this post was submitted on 31 Dec 2023
232 points (91.4% liked)

Technology

59135 readers
3093 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Smartphone manufacturers still want to make foldables a thing::Foldables are barely 1% of the market, but that's not stopping anyone but Apple.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] henfredemars@infosec.pub 134 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I love the foldable idea, but it's well beyond what I'm willing to pay for the novelty.

[–] DharmaCurious@startrek.website 23 points 10 months ago (7 children)

Same! I had the LG v60 dual screen case, and loved it. Thats the farthest I'm willing to go, though. It was unwieldy, and almost impossible to use a popsocket with, no way to use a wallet case, et cetera. It's not worth that price tag for less options just for the occasional use of a bigger screen.

Now, foldable tablet? That's something I'd be down for (in theory. I am poor.). Closes up small enough for a pocket, folds out when you use it. Only screen on one side, so it can tossed in a bag without worrying about it, because it's closed up and the screen is protected.

[–] Sky_Lobster@lemmy.world 17 points 10 months ago

My galaxy fold is 100% a foldable tablet with a pen. When I travel for work, I've stopped bringing my laptop. Just the fold, Bluetooth keyboard, and mouse. It's amazing

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] jonne@infosec.pub 8 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Yeah, the flip phones especially seem like a good form factor if they can make the price go down.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] eddanja@lemmy.world 47 points 10 months ago (5 children)

Well then maybe don't charge me 3 months' rent for one?

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 26 points 10 months ago (1 children)

But that's why they want foldable phones to be a thing.

[–] GladiusB@lemmy.world 30 points 10 months ago (1 children)

And why the market took a dive. Phones were 200-300. Then the iPhones and Galaxy's jumped them to 500-700. Now any top tier is 1000 plus and people's income has not compensated. As well as the rest of the crap you need to have all those new phones.

They are completely out of touch with normal everyday working people's incomes and financial needs.

[–] poopkins@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I think a compounding factor is that the lifespan of phones has also increased. Phone manufacturers are no longer selling a new model to the same user each year.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
[–] dragnet@lemmy.dbzer0.com 44 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Once they are cheaper and more durable I'll buy one. Its still a new form factor that hasn't been perfected yet, but that doesn't mean its wrong for manufacturers to keep at it

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Sky_Lobster@lemmy.world 40 points 10 months ago (4 children)

I've been daily driving a folding phone for about 3 years now, and honest to God I'll never buy a normal phone again. It's a laptop, tablet, phone, and notepad (stylus) all in one. I couldn't imagine going back.

Also, being able to open two full screen apps side by side becomes essential after you start to rely on it for work.

I get that they are expensive, but the price will come down eventually and the form factor is game changing from a usability perspective.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Phen@lemmy.eco.br 33 points 10 months ago (17 children)

I wish they would put a proper keyboard on a phone again. There's dozens of people like me who misses those things, why is nobody doing it?

[–] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 23 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Totally agree. The smartphone market is wayyy to homogenous. All they compete over is price and what alphanumeric digits the chips contain. Give us foldables, sliders, cheap phones, high end phones, phones full of ports, small phones, and big phones. This is what the phone market used to be about until the mid '10s

[–] Dempf@lemmy.zip 17 points 10 months ago (4 children)

And what about phones with a removable battery? Would be real nice to keep a couple spares instead of a big power brick I have to charge it from.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] nutsack@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago (2 children)

no i love it when my gboard cache fills up or whatever and the typing is so laggy that only 60% of my key presses register and i have to do it really slowly i think it's good

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (15 replies)
[–] 000@fuck.markets 25 points 10 months ago

I don't give a flying fuck about foldable screens, give me a real keyboard. The bottom half of one of these flippable screens could totally fit rows of physical buttons!

[–] Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world 25 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm on a Fold 4, never going back. There are certainly a few tweaks here and there that could improve it, but a tablet that you put back in your pocket when you are done is the perfect phone so far. I don't know what they would have to do to make something better than this, but I'm sure something will come along. Until then, not going back to a phone that can only be bar shaped.

[–] Plopp@lemmy.world 24 points 10 months ago (12 children)

What do people use tablets for? I really wanted to come up with an excuse to get one but no matter how hard I thought about it I couldn't come up with a use case (for me at least). I want my phone to be smaller, not bigger.

[–] viking@infosec.pub 8 points 10 months ago (8 children)

The only advantage I see are movies, but then again for a static display I can just use my laptop or a TV.

I guess gaming could be something, if you're into that. Personally all those microtransaction BS makes me steer clear of wanting any games on my phone.

load more comments (8 replies)
[–] Strayce@lemmy.sdf.org 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm studying at the moment, so I do a -lot- of research. A tablet + stylus is perfect for me for taking notes on top of lecture slides and reading / annotating pdfs. A folding form factor would be really useful for me, so I wouldn't have to carry around a second device.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (10 replies)
[–] AMillionMonkeys@lemmy.world 25 points 10 months ago (3 children)

I'll trade you my 3D TV for one.

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

Hey, old 3D TV's are great...

...As computer monitors. Lots of PC games can be bullied into displaying stereoscopic 3D in one way or other.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] KeefChief13@lemmy.world 22 points 10 months ago (5 children)

I've been using the z flip 4 for over a year now. I think that is what it's called... I won't go back. The foldable phone is awesome.

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 16 points 10 months ago

I've got my Fold 3 and it's amazing. Are there compromises? Absolutely. Are they worth it, also yes.

I've always been the type to upgrade my phone every year, but I'm thoroughly satisfied with this device after 2 years, and don't see myself replacing it anytime soon.

The biggest thing foldables need now isn't new features and spec bumps. What they need is a significant price cut.

Full-size foldable phones still costing $1800 5 years in is why they're such a tiny market share.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] mlg@lemmy.world 20 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Man I just want a FOSS version of the DS.

Clamshell dual screen has so many advantages.

Even sliding keyboard was great

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 8 points 10 months ago

Clamshell dual screen is the bomb. I don't know why they're jumping so many hoops just to avoid a fucking bezel gutter.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] ghostdoggtv@lemmy.world 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Honestly, there's a completely unfulfilled market for smart phones with physical keyboards right now and fuck capitalism for not meeting this need more efficiently

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 11 points 10 months ago

N900 gang represent

[–] ramjambamalam@lemmy.ca 16 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I love my flip phone. I'd love a phone with a hardware keyboard even more, but at least a folding flip phone is interesting in a sea of rectangles.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] SuperSpruce@lemmy.zip 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I think foldables have found a niche market at the moment. People buy them, just not in the quantities the companies might want.

The main reasons for this are Samsung being stagnant on its innovation with foldables (Z flip 5 notwithstanding), much of the competition being limited to China only or aren't being marketed at all, and the book style foldables all being overpriced (they still MSRP for $1700-$1800 plus 1000% storage markups, they should be aiming for a $1200-$1300 MSRP).

Here in the US, we have:

The usual Samsung foldables: The Z flip 5 which is a great device at on okay price, and I've seen a few of these (or the previous gens), notable because 85% of the devices I see are iPhones. The Z Fold 5 is stagnant and overpriced.

Pixel Fold: Hahahahaha it can't even last a week before the screen dies lol lol haha

Moto Razr Flip 40 and its variations: Nobody knows that these phones exist, and the ones who do struggle to even find a place to buy the phone. On Amazon listing for the US version is blended with the international listings and is often out of stock, and Motorola's website gives me an error when I try to get to the buying process on its phones. Also there's like 3 different versions of this phone Real shame, because they are good phones for a great price if you can stomach the poor battery life.

OnePlus Open: Possibly the most innovative phone of 2023, this phone 1-ups the Z Fold line in nearly every way, although it's still pricey. But again, basically nobody has even heard of this brand, much less this phone. They just believe Samsung is the only one that makes foldables while they choose to buy the latest iPhone.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] tmjaea@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Thinking of that one guy that lost their foldable to a grain of salt after eating something in the train while watching a movie on it and then closing the phone... I hope they never get a real thing

[–] Squizzy@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago

That's unfortunate, I hope the tech progresses to a stage where a salt grain doesn't render it useless.

[–] AeonFelis@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This article seems to only talk about the ones that fold like a book, and not on the ones that fold like a clam. I don't get the fixtation on that design - at this point it's more of a tablet than a phone, and for a tablet it's pretty small. When opened, the Samsung Z Flip has the dimensions of a smartphone - which means you can put it to your ear or operate it with one hand. You can't do that with the Z Fold - it's too wide. Also, the Samsung Z Flip costs half as much as the Z Fold - which is still not cheap, but it's not that much more expensive than Samsung's regular flagship phone with the same specs. So I assume affordable flip smartphones should be possible - maybe not this year, but probably soon enough.

Z Flips sell twice as much as Z Folds - all while Samsung is spending most of the marketing effort on pushing the Fold. Maybe if they focused on the Flip instead they could have made this one "a thing"?

[–] Rutschi@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The tablet thing is the point I like about my foldable phone. I couldn't be bothered to carry a tablet with me, but the Fold fits in my pocket without any issues and I love the bigger screen. If I have to use my phone with one hand, I just use the outside screen (which to be fair hasn't the best aspect ratio).

[–] poopkins@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

It's odd that we should need to spell out that different devices are designed for different kinds of users with different use cases.

[–] PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz 7 points 10 months ago (4 children)

I'm willing to buy one if:

  • Main screen will be harder than LVL 2-3
  • Have better battery life
  • Cheaper
load more comments (4 replies)
[–] rizoid@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 10 months ago

I love the idea of big screen foldables. They are just way too expensive for me to justify. I've used the one plus open and man I really wish I could afford it. I do a lot of my mobile computing on my phone instead of a laptop and the foldables make it much more enjoyable.

load more comments
view more: next ›