but that’s not stopping anyone but Apple.
You must log in or register to comment.
Foldable phones are so fetch!
Streets ahead!
Stop trying to make “fetch” happen. It’s not going to happen.
I have no idea what “fetch” is supposed to mean but I don’t like it. It’s not putting any pussy on the chain wax.
I know we’re supposed to be talking shit about foldables but I’d rather remark on how badly I want a rollable phone
I’m on a Fold 4, never going back. There are certainly a few tweaks here and there that could improve it, but a tablet that you put back in your pocket when you are done is the perfect phone so far. I don’t know what they would have to do to make something better than this, but I’m sure something will come along. Until then, not going back to a phone that can only be bar shaped.
What do people use tablets for? I really wanted to come up with an excuse to get one but no matter how hard I thought about it I couldn’t come up with a use case (for me at least). I want my phone to be smaller, not bigger.
I’m studying at the moment, so I do a -lot- of research. A tablet + stylus is perfect for me for taking notes on top of lecture slides and reading / annotating pdfs. A folding form factor would be really useful for me, so I wouldn’t have to carry around a second device.
Got it. That’s the exact reason I got a folding laptop with a stylus. Annotating and highlighting in pdfs with a pen and typing on a proper keyboard. Once you get used to carry a bag (I used to hate doing that) a smaller laptop can hitch a ride for free.
Same. It seems to fall into the niche crack.
Maybe to watch things if you don’t have a tv. Maybe to play games again without tv. Portable if you move around a lot.
I can’t justify the price for a large screen. I have a larger screen. It’s the tv. I have a work laptop and I have a phone.
If anything I’d be pushing for work laptop to disappear. If I could get a virtual computer. I just need a screen to use. Already got a monitor plus wireless keyboard and mouse.
Virtue desktops should be the future
I have 2 uses for a tablet, and know 2 other uses. They’re pretty niche.
-
you can use it to get AT&T to sell you an unlimited 5g data sim for $20 a month and pop that into a hotspot if you need to work while being driven in a car or in more locations than there’s necessarily easy or cheap wifi.
-
Reading Manga / Comics. I do read some on my phone, but the ability to see the “full page” on a 6.7" phone aspect narrow screen vs a 10" wider aspect tablet screen is surprisingly large, and my eyes are getting worse, not better as I age. Teeny tiny is not the best experience.
-
Using them as cheaper wacom tablets for drawing / artists.
-
Work provided portable tools for all sorts of stuff that doesn’t have any SIM or monthly fee needed / requested, and something that inherently isn’t a phone.
-
I thought the same but they’re great for using at home. My wife watches movies on it in the kitchen, my kid loves it for games, I like it for controlling house stuff like IoT, smart home stuff, and apps for home electronics. It’s not too different from smart watches where you don’t need anything it offers, but it makes things more convenient.
Now the people who take their tablet to Disneyland to take pictures are just plain crazy and shouldn’t be lumped in with the rest of us.
For me it was mainly gaming. Can run two full apps, both in real time, not that thing where it suspends one with a static image when you touch the other one. They both actually run at the same time, full frame rate. The fold 4 in tablet mode “wide” screen is pretty close to 4:3, so it’s nice for emulating console and computer games from that era, which I do alot. And the tablet in tall mode is a great size/shape for reading, can even leave it slightly folded down the middle for the real book feel, lol. And the battery life they manage to pack into both halves of the phone is pretty great. But most importantly, putting it back in my pocket when not using it. Carrying even a small tablet around all day would not be awesome otherwise.
I should mention I am 6’4" with relatively large hands, so fold 4 still feels pretty small to me, before I got the handle case I had to make due with palming it when I wanted to hold it one-handed. It’s decently comfortable for me to palm it in vertical tablet mode, but horizontal tablet mode while still possible, wasn’t comfortable. But with the handle case, it would be comfortable for almost anyone to hold it with one hand.
One of the things I was most worried about was that the screen crease would be visible, or that it would get annoying to play games where you gotta move your finger accross it. Luckily, the crease isn’t visible when you are straight head-on with the screen, only when you try to show other people stuff on your phone, lol. And even after more than a year of not treating the phone as anything special, the crease isn’t annoying to my fingers either. The original built-in screen protector did peel off from folding the phone alot when it was cold out(Canada), but I normally don’t use screen protectors, so I just left it unprotected. Not really sure what you have to do to your phone to benefit from screen protectors, I don’t baby mine, but I’ve never had a scratch. And screen protectors just feel so much worse to use than the naked screen does.
Might be a good time to mention I am autistic and hypersensory, so there is nothing mild about mildly annoying things to me, lol.
I tried using it for a few months. too many compromises to battery life, the main screen crease etc. just sitting in the closet now. I’ll check back when diverging actually good comes out. flop 4
Well, it sounds like a good device for you then. Personally I want to be able to use my phone with one hand, so I want to be able to reach the entire screen with the thumb of the hand that is holding the bare phone.
It has the outer screen too for when you want a one-hander. Though you’d have to go with either fold 5 or one of the other brands to get a better outer screen, fold 4 and lower were not particularly useful there. Too skinny. I pretty much only ever use the outer screen for actual phone calls. You can transition from tablet to phone while already having answered the call with no issues.
And as with all larger phones, you always have the option of going into “one-handed mode” using whatever shortcut you assigned(either diagonal swipe or triple tap home are the defaults). It’s less necessary when you just have the option of a smaller one handed screen on the outside, but still there if you’d rather that option.
Tablets are much better than phones at trying to do things that are meant to be done in a full computer, while being much more more portable than computers. It’ll never be as good as PCs but to some people that’s not a big price to pay for the portability.
So virtual desktop?
I think people like tablets a lot more than virtual desktops judging by the sales numbers.
True. But more so you need companies to get into it. They are the ones buying. Plus you would computer-literate staff to get a router with the capability to run a secure VPN. I don’t even know if it’s possible. I don’t see why not. But maybe bandwidth isn’t capable
The only advantage I see are movies, but then again for a static display I can just use my laptop or a TV.
I guess gaming could be something, if you’re into that. Personally all those microtransaction BS makes me steer clear of wanting any games on my phone.
Tablets are cheaper and lighter than laptops so if someone just wants to watch videos while traveling or commuting, a tablet is often a better option than a laptop.
What not get a tablet/ laptop hybrid. Two birds one stone.
That’s a tablet with a keyboard case
Well no. Like the Microsoft surface. It’s a laptop that can be hard as tablet. As powerful enough to do plenty of computer tasks.
It’s nice for the few non shitty games that also scale well on the display.
Also watching videos while doing chores, quite convenient.
How are you watching videos while doing chores?
Dishes being an obvious one, just looking up every now an then, I mostly listen/watch long form yt
Imo movies on anything smaller than 40" with a sweet sound system is blasphemy.
And I don’t play many games these days but when I do it’s on a proper PC for pretty much the same reason (plus the micro transactions as you mentioned).
Also, touchscreens drive me nuts for anything more advanced than like browsing Mastodon.
This article seems to only talk about the ones that fold like a book, and not on the ones that fold like a clam. I don’t get the fixtation on that design - at this point it’s more of a tablet than a phone, and for a tablet it’s pretty small. When opened, the Samsung Z Flip has the dimensions of a smartphone - which means you can put it to your ear or operate it with one hand. You can’t do that with the Z Fold - it’s too wide. Also, the Samsung Z Flip costs half as much as the Z Fold - which is still not cheap, but it’s not that much more expensive than Samsung’s regular flagship phone with the same specs. So I assume affordable flip smartphones should be possible - maybe not this year, but probably soon enough.
Z Flips sell twice as much as Z Folds - all while Samsung is spending most of the marketing effort on pushing the Fold. Maybe if they focused on the Flip instead they could have made this one “a thing”?
The tablet thing is the point I like about my foldable phone. I couldn’t be bothered to carry a tablet with me, but the Fold fits in my pocket without any issues and I love the bigger screen. If I have to use my phone with one hand, I just use the outside screen (which to be fair hasn’t the best aspect ratio).
It’s odd that we should need to spell out that different devices are designed for different kinds of users with different use cases.
I’ve been using the z flip 4 for over a year now. I think that is what it’s called… I won’t go back. The foldable phone is awesome.
I’ve got my Fold 3 and it’s amazing. Are there compromises? Absolutely. Are they worth it, also yes.
I’ve always been the type to upgrade my phone every year, but I’m thoroughly satisfied with this device after 2 years, and don’t see myself replacing it anytime soon.
The biggest thing foldables need now isn’t new features and spec bumps. What they need is a significant price cut.
Full-size foldable phones still costing $1800 5 years in is why they’re such a tiny market share.
Agree, it’s hard to imagine not having a fold after using it for a bit
What’s holding me back is that I’m worried the fold line would be too distracting, or would get worse over time.
I also love my s23 pen
That’s what I thought originally, but the fold is not noticeable at all when you look square at it, as far as how it feels to move your finger over it, it feels like a small tactile bump. Feels nice actually. I use a membrane screen protector and foldable case with no issues, over the last year there has been no degradation of the “crease” or the folding mechanism.
That’s good to know! Glad to hear it’s working for you
You can take my foldable out of my cold dead hands!
which one do you have?
zFold 4
I think foldables have found a niche market at the moment. People buy them, just not in the quantities the companies might want.
The main reasons for this are Samsung being stagnant on its innovation with foldables (Z flip 5 notwithstanding), much of the competition being limited to China only or aren’t being marketed at all, and the book style foldables all being overpriced (they still MSRP for $1700-$1800 plus 1000% storage markups, they should be aiming for a $1200-$1300 MSRP).
Here in the US, we have:
The usual Samsung foldables: The Z flip 5 which is a great device at on okay price, and I’ve seen a few of these (or the previous gens), notable because 85% of the devices I see are iPhones. The Z Fold 5 is stagnant and overpriced.
Pixel Fold: Hahahahaha it can’t even last a week before the screen dies lol lol haha
Moto Razr Flip 40 and its variations: Nobody knows that these phones exist, and the ones who do struggle to even find a place to buy the phone. On Amazon listing for the US version is blended with the international listings and is often out of stock, and Motorola’s website gives me an error when I try to get to the buying process on its phones. Also there’s like 3 different versions of this phone Real shame, because they are good phones for a great price if you can stomach the poor battery life.
OnePlus Open: Possibly the most innovative phone of 2023, this phone 1-ups the Z Fold line in nearly every way, although it’s still pricey. But again, basically nobody has even heard of this brand, much less this phone. They just believe Samsung is the only one that makes foldables while they choose to buy the latest iPhone.
Moto Razr 2020 foldable smartphone (a model earlier than the Razr Flip 40 you mentioned) can be had for $300 to $400 as a refurb/second hand. USA models for AT&T and T-mobile are very common.
I don’t find the battery life bad, but I may not be a heavy user by comparison. I love the small form factor, and unlike the Samsung Flip, the Razr doesn’t crease the screen (the hinge expands inside to keep it in a U spaced shape).
I don’t personally see the appeal of a foldable phone that folds out larger to a square aspect ratio, but ones that keep the normal smartphone aspect ratio (like Samsung flip and Moto Razr) and fold smaller are great!
Lastly, being able hang up the phone call by closing it is very satisfying.
Well then maybe don’t charge me 3 months’ rent for one?
deleted by creator
That wasn’t free. You’re still paying for it.
It’s just sneaky financing lol
Yeah but don’t you pay a good bit monthly for the privilege?
But that’s why they want foldable phones to be a thing.
And why the market took a dive. Phones were 200-300. Then the iPhones and Galaxy’s jumped them to 500-700. Now any top tier is 1000 plus and people’s income has not compensated. As well as the rest of the crap you need to have all those new phones.
They are completely out of touch with normal everyday working people’s incomes and financial needs.
I think a compounding factor is that the lifespan of phones has also increased. Phone manufacturers are no longer selling a new model to the same user each year.
Also the providers aren’t subsidizing the costs as much, probably after realizing that betting on people staying on their plan past the end of the contract led to people just chasing those incentives at other providers once their contract was up.
Not that they aren’t subsidizing phones still, they just aren’t throwing a hundred or two in gift cards or prepaid credit cards on top of the phone anymore.
Look at the prices. They probably have massive margins. Don’t need much market share.
Phones started skimping on ram, removed sd card slots, still put on insane markups for added storage (like seriously, companies still want hundreds more for a 512GB phone when the larger chip costs them like $10 over a 64GB.), removed the headphone jack, left batteries non replaceable, refuse to have bigger batteries, and have peaked on resolution and refresh needs.
The last couple years have provided Jack shit to make anyone with half a brain want to upgrade. Let alone the idiotic pricing. $1400 for a cell phone? That’s more than what companies are wanting for 80" tvs and gaming laptops now days. I can buy a 4,000 pound beat up used vehicle that still runs for $1400.
deleted by creator
Meanwhile my dad can’t get enough of his Zflip or whatever the smaller one is. Even with the screen starting to wear in the middle, it’s lasted longer than his other phones because the folding means it doesn’t get banged around.
Same goes with mentions of physical keyboards, all I get is flashbacks of my dad angry that his sausage fingers (tilesetter) can’t hit the buttons before touchscreen keyboards with bigger buttons hit.
How about a phone that unfolds to 2.39:1 ratio such as 2.95*7.05 and folds to roughly half that.
I’ve been daily driving a folding phone for about 3 years now, and honest to God I’ll never buy a normal phone again. It’s a laptop, tablet, phone, and notepad (stylus) all in one. I couldn’t imagine going back.
Also, being able to open two full screen apps side by side becomes essential after you start to rely on it for work.
I get that they are expensive, but the price will come down eventually and the form factor is game changing from a usability perspective.
I feel like I’d feel similarly if I had a foldable, but the one guy I know who has one swears he’ll never buy one again. Granted, he got a gen 1 Galaxy Fold, so it’s got some major growing pains.
For what it’s worth, I decided to skip the fold 1 because of all the complaints about the sensitivity of the screen and how easy it was to break. I’ve been running the fold 3, and now the fold 5, and it’s been a tank, even with my two and four-year-old drawing on it using the stylist all the time. I think the newest versions have come a long way since the first version
I am also waiting to get one for my next phone. I’m hoping when I’m ready to upgrade things will be more durable. As someone who’s loved the Note series since my Note 2 I had, I’m a sucker for a bigger screen. I’ll probably never go back
It’s a laptop, tablet, phone, and notepad
Has no keyboard, mouse or touchpad so it’s not a laptop
Too small to be a tablet or a Notepad. Not that I care for tablets in the first place.
Too big to be a phone.
Not to mention insanely expensive.
They’re supposed to be “great for media consumption” but the square aspect ratio means it’s usually not much bigger anyway. And I don’t consume media on my phone either. That’s what 75" TVs are for.
Not saying you’re wrong. To each their own. Just my 2 cents.
Yea, the ability to replace a laptop for work is wildly dependent on the work you do. I need Windows or Linux and a keyboard and trackpad or mouse to even attempt to do my job. And it’s much easier with a desktop with lots of RAM and a 24" or larger monitor. Someone else I know rocks a laptop as a daily driver, but it needs to be docked, with 3 monitors to be fully useful.
If you don’t need programs that need a desktop OS (well written web apps only) and only need apps or say Zoom (and no real use of zoom chat or virtual backgrounds etc) then I can see a tablet working.
It’s a laptop, tablet, phone, and notepad The fact you can get all four of those for about the cost of one folding phone if you’re ok with off brands or slightly used really hurts the thing too.
Someone else I know rocks a laptop as a daily driver, but it needs to be docked, with 3 monitors to be fully useful.
That’s how I do it. Only it’s a single 32:9 monitor. Gaming PC has been relegated to the living room. Single cable to dock the laptop. Gets unplugged when I leave the house. Anything that needs power gets remoted into the gaming PC.
I’m a programmer and I need three screens to work effectively (otherwise I get into 8+ virtual desktops). However, I’m using a Minisforum UM790 Pro and not a laptop, because what’s the point in having another screen I don’t use and a keyboard that’s awful.
Android runs almost all USB keyboards and mice or touch pads, you can totally have that as an option for your phone. And it’s like 50 bucks to get a powered hub that can also charge the phone OTG while connecting all those USB devices at once.
It is the same size as as the common smaller form factor tablets have been for a decade. And note pads also have been coming in this size for over a century.
It is smaller than the average phone when folded into phone mode. Especially if we are not only talking smart phones, but even if.
They are indeed relatively more expensive right now, I got mine “open box” for half off, and it was about the price of a contemporary regular smart phone then. But they won’t always be this much more expensive.
You are not always near your 75 inch TV. It’s nice to have an acceptable option when out and about. Fold 4 also has spacial audio, you get your head about a foot away from those speakers in horizontal tablet mode, and boom, the virtual surround sound is surprising. (Anyone who has one and hasn’t tried it yet, take this moment to try it out then come back) (it’s pretty crazy, right?)
It is what we claim it is. Just my 2 cents. I hope eventually the price gets to a place where more people can choose it without having to worry about whether they can justify it.
Android runs almost all USB keyboards and mice or touch pads
Yes but they don’t come with one attached like a laptop.
It is the same size as as the common smaller form factor tablets
Galaxy Fold has a 7.3" screen, which is barely larger than some of the non-folding displays. The iPad Mini has an 8.3". That’s about as small as they come and still significantly larger.
It is smaller than the average phone when folded into phone mode
Not in external dimensions it’s not.
They are indeed relatively more expensive right now
The tablet style ones are approximately double the price of a traditional phone. Or more depending on which ones you’d like to compare. I wouldn’t call that “relatively expensive”. That’s just expensive.
I got mine “open box” for half off, and it was about the price of a contemporary regular smart phone then.
And you could have gotten a “normal” phone for half of that, open box. Or 1/4 the price of a folding phone.
You are not always near your 75 inch TV.
And I don’t always consume media 🙂. Again, speaking for myself here.
I just use a normal phone (Pixel 7a)
For media consumption and stuff I have a rooted Lenovo Tab M9 running a LineageOS GSI
I’ve never tried a folding phone but to me it seems like a jack of all trades, master of none. The 4:3 aspect ratio, black bars on basically all videos, and easily damaged screen seem like big negatives.
I’d be interested to see if I’m wrong if I ever get a chance to use one.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Foldables, which have a screen that opens like a book or compact mirror, barely exceed a 1 per cent market share of all smartphones sold globally almost five years after they were first introduced.
“We will continue to position our foldables as a key engine for our flagship growth with the clear differentiation, experience and flexibility these devices have to offer,” said Samsung.
Other handset makers such as Motorola, China’s Huawei and its spin-off Honor are also pinning their hopes on the product helping to revive a market that suffered its worst year for more than a decade.
Every other big smartphone maker has followed Samsung into the market, including Google’s Pixel Fold and Chinese alternatives from Huawei, Oppo and Xiaomi.
“We believe foldables are the future of smartphone devices, just like electric cars were to the auto industry,” said Bond Zhang, UK chief executive of Honor.
Counterpoint Research estimates about 16 million foldable phones will be sold this year, just 1.3 per cent of the 1.2 billion smartphone market total.
The original article contains 357 words, the summary contains 171 words. Saved 52%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
deleted by creator
I hope all these big companies pump billions into this tech and lose it all.
I love my flip phone. I’d love a phone with a hardware keyboard even more, but at least a folding flip phone is interesting in a sea of rectangles.
Having more mainstream keyboard options would be nice to have.
