Foldable Phones

Has anyone tried foldable phones?

Ever since it was coined into the market, I was wondering how the applications on the phone have been designed?

Due to their growing popularity around the world, foldable cellphones are on the verge of becoming mainstream. Foldable devices are the new trendsetters of 2021. Many mobile app development services companies’ strategies have begun to revolve around them. They are the smartest technologies of the era because they allow users to fold screens while not in use, boosting user interactions.

Have you ever tried foldable mobiles?

I haven’t. But then I don’t follow the latest trends…or care about them much. :slight_smile:

2 Likes

I like the idea of being able to carry a tablet in my pocket that folds down to the size of a phone, but at this point, foldable phones are extremely expensive and very easy to damage. They seem like a very bad investment to me. Every teardown that I have seen shows that they aren’t designed for repair. Samsung says that it will replace the folding screen on the Galaxy Z Fold 5G for $479, and I’m guessing that you have to pay that price because 3rd party repair shops can’t get the screen.

Maybe in a couple years, foldable OLED screens will be more scratch resistant and the phones will be better able to handle dust and water, but they seem too risky at this point in my opinion.

2 Likes

I’d like to, but havent been able to justify the cost when my current phone works. I also feel like to get the full value I’d need to enable (or at least not disable) some first party/manufacturer apps that I would otherwise have disabled so there’s that too.

I am interested though, and I do like the concept and pace at which they appear to be improving.

I wish we just kept riding slide phones w hardware keys tbh, I hate softkeyboards.

Each time I am forced to get a new phone, I cringe at what new developments in spying and surveillance are likely to be built in to the new phone that I buy. I just hope that I can receive my Librem 5 before my current Note 9 becomes obsolete and the apps won’t work and won’t update anymore. I don’t care if my phone looks like a thick and heavy antique compared to other people’s phones, as long as it is a good daily driver.

1 Like

A good rule of thumb: If it moves, it will wear out. Given the lack of durability in smartphones, I wouldn’t trust a hinge on one, lol.

Though, it’s kinda funny to see the market oscillate back to foldable things, but this time with a touchscreen, acting like a foldable screen is oh-so-cool. I give it a year before people start complaining their hinge or screen broke due to normal use.

Just because they can doesn’t mean they should, haha. I miss hardware keyboards and durable hardware.

1 Like

Given the materials advances that Apple has made over the years (titanium alloys, carbon-free aluminum, etc.), I wouldn’t be surprised to see them come up with a foldable that was actually durable. Several years ago they developed a “shape memory alloy” aka bulk metal glass aka liquid metal that might allow for folding phones that are much more durable than the hinged variety.

Heh,
Once I’ve had idea about e-reader with A4-sized screen, that would roll instead of fold.
Advantages:

  • No single point of stress
  • Given a leather etui, that could look like a very old-school scroll.

Disadvantages:

  • Nobody seems to like this form factor.
1 Like

I would love it :rofl: , especial for horizontal scroll with does handles on the side (I only saw them in cartoons with old Greek philosophers).

Of course the scroll must be horizontal, otherwise it is unwieldy.