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Cellphones Technology

'Samsung Still Hasn't Given Us a Good Reason To Buy a Foldable Phone' (theverge.com) 73

Posted by BeauHD from the they-sure-are-cool-though dept.
Earlier this week, Samsung unveiled their new Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 -- two of the most refined and polished foldable smartphones on the market. However, what Samsung hasn't done (or any other phone manufacturer for that matter) "is make the case for why you'd actually want a foldable phone," writes David Pierce via The Verge. "And until it can explain why it's worth all the extra cost and tradeoffs, I'm having a hard time figuring out why you'd be willing to give up the phone you know and love to get one." From the report: What Samsung needs to do with the Galaxy Fold (and the rest of the industry will eventually need to do with their own foldables) is convince people that it's worth buying a phone that's more expensive, more fragile, and takes up more room in your pocket. Right now, the worst thing about foldables is that they force you to make significant sacrifices on the most important device you own: your smartphone. The new Fold 4 is a little shorter, about an ounce heavier, and about twice as thick as the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It's also $600 more expensive. The Ultra has a bigger battery, better camera specs, and a 6.8-inch screen that supports an S Pen. The Fold 4, when opened, is noticeably larger, but the candy bar phones still get plenty big. And Fold makes a lot of sacrifices for some more real estate.

It's not even clear to me that Samsung knows why you should make all of those sacrifices. On its website, one of the first selling points the company offers is that you can prop up the screen on a table by opening it halfway for watching or taking videos hands-free. Here in reality, we call that a kickstand, and this is an awfully expensive one. In this mode, you're also only using half the screen, which sort of defeats the whole purpose. So far, multitasking seems to be the foldable's one actual advantage. Open up your Galaxy Fold, and you can run two apps side by side or even three or four on the screen at once! This, I agree, is a delightful thing. Being able to use my browser and my notes app side by side or see my calendar and my email together is much better than constantly swiping between two full-screen apps. And seeing two pages at a time in the Kindle app is the best. And you know what? Big screens are just good -- good for games, good for reading, good for watching Netflix.

But these aren't just arguments for foldables; they're arguments for tablets. And so far, the arguments for Android tablets don't seem to be convincing many users. While Android has gotten better as a large-screen operating system, and the Fold 4's software being based on Android 12L is a good sign, too many apps that are "optimized" for foldables are actually just sticking a giant sidebar onto one side, which doesn't accomplish much. Others just streeeetch everything to fit the larger screen. Don't even get me started on how the vast majority of apps deal with Microsoft's approach of two separate screens attached with a hinge. Samsung has done an admirable job of wrangling all of Android's weirdness onto the Fold's screen, and in general, it's not that the Fold doesn't work; it's that there's nothing about the Fold that is dramatically better than the phone or tablet you might already be carrying around. And shoving them into a single device actually makes them both a little worse.
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'Samsung Still Hasn't Given Us a Good Reason To Buy a Foldable Phone' More

'Samsung Still Hasn't Given Us a Good Reason To Buy a Foldable Phone'

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  • No crease, please. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by backslashdot ( 95548 ) on Friday August 12, 2022 @06:26PM (#62785002)

    Get rid of the fucking crease Samsung. If the Oppo Find N can have a reduced crease, why is Samsung finding it so hard? Figure out how to put it on an elastic fabric substrate or something.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      The crease isn't a big deal. You don't really see it when you are looking at the content of the screen, and while you can feel it when you run your finger over it a) that's hardly a big deal and b) most of the time you don't need to reach that far to operate the phone.

      I'd rather they got rid of the under screen camera. The quality is crap anyway. For selfies I'll just use the rear camera and the front screen with the phone folded flat.

  • At the edge where it folds, after about six months of use, the screen just dies. That's $2000 down the drain.

  • more expensive, more fragile, and takes up more room in your pocket

    Cool, make it not those things and then come back to us.

  • What a shitty headline.
    I guarantee that the second Apple steals Samsung's technology the same """journalists""" will be writing about how it's the best thing since sliced bread.

    I'm a Samsung Fold 2 owner btw, and it's easily the best phone I've ever had

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by _xeno_ ( 155264 )

      I guarantee that the second Apple steals Samsung's technology the same """journalists""" will be writing about how it's the best thing since sliced bread.

      While I don't disagree, it's also because Apple is fairly good at waiting until technology has caught up to the point where it's generally useful. People frequently misattribute this to Apple "polishing" other people's designs, but the real answer is that they tend to just wait until technology has matured until they can put out a version that doesn't have the flaws of the earlier versions. They don't "add polish," they wait until others polish earlier designs, then slap an Apple logo on a copy and sell it.

      • I guarantee that the second Apple steals Samsung's technology the same """journalists""" will be writing about how it's the best thing since sliced bread.

        While I don't disagree, it's also because Apple is fairly good at waiting until technology has caught up to the point where it's generally useful. People frequently misattribute this to Apple "polishing" other people's designs, but the real answer is that they tend to just wait until technology has matured until they can put out a version that doesn't have the flaws of the earlier versions. They don't "add polish," they wait until others polish earlier designs, then slap an Apple logo on a copy and sell it.

        Samsung was clearly hoping that by being the first to foldable phones, they would have some sort of first mover advantage. But like the article says, there are enough drawbacks that the phones aren't ready for mainstream use. (Keep in mind, most people are idiots. Given how much damage most people do to their phones, it's not surprising to me that people don't want a phone that's even a little more fragile.)

        Apple is expected to release a foldable iPhone in 2024. Clearly they know that foldables are better (who wouldn't want a bigger screen?), but that the technology isn't quite ready to go mainstream. Apple's waiting for the technology to improve before they "invent" it.

        I disagree. Apple does wait until the tech is ready. But their great strength has always been the polish they apply once the tech is ready.

        The iPod is the classic example. Despite the fact it had no wireless and less space than a Nomad [slashdot.org] the difference is polish [wikipedia.org] is pretty big [wikipedia.org].

        I think the most innovative thing they've done recently is the iPad. AFAIK while phone screens were getting bigger no one thought you'd want a giant smart phone that couldn't make a phone call. They've really made a new category there.

    • I guarantee that the second Apple steals Samsung's technology the same """journalists""" will be writing about how it's the best thing since sliced bread.

      Oh, definitely! Big phones? Styluses? Tablet keyboards? Copy-paste? All completely stupid until Apple does it.

    • The day Apple makes a ÂÂfoldable phone, it wonâ(TM)t have any moving part. Imagine two thin screens that connect to each other magnetically, like an iPad and its keyboardâ¦

  • After a while of (un)folding, you'll have two screen for the price of three.

  • for audio calls and my laptop for everything else.

    Then the whole world started demanding that I carry a full blown computer in my pocket to do mundane things that I used to do through a browser on my PC.

    Am I better off for it? Not in any way I can quantify. Am I worse off for it? Not in any way I can quantify.

    But it's for damn sure that the likes of Amazon are better off having the barrier for purchase be "reach into your pocket and say 'buy' into your gizmo"

    If there's a way foldables can be exploited to ma

    • Really? You don't see the use of a smartphone at this point in time? Im seriously unsure if you're serious or not, but ok I'll bite. I was also quite late to the smartphone game as my wife is fond of reminding me. But once I got one, about 6 years ago, I rapidly found the following uses that can't easily/quickly/cheaply be replicated be a computer and flip phone.

      1. GPS win my pocket no need for a separate device
      2. Group texting conversations no need for separate device
      3. Web browser wherever I feel l

      • 6. No longer carry a wallet - device saved me well over a thousand dollars in prematurely worn-out pants from carrying a thick wallet.

        What has the phone replaced so you don't have to carry a wallet? One credit card?

        I assume you still carry your driver's license, or if you don't drive it's possible your phone became your transit ticket. Cash? If you carried cash before your phone, you probably still do, otherwise you could still get by with one credit card instead of the phone.

        In fact, I'm betting you still have to carry that additional credit card as not all payment systems accept whichever NFC payment system your phone uses.

        I think yo

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          What has the phone replaced so you don't have to carry a wallet? One credit card?

          Three credit cards, a bunch of loyalty cards, and cash. I don't carry cash any more, unless it's for something special that I know will need it. I would keep my transport card (Suica) on there too, but for some reason Google doesn't let me unless I switch my location to Japan.

          It's not a requirement to carry your driver's licence or any form of ID in the UK, but if I really needed to I could keep a copy of that on my phone. The cops only need to see the number so they can check it on their database. Driver's

      • 1. GPS win my pocket no need for a separate device

        I learned to navigate without one, and all it did was cause my sense of direction to atrophy ever so slightly

        2. Group texting conversations no need for separate device

        Being a nerd under a rock, I have no friends to "group text" with. Back in my day, my sock puppet accounts and I would "group text" via newsgroups and slashdot posts.

        3. Web browser wherever I feel like it. Waiting in line, looking prices up in store, looking up info while in conversation, looking stuff up while in the lab and no need to hunt for a

        Now that stores have gotten the idea their customers look stuff up, they have fewer people on the floor to help you find stuff and no more self service terminals where you can find stuff yourself. About break-even.

        4. Laser-ruler accurate to the half inch

        My phone doesn't have t

    • For me, the killer smartphone app has been real time transit information, routing, and maps. If you get around by bus and tram and subway it's a game changer.

  • My wife really likes reading books on a phone, and I do fairly often as well.

    Wouldn't a folding screen be great for that?

    I could see a movie might not be as good as some people might bo be able to ignore the crease, but for textural content a phone that can fit in your pocket well yet still offer a really large screen, seems like it would be nice...

    The main issue I could potentially see, is that with two screens it's already a thick device, so you could not add much battery and so in total it would seem suc

    • My wife really likes reading books on a phone, and I do fairly often as well.

      Wouldn't a folding screen be great for that?

      Yes, especially if the fold is vertical and takes the place of a spine. Then the phone could "really" imitate a book! Except for the part where I can shuffle back through pages doing a random-access search for a passage I want to re-read... ;-)

      • Except for the part where I can shuffle back through pages doing a random-access search for a passage I want to re-read...

        It wouldn't be difficult at all for the reader app to add a slider element at the top or bottom where the left is page 1 and the right is the last page and the pages flip instantly as you pull it either direction.

    • I've found that one of the best phones for reading books is none other than the Kyocera Echo. I'm not kidding, it actually makes for a pretty good e-reader. The problem, though, is that it's over 10 years old and therefore pretty slow. If you can get past that, the dual screen design is perfect for reading e-books on the go.

      • I've found that one of the best phones for reading books is none other than the Kyocera Echo.

        Wow, didn't even remember that existed! I looked up images, I can see where it would be good for reading.

  • Hmm, the summary says there is nothing appealing about the Fold 4 versus the S22 Ultra. That's a bit disingenuous to say. While it may be true that most of the hardware specs in the Fold 4 are inferior, it should be completely obvious that the focus of the Fold 4 is completely about the size and aspect ratio of the main screen. While the Fold 4 screen is slightly larger in terms of the diagonal, it's the aspect ratio that makes a difference. It's the difference between a 6:5 tablet screen and a 19.3:9 p

  • Why all the hassle to get one screen "foldable", at the expense of becoming fragile and overpriced? Just put two rigid screens on each of the upper and lower part and let there be only a tiny gap between them when unfolded.

    I am really interested in a flip phone, simply because I like their smaller form factor. But not at those outrageous prices for something so fragile.

  • Folding? (Score:3)

    by NagrothAgain ( 4130865 ) on Friday August 12, 2022 @07:21PM (#62785068)
    These things are somewhere in between a regular phone and a small tablet. It's a weird niche to try to fill. Now, if I can literally crumple it up like a wad of paper, and have it spring back to It's original shape without any deformation, that would be freaking awesome. And maybe this is a step in that direction but to me this is just a rush to get some hardware onto the market before patents expire.
  • If you want a folding phone, there's tons of flip phones out there. Sure, many of them are no longer supported here in the States, but quite a few still are, even if they aren't "all screen" like Samsung's phones. And if you're an Apple diehard wishing they'd release a foldable, here's a hack for you: get an iPhone 6 and carry it in your back pocket for a few weeks, and PRESTO! You've got a semi-foldable iPhone
  • They have a commercial, everyone will stop what they are doing and watch you open and close your phone. So cool, other than that, no reason, except it's more breakable. Disclaimer: I will not be buying a foldable phone.
  • I don't mind the idea of the folding phone, but at the price even though I can afford one there is no way in hell I will ever purchase one. I wouldn't pay that sort of price for a phone and yes that includes the overpriced fruit phones.

  • The author misses all of the important aspects. First, a folded phone is more convenient to carry. It just fits in smaller pockets. And second, the plastic screen in foldables may be more fragile but is also thinner and lighter than a gorilla glass screen. The foldables therefore can and must be thinner and lighter than regular phones. So far, the industry has not figured out how to make either of these two potential advantages work, but things are moving in the right direction.

    • the weight of the glass in the screen is a reasonably small percentage of the total. eliminating it isn't going to make a big difference. Meanwhile if the screen isn't glass, it will scratch, period. Just some minor grit on the glass (or your finger) while touching will do it.

  • I don't want any moving parts in my phone, especially one that bisects the screen. Unsorry, but even if they managed to get the failure rate as low as they possibly can and most people never experience one, I still wouldn't feel comfortable using it, knowing that I might see big blobs where useable screen real estate used to be no matter how well I took care of the device. Also, I have a cheap tablet for those few times I need a mobile screen as large as the Fold's.

  • Perhaps @Samsung @SamsungMobile proved that there are reasons not to buy any new phone from them, because #GSOD [youtube.com]

  • doesn't understand why people want a larger screen but still prefer a small device.

    News at 11.

  • It's smaller. Duh. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Bitbeard ( 1665499 ) on Saturday August 13, 2022 @03:37AM (#62785570)
    I have a Z Flip 3. Every time I pull it out, everyone around me wants one. It folds and fits in my pocket and there's still room for something else in my pocket.

    If you're concerned about cost, why aren't you going back to a landline?
    • Everyone wants one ? Then how come that they donâ(TM)t sell millions of foldable phones ? I never saw one â¦
    • I don't have one, don't want one (perhaps my wife, once they improve the camera on those), but all people I know who have a flip are really happy with it. I know only one person with a fold, he got it cheap (400 USD equivalent, knows someone) and most likely wouldn't get one at full price... YMMV
    • I love that smaller flip phones are back. It is just frustrating that they rip out all the features like no more mic jack, fm radio tuner, sd card... basically everything the Motorola Ming used to have before iphone clones and face tablets became the trend

  • If you think of it as a folding phone, you'll be disappointed. It's fairly heavy. The slick glass front and back make it seem heaver.

    If you think of it as a folding tablet, it's pretty nice. I don't multitask with it. I just like having a big screen.

  • She wanted a small phone to fit better in her purse.
  • Leaving aside that it is a Samsung device (therefore choke-full of unremovable low-quality Samsung bloatware) the fact is that the device is not worth the price tag, except for getting attention. The technology will get there at some point, but it is not yet clear when.

  • It's by far the biggest improvement in phones since phones got "good enough", I don't even remember when.

    The unfolded screen is much more comfortable for web browsing, gaming or movies/TV than any phone screen.

    And the folded phone is convenient for quick use.

    It really is a form factor that works--at least for me. YMMV ;)

  • I've owned the Galaxy Note 3, 4, 5, and now: 8. The 16:9 aspect ratio lack of curved screen made the Note 4, the best from the series. The new phones have screens that cannot be protected. Compounding that, the long aspect ratio makes them easier to drop. They sabotaged the Note series.
  • They can sell a phone at a ridiculous premium to people who want a gimmick. And of course the screen is so flimsy and easy to scratch / crimp / crease that they'll be selling another phone to these people sooner rather than later.
  • Samsung will NEVER through sales be able to recoup the R&D costs associated with its folding phones. They're an interesting 'gimmick' from an engineering standpoint but not at all practical. The same is true of their screens that wrapped around the edges: totally unnecessary. Perhaps Samsung has a large population of engineers just sitting around with little to do so they have to keep coming up with weird projects and products to occupy their time and talents. One wonders if Samsung has made any pr

  • Samsung Still Hasn't Given Us a Good Reason To Buy a Foldable Phone

    Facebook Still Hasn't Given Us a Good Reason To Buy Into the "Metaverse"

    SillyCon Valley Hasn't Given Us a Good Reason To Buy Into Blockchain/NFTs/Crypto

    Just 'cause it's pointless don't mean the corporate hipster sociopaths won't try to sell it to the insecure masses seeking to be "cool."

  • I have a smartphone (recently upgraded from a Pixel to a Pixel 4a). And I have a tablet (currently an Asus Zenpad Z8).

    For calling, texting and navigation, the phone gets used. It's narrow enough I can hold it and operate it one-handed.

    For reading / composing long emails, reading longer articles and planning trips, the tablet gets used. For messing with docs and spreadsheet on Google Drive, the tablet, MOST DEFINITELY, gets used. I can use a smartphone to look at an existing spreadsheet but composing one

  • Smartphones have improved so that a $200-300 device will do basically everything you expect from it perfectly well. So $1800 for a gimmick is bound to be a niche product.

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