Android

Foldable screens, to me, seem to be a recipe for disaster. Another point of failure.

Flip phones like from Star Trek are awesome though!

I don't trust it not to break.

Also they're wildly expensive.

Had a Z Fold 4 for a couple of months now and i dont ever want to go back. It feels great in the hand when closed and it is awesome to have a much larger screen available at any time. Crease isnt very noticable on it

Manufacturers are being forced to make their phones last longer with sensible things like replaceable batteries, so they're coming up with fresh designed obsolescence by adding things that will wear and tear to keep everyone spending $1-2k every couple of years.

Not interested in expensive gimmicks. How does it improve the experience? Now a phone that is a snap bracelet. Lives on my wrist. Sign me up.

After my flip 3 broke not so positive.

Fold phones fix a problem I don't have. The tech is interesting, but irrelevant to me

I love foldable phones and can't wait for more manufacturers to board. I have owned every iteration of the Samsung Z Fold series, Z Flip series, and Surface Duo series, and I am now rocking the Pixel Fold.

This form factor that Google adopteddopt is the way to go. A shorter, wider aspect ratio on the outer display makes for an excellent phone experience while allowing you to unfold the device into a proper mini tablet in landscape orientation. I never enjoyed the narrow screen on the Z Fold lineup, so I opened the phone to do almost everything. With the Pixel Fold, I open the phone up only for specific things, such as showing someone else content on my phone, reading, or watching videos.

The biggest issue with foldable is that everyone seems to worry about the device's durability, which is understandable. I have never had an issue, and I don't baby foldable phones more than I would a standard slab. I also think the pricing of foldable is a massive turn-off for many folks. Last, many people either refuse to understand the "point" of foldable devices or simply don't. For example, with me saying that I use the Pixel Fold closed most of the time, some would say, "What's the point of you're not going to use the inner display?". The point with foldable is that you get options. You don't have to use the phone as a tablet 24/7. At that point, you might as well just get a small tablet. Foldables are supposed to give you a phone experience first while giving you instant access to a larger screen capable of light multitasking and better media consumption experiences than your traditional phone. The beauty of a folding device is that you get the best of both worlds all the time, and you decide how you want to divide your time between the outer and inner displays.

Long comment, but hey, I love foldable, and I will keep buying them. Unfortunately, I think it will take Apple releasing a foldable before they become mainstream :(

I definitely understand that there is a market for it, but personally I'm not interested. They're expensive, vulnerable, and I have no need for a screen like that. The high prices and vulnerability were excusable in the first few generations, but I feel like we should've advanced further by now. I wonder how many people really use one.

Just another possible point of failure with no real upside, beside the ability to slam it shut while on a call when angry like it is 2005 again.

Cosmetically the screen creases would anoy me.

Only use case I see valuable would be easier portability of larger screen formats. But I really never use a tablet to begin with.

I'm sure the tech will go towards better curved displays like monitors,tvs, and VR headset optics. Which are some things i maybe interested in using.

But at this point I feel it's more gimmick than anything.

Seem like one of the shitttiest ideas out there, done just for the sake of novelty. If you’re lucky you’ll get creases and bad touch responsiveness. If you’re not, it is the most obvious point of failure due to mechanical stress. I could perhaps get behind “rollable” screens or the like (no hard crease), if they prove reliable.

Edit: spelling

I've been using my Pixel Fold for almost 2 weeks, and I love it. Actually using the new Sync app to write this and it looks beautiful on the inner screen.

I have used the Fold3 since launch (still have it), an iPhone 14 Pro Max, and Galaxy s23U over this past year as well. The iPhone I used for a couple of months and face it to my wife. While I know I'm still in the honeymoon period, I really enjoy using my Pixel Fold.

The Pixel Fold is exactly what I wanted from a folding phone. When closed it's the perfect size for using it like a regular phone. I really liked the size of the Pixel 6a and iPhone Xs and the PF when closed is similar to those. Obviously, a little heavier and slightly thicker. Once you open it, you have a nice mini tablet for consuming media or running 2 apps together.

My battery life has been great, performance has been stellar, cameras are also fantastic. I wish more apps were optimized for the inner screen like Sync, but even if they're not I can rotate it or run 2 apps.

I know people worry about durability, for good reason, the Fold3 that I've had for almost 2 years has done great so far. I've had to get the inner screen protector replaced twice, but other than that it's still hanging in there.

It will be great when the prices start coming down. I think with Google and Motorola really moving into this class it will help drive the price down. It will be nice when more people have the option of foldables, it'll force developers to optimize for them.

I'm still not sold on the displays. Every time I've seen one the promise has always been "the screen is better", but when eventually I get hands on with them all I see is a massive crease in the middle and I can't unsee it

As a woman with tiny pockets I'm considering switching from my (already small) S22 to a Flip-type foldable phone just to not have my phone poke into my hip bone every time I sit down.

I think they're cool as a technical feat, but I'd be far too worried about breaking it to ever buy one. The fact that the crease is visible even on brand new devices looks like a disaster waiting to happen.

I think it’s one of the dumbest new “features” I’ve seen on a phone since… I actually can’t remember anything worse right now.

Honestly, biggest deal breaker for me is the crease. When looking at it straight on, it's not the worst, but it's so jarring when you see it warp the screen and your finger runs across it. Not even to mention that it's bound to have a giant line or even a crack run down it the more you fold it. Sure the price tag is steep, but if they somehow manage to fix or improve that issue, I could see it as a viable option.

Foldables are basically the opposite of what I want: a small slab flagship phone, maybe 5" would be ideal. I don't want it to become huge at any point.

They seem extremely difficult to repair so it's a hard pass from me.

My non-foldable phones seem to break often enough. For the price, I'm not willing to introduce another physical feature to my phone that can break. They are certainly cool though. I'd love to have one. Not willing to risk it for the price.

What I want a phone to be:

• Thick with a (reasonable) bezel, so I can grab it easily and not activate the touchscreen at the edges of the screen
• Reasonably usable with one hand
• Sturdy, somewhat shock-proof and waterproof
• As serviceable / repairable as possible
• Long battery life (not use time, life of battery before it needs replacing)
• Built to last

Basically everything a foldable phone isn't.

I would absolutely love a folding phone but, can't justify the price these days. Someday for sure

I'm interested but am waiting to let the technology mature some more, and let the price come down.

Partner has the z flip4 and is very happy with it.

Although the folding mechanism on the first one seized up. When it was forced open, the pixels on the crease turned off.

Took it back to the retailer and they swapped it on the spot. They were out of 256GB versions, so they provided the 512GB one instead. As the price of them had dropped a lot since purchase, the store gave $250 cash back for the difference.

All phones that cost that much are dumb. Just get a computer instead and your money goes a lot farther to get screens and computing power.

$200-300 is about all I'll be willing to spend for any phone. I don't care what the features are that the expensive phones have, unless it's got some kind of alien laser technology that can do stuff that computers can't. For my price range I can have a great Pixel with GrapheneOS and that's about all I want.

foldables are really cool but pretty fragile

I have a Surface Duo 1 and I really think they got the form factor right, as opposed to the folding glass one-big-screen types. The SD also folds backwards so you don't need (to pay for) three screens. Also, most of the functionality of the Pixel Fold is shown off as multitasking two apps side by side, which is exactly the power user use case the SD was made for.

IMO two-screen side-by-side folders could be down to $1K at this point if they didn't all employ fragile bending glass and superfluous outer displays.

Also, I like the idea of a Flip... again, without a big outer display. Give me e-ink on the outside or something for the clock and message previews -- I'll open the phone if I need to anyway.

I like glass screens with an anti-glare screen protector on it.

The foldables I've seen use glossy, soft plastic screens.

We're already off on a bad start.

These things are becoming softer, more fragile, and more disposable, all the while going up up up in price.

When I see a review for a device that can be permanently damaged with just a fingernail and is frail enough to snap in half if folded the wrong way - all the while costing way more than a regular phone, I don't know if I'd feel comfortable using it. I already get uncomfortable handing my "normal" phone to someone to see, especially a kid.

I am really interested in getting one, but I'm planning to hold off until the cameras improve and reach flagship levels. Right now, that's the only drawback, and the price of course.

I used to have a clam phone when I was a kid and I love the idea of a foldable phone now.

But I wouldn't buy one any time soon - the idea of a hinged phone and screen just sounds far to vulnerable to wear and tear. As soon as you start adding moving parts you increase the risk of failure.

It's a great concept but at the moment it's a superfluous luxury and as they're so expensive then the cost of a breakage is just too much to tolerate. As the technology and manufacturing improves and/or becomes cheaper I might get one. But at present I don't want to risk buying a very expensive phone that could break in such a basic way as a hinged phone and folding screen could.

I like the concept, but I don't think we have endurable hardware for that yet... And I can't afford them anyway.

I just hope they don't end up like many of those interesting Android promises that go nowhere.

Google's Pixel Fold is pretty much what I'd like to see in a folding phone, whereas Samsung's extremely tall aspect ratio is a bit too thin for one-handed use.

Other competitors have figured out the formula for something that works well open and closed, so for the Fold type devices I'd like to see Samsung improve on the design and squish it a little, especially because it is so thick when folded.

Flip-style devices on the other hand, those are immediately cool. If the Z Flip had similar cameras to the S23, I would have considered holding out for one. The battery life on the S23 is what won me over.

Cool gimmick, but I’m gonna wait till all the kinks are worked out (or at least, all the major ones). Right now, I just don’t care enough to buy an unreliable phone with a hinge.

Bah. I just want one of these.

I use a Fold 4. I am autistic.

I went into it assuming I would hate the crease. But decided the upsides outweighed that potential downside. But over a year in now and I don't even hate the crease. Honestly the thing I find the most annoying would also be on most other phones; Fold 4 has an underscreen camera with lower pixel density in front of it. Bothers the shit out of me. I've taken to having a floating button for screenshots/video and place that button directly over the camera circle. So instead of whatever is in my game looking stupid and annoying in that spot, I can just pretend the icon for the camera button has a weird design.

The upside for me is having access to a nearly 4:3 aspect ratio. I do alot of emulation of older games, so it's nice to have them be full screen again. Also the charging speed is pretty nice, can have the phone completely full from empty in just under an hour at max charging speed. Which means the 25% to 75% time is just nuts. Can plug it in and not get bored just from watching the percentage tick up. Lol.

I don't really have much use for it in folded bar form though, using it like an actual phone is of course better in that shape, but I didn't buy this phone because of how often I make or receive traditional phone calls. So it's mostly just a fast, useful tablet that I can fold up and put in my pocket. Honestly if there was a version without the outside screen, I would probably get that one. The only thing I use the outside screen for is to hang up at the end of a call. And I'm sure there is an alternate option for that. Could just have a tiny little info screen that had hang-up and speaker buttons. But yeah, if the outside screen isn't costing much to include, then whatever, I could take it or leave it.

I have the hand strap case directly from Samsung, I definitely recommend it. It's got adhesive strips that stick to the phone, designed to be put on once and never removed. It doesn't need to be cleaned under. Basically as minimal as possible while having the grip to the phone necessary to trust that strap with your $2000 phones life. Although I didn't quite pay that much, I always look for an open box deal. I got it 40% off.

But yeah, the crease isn't really annoying at all. At it's worst, when looking at the phone from an uncentered angle, it is visibly darker along each side of the crease, but looking at it straight on, which you generally would be doing, you can't even tell it's there. You have to touch it to notice it, but it's smooth enough that it doesn't affect playing games or anything.

I was worried it was gonna be much worse when thinking about it before I got hands on. So when my sister got a used fold 3, I borrowed it for a couple hours to play some specific games I wanted to try out. And I wasn't worried anymore about spending so much for a fold 4.

The weight was an issue originally, took about 2 weeks to get used to it, and then about a month later I got the strap case and it would have solved it anyway. It's lighter than a hand-held gaming console, and I'm sure a few of us used to hold those for hours when we weren't as strong as we are now. The original issue was mostly when trying to hold it one-handed from one side of it. Or gripping accross the phone in folded out mode. I have decently big hands, smaller hands would have made it more than a 2 week issue. But yeah, if my hands were smaller, the problem would have remained until I got the strap case, then you hold the phone from it's center of weight and your hand is in a comfortable position while doing so. Or I just tuck one finger tip into the strap and two more on the outside of the strap and hold the phone from one side still. Comfortable and distributing the phones weight more evenly.

I like the idea, but they're way out of my price range and easier to break too.

I'm so two minds about it. On one hand it's an incredibly stupid idea (reliability, extra screen/cameras, two batteries...), but at the same time it's really a marvel of technology and a real miracle that they actually make it work.

I can imagine a Razr in my distant future if Moto survives and doesn't get shittier. Altho I'll probably still prefer other aspects to a foldable screen.

I bought a Z Fold 2 in 2020 and still use it today. Battery life is great, screens are still great (both outer and inner). I always have a cheap case for it that covers the front screen. I have dropped it twice outside on the concrete ground and the cheap case broke, but NOT the phone, so I just bought another case each time--to me, that's what the cheap case is for. I really like it and will probably get another version at some point, but here are my main takeaways:

• Outer screen is very slim (think almost TV remote-sized). I have gotten used to it but God forbid you hand it to someone else to type on, they always say it's too small

• It's too long for my pockets, but I'm a woman that wears women's clothes, and our pockets are too damn small for anything, so I have to carry it in my purse

• The screen protectors it comes with do start to fray at the edges over time, but I have never had it bubble up at the folding point/crease on the inner screen

• If you are not known for being delicate with your phone, this is not the phone for you. If you work outdoors regularly, have a tendency to drop your phone regularly, etc, don't buy this

• It's expensive

• Not all apps are compatible with the big screen so sometimes you're stuck with the small screen view on the big inner screen

• Having a portable tablet is great! I got rid of my tablet when I bought this phone and have no regrets

• It's great for driving when using Google Maps or whichever driving app you choose. Having the big screen makes it so much easier to see the directions

• Any video looks better on the big screen

• I have used the big screen to view maps I downloaded for hiking

I like the concept but I need durability.