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
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 would agree on the first 2-3 generations, but after 6-7, the tech is mature enough that it doesn’t get destroyed just like that. Didn’t we hade the same discussions when phones started using glass instead of plastic screens?`You do remember, screens used to be made of transparent plastic, not glass?
You do remember, screens used to be made of transparent plastic, not glass
I’m not sure if bendable glass is scientifically possible. Glass is supposed to be rigid…
Samsung makes it, no it’s not solid but it is glass
My coworkers do. A woman uses a flipable, because it could fit in her pants’ pocket.
Another use a foldable as a tablet, but he mostly use it folded, unless he need to read a book or taking a note.
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.
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
Hopefully the materials will improve before then. I think foldable screens are a great idea.
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.
I had one for about a year and went back to a normal phone. The crease didn’t bother me at all, had no problem with delamination… Really no problems with the phone at all. It was great for watching YT and multitasking, but in the end, it was just a really thick/bulky phone and it was annoying to deal with.
I think I’d really prefer a 5.5" screen, if I need something bigger, I’ll use a different device.
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.
Z Flip user here! I’ve been loving this phone. I’ve had a Z Flip since I think maybe 2022 now? Anyway, still enjoying the thing. Main reason I got it was the same reason you did… pocketability.
Modern smartphones are just so ridiculously huge that they don’t fit in the ridiculously small women’s pants pockets. I love that I can actually bring a modern smartphone everywhere without needing a purse or bag. Bonus is that it’s also just fun to open and close it… especially when hanging up calls lol.
I have a Galaxy Z Flip 3 (fuckin’ naming schemes) and have been listing after the Razr. I think it looks spectacular, and at least on my generation of devices, the external screen can only run special apps compiled with a Samsung API. The external screen is useless, but from what I read the Razr runs just any app. The bloatware can’t be anywhere near as bad as what Samsung does.
Why don’t you use the external screen more? It’s almost half-size a normal screen, right?
I think the main reason I don’t use the outer screen more is just that if I’m on my phone I’m generally stationary and can open it up without sacrificing convenience. It’s like, 75% open, 25% use the outer screen in general. I also have a Pixel watch for like, at-a-glance notifications.
Completely agree that there is ZERO point to the outer screen if you can’t use any app you choose. Here is my outer home screen:
(Yes, I own a Tesla. No, I’m not a Nazi. I bought it in April 2024 used and owe more than I’d get on a trade. Yes I know there are incentives right now. No they won’t make a difference. No, you don’t know my finances. No, I’m not going to discuss it any more.)
And yes, Pokemon Go works on the outer screen… Kind of. It’s hard to hit the buttons. Throwing balls though, just fine. The more I think about it, being on foot or on a bike is the perfect situation for pretty much all of what the outer screen can do.
The main screen, though - fantastic. I love the Moto UI for Android. I like a small text size and lots of icons.
Mine is the 2024 base version. The plus or ultra or what the fuck ever just has a slightly bigger outer screen and… Idfk what else but I haven’t felt the need for more. Quite happy.
I replaced 2 Pixels in a row which both died in less than a year with this. Better battery life, thermals, and UI than the Pixel. Camera is acceptable, but Pixel is the king there. I have a Pixel 6a which is a burner/camera when I want real photography. Quite happy.
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 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.
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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
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 !runescape@lemmy.world and !2007scape@lemmy.world 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
@cm0002@lemmy.world
@IDKWhatUsernametoPutHereLolol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
I had a Galaxy Fold 5. I had a Fold 3 before this. I bought the 3 used for $800 to try out the form factor. The screen on the 3 split, but Samsung still gave me $600 in credit towards a Fold 5. No hardware issues with the 5. I doubt I’ll ever go back to a smaller phone because of the work related tasks I can do with the additional screen real estate.
For me the killer app is being able to review VRT failures. Before the Fold, I had to have a tablet or my laptop handy to avoid potential delays. Now I can review a VRT failure anywhere. This has allowed to spend more time with my kids. Worth every penny.
Frankly, for me, it’s like going multi-monitor for the first time. I can’t go back.
Interesting. Definitely makes me continue to be interested in them. First time I went multi monitors it’s quite freeing. Then when the lockdowns hit I made sure to get a second monitor for work (and play lol).
Only thing ia that the price of foldables is still too expensive for me. And idk if I want to buy used from tech junkies’ not-shiny-anymore when the next shiny comes out.
I got a fold6 from my work. Its nice having the big screen to load desktop sites/play games/do anything that needs seeing. The front screen is handy for doom scrolling, texting, and taking phone calls. It sucks ass being Samsung tho. grapheneOS apparently supports google folds. That might be cool but I haven’t seen it.
