Poll: Do you still believe in foldable smartphones?
The Samsung Galaxy Fold represents a huge innovation, breaking what many have considered a long period of stagnation in smartphone technology and design. Unfortunately, about ten percent of the review devices sent to US journalists started to break or failed entirely within the first couple of days, and it was exactly the most interesting component that was the source of the problems.
The screen on my Galaxy Fold review unit is completely broken and unusable just two days in. Hard to know if this is widespread or not. pic.twitter.com/G0OHj3DQHw
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) April 17, 2019
Delaying the release of the device was the right move, but Samsung's image has surely been damaged by this, and it wouldn't be the first time, if you remember the exploding Note 7 debacle. But what about the idea of foldable phones in general? Is there still reason to believe? With the Galaxy Fold postponed, the pressure is on for the Huawei Mate X to carry our hopes for foldable smartphones, at least for now. Or, we could look to alternatives to get the amount of screen space we desire.
The market for foldable smartphones in 2019 is obviously still limited and not fully mature. If you have doubts about folding smartphones, you might find the extra display which attaches to the new LG V50 ThinQ to be an interesting alternative, or the multi-display of the ZTE Axon M, which has two screens attached to a sturdy metal frame and hinge. However, doubling screens could just mean halving the comfort and doubling the fragility. Only time will tell.
What do you think? Please let us know in the poll, and share your thoughts in the comments!
It has taken years and 7 different devices for the Galaxy to mature.
Cordless hoovers, the battery in v1 - v3 was poor, v4 is getting better.
Smart watches, v4 is getting better.
This is a classic capitalist scheme, designed to extract as much profit and revenue from a particular range.
Just think about the galaxy range, each "new" device has a slightly bigger viewing screen as if the technology has evolved. It hasn't evolved, Samsung designed a full screen display years ago.
Foldable devices will be rolled out over the next 5 years, making lots of profit.
As consumers we have either the choice to be ripped off or go without such technologies...
I think that like many technology developments being an early adopter is just for showing off. Waiting until the technology is mature is a smarter move. Especially with folding, no one seems to really have a good blend of function and style yet. But I know someone will eventually.
I think the current form factor of a candy-bar style device has run its course. It's not viable in the long term anymore given that people use phones more frequently than computers (and that phones - androids at least - ARE computers with the right peripherals). No one stops to open a laptop anymore, and phone screens can't keep getting bigger and still be useful. What are we going to do? Carry around 10-inch phones? Nope. People want bigger screens, but still want to put it in their pocket. The only feasible way of doing this with current tech is folding it up. I think they should keep throwing money at R&D for this. It will pay off. In 3 years I don't want to still be using another flat piece of glass (and bet real money I won't be) and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Waiting for the second generations.
I'm sure the technology will be implemented either by the military, or your local police department, or NASA (like laptops work before they became prominent in businesses and at home). For half the cost of a foldable smartphone? You can get a decent 11" Chromebook - which I would rather spend the money on (just being honest!)
The folding smart phone had primarily been a solution in search of a problem to date. Nothing wrong with exploring the solution space but the current crop aren't impressive at anything.
I think that foldable smartphones are interesting, but not really something people are waiting for. Certainly for 2000 Dollars I would never ever buy one. For that money I can get a very good tablet and a very good phone, both with a great performance and capacity.
And money left over
Look to the future. Don't be like Apple.
I still believe in foldable smartphones. Development of foldable glass will be a major breakthrough in this segment. It is just that the technology needs to be more mature, otherwise the concept is great.
Many of us may have experiences with foldable devices: notebooks. Me even with one of the forerunners of the tablet: the Velo 500 (by Philips, 1997). In both cases, I have had fatal trouble with the folding aspect: either the hinge or the flatcable hidden inside a hinge. - Apart from these, my first two smartphones (on Windows!) featured sliding keyboards, making the devices rather thick. At least the first one (Qtec 9100, aka HTC Wizard) was too thick for carrying in a pocket, but it did feel nice in the hand. I have never really used these tiny keyboards. - No, my favorite design for a smartphone is as much a solid slate as possible, like the good old Nexus 5 (by Google and LG). - Apart from that, I am a tablet man. Having a tablet within reach, unless I expect not to be using it. Using some sort of tablet cover on the road, but no more cover with keyboard for me. Foldable...
I have neve wanted a foldable phone, they get to thick for your pocket. I also do not want a all in one device, I like having a tablet and a phone. All my games and web surfing are done on my tablet, My phone is for banking and communicating. That way I can give all the game app all the permission they want and never have to worry about privacy. Because I keep nothing there not even email there is no personal info for them to get.
Dude, you always have to worry about privacy. If you're on the grid, you're vulnerable. And most of these banks and developers aren't using good security on the back-end. Your phone is very unlikely to be the access point of your data.