you’re not going to care about the type of core, or the screen resolution when you make a phone call...

It's not really a phone anymore. It's a portable pocket computer. Being able to unfold a larger screen makes sense for a portable pocket computer.

No point.

We basically hit the ceiling with phones ten years ago.

There's no way to improve them without a massive shift in technology [think the shift from prop planes to jets]

Now they have to come up with new gimmicks to convince people to upgrade.

It's like 1950's Detroit putting bigger and bigger fins on cars that were basically the same as the 1930's technology.

It's a full color tablet that fits in your pocket. That comes with huge quality of life improvements displaying PDFs, e-books, comics, spreadsheets, charts, diagrams, videos, etc. Have you ever tried reading a PDF on a phone screen? It sucks.

I've had a fold for a couple years now, and I use the inner screen constantly. If you don't read as much as I do it's probably just a gimmick, but it's great for me.

This is middle tech. It is like walking is to speed walking then running. One fold is proof of concept when we get to 3 or 4 folds that's where the magic happens. People watching a video without headphones out in public on a tiny screen, pretty annoying. We are three folds away from someone unfolding a 32" screen to watch their content anywhere also without headphones.

As the owner of a fold6 I can tell you that one of the reasons I got it is that it could replace the occasional tablet use when you need more space eg maps and pictures.

In that, it succeeded quite well. However, everything is now optimized toward the standard phone format so it's nice but not really that important.

Would I buy a phone with a foldable display again? No, because after 22 months with like 1 fold a day the protection already comes off (replacing it is only 20€ if paid but I have to go on a field trip to get it made) and the price for the device is just not worth it.

So next time standard format again.

I wish they'd bring back slider phones with physical keyboards. Pre-smartphone days I used to have a phone (I don't remember what it was) that was a full touch screen with a physical home and back button on the front and then you flipped it sideways and the back slid down and there was an entire physical keyboard for easy typing/texting. I'm not interested in a folding smartphone, but if they released a slider with an actual keyboard I'd buy it in a heartbeat. I loved that phone and I loved being able to type on the screen with a digital keyboard for quick stuff or flip the keyboard out and use actual keys when I wanted to type a novel of a text message.

Bigger screen, smaller pocket size.

They also break easier so you have to buy more phones.

My motorola razr 2025 is a flip smart phone, and as a lady, it actually fits in the pockets of all my pants. My old non-flip phone did not fit in my pockets. It is common for ladies pockets (if pants even have them) to be less than 1/2 the size of pockets found in mens pants.

The functionality of a tablet with the portability of a phone. Seems straightforward and practical to me idk

Well, if you're my friend's kid, the point is to make it super easy to accidentally shatter the screen when you close it.

My (adult) son has had a Samsung Fold for several years now and really likes it.

For him, it's basically a phone and tablet combined, and he no longer uses a separate tablet.

It's also good for running two apps side by side, and I see him doing that a lot (you can setup app groups that automatically launch together on each half of the inside screen).

I don't understand. Do you not see that the screen doubles in size? It's like a 2 in 1 phone/tablet. That's the benefit.

First off, hardly anyone under 50 uses a phone for calling any longer. It’s now a portable computer. I want a device in my pocket with a small footprint most of the time, but when I need a big screen for getting work done, I no longer need to carry around a tablet too. I can just unfold my phone and see a spreadsheet. Or take notes with a stylus. Or make some doodles. Or share a video with my wife or parents more easily that they can actually see.

So, it’s one device that has multiple functions in different forms. It also means I no longer need to have a ~$1200 phone and a ~$900 iPad mini, I can get both in a single $2000 device.

There are some companies making flip phones for the disconnected folks, if your primary need is a phone, go for it. The commodore one actually looks pretty cool.

I often switch to my tablet for reading something on a bigger screen

If I wouldn't have a tablet, a folding phone would be able to provide the bigger screen.

Novelty.

Untill the tech improves, nothing.

I've seen three foldey phones in the wild, and they all had a smattering of problems; dead pixels along the foldey bits, cracked plastic along the foldey bits, scratches on the non-foldey bits because shrapnel gets in between the screens, ect...

If we had just kept working on the keyboard slidey phones, we'd have pocket terminals by now, but the keyboard died and was replaced with software...

Edit: typos

They break faster than non-folding phones, giving manufacturers an endless source of new revenue.

I own a Motorola razer 2020, absolutely love this phone! It's five years old. Love that it folds and fits in my hand, pockets, cup holders and the like. When I'm ready I will most definitely get the new Razor.

Back in the day, flip phones were nice as they fit in your pocket.

Fidget toy

I have a new motorola razr.

Mainly I just think it is neat, but I do like the little screen on the outside. Ive actually noticed my screentime has decreased a lot. Its something about that extra step of opening it up and being able to handle little things on the small exterior screen.

I like how it fits in my pocket when folded compared to a normal phone

Another small thing is that I can set it up half folded to hold my flashlight while working or act as a camera tripod.

Battery is really good too. I'm not sure if it can just fit more battery or if the small exterior screen limits battery usage when closed, or both.

Remember before everyone had a smartphone, boomers would sometimes bring a 10 inch tablet to your kids ballet recital and hold it up obnoxiously above everyone's heads to record? We all want to relive that.

More seriously, it's for people who want the portability of a phone with the size of a tablet. Not something I want, but to each their own.

Sometimes you want a larger screen for media or multitasking.

Or in the case of the flip-phone form factor, you want a phone that you can put away or fit in a smaller pocket/purse.

If I had one, I'd use the larger screen area as an e-reader.

I think the point is to make them bigger so they can start selling smaller ones in the hear future and keep the endless cycle of "New" phones going on forever, like a subscription but with extra steps.

It’s so assholes on public transport or other public places with absolutely no sense of decency and narcissism that would rival the orange idiot can play videos, or music without headphones. Also, if you’re one of those people, fuck you

Flip phones were great!

The form factor itself isn't bad, it's just pretty unusable with all the durability issues. It's also too large, until they are thinner, they are more cumbersome to use as a phone.

Once they are durable, thinner and much cheaper, they will probably become very popular.

The iPhone Duo (pictured above) makes a good case. It's a 5.4" phone and iPhone users have been calling for a sub-6" phone for years. Now they can get one, albeit at $1999 to start. Then it opens up to a tablet-sized device for media consumption. So it's convenient.

I think there's a greater point to be made here, and it's the folding screen itself. I think it's a modern marvel of technology, and it would not advance like it has without mass adoption. Folding phones are pushing that, so the tech is getting better. I don't really see much of a point for it, but I'm glad it exists and a mass market product is driving costs down, and R&D up.

There are a lot of neat things the Duo does, but none of them are essential to what I do, and certainly not for the cost. For example, I do use StandBy, the iPhone feature where if it's charging and it's on its side, it turns into a clock. The Duo does it in "tent" mode, which means it's open halfway and it's standing on its sides, with its hinge up in the air. The outer screen displays the clock face. Problem is, a regular iPhone can do the same thing with a FlyGrip, a PopSocket, or a $1 picture frame or plate holder you got at Goodwill. I have a $9 phone stand I use at my bedside.

I think it's funny that Samsung and other Android OEMs have been making them for years, but now that Apple is also making them, people are starting to ask questions. Maybe they had the questions before, but they weren't worth the time to ask when their brand wasn't making them. And that's fair. Unlike Android, iOS doesn't exist to vacuum up all your personal data and sell it to advertisers. So it's perfectly reasonable to be skeeved out by the advertising company that makes phones and the phone OS everyone else uses. Samsung isn't an ad company, but they have to include all the data collecting bits. Gods forbid they make their own OS. Oh wait, they did, it was called Tizen and nobody wanted it.

Fits in my pocket

Because I can’t fit a tablet in my pocket

Eh its luxury tech, you dont need one. Whilegenerally phones areborong tech I am pro niche products and trying things

this sounds like one of those "i don't like this book even though i haven't read it" kind of things.

Surely you can't so lack in imagination to understand expended screen real estate on a pocketable. computer is something people might think is a benefit?

I'd be lucky to make a call a month on my Moto Flip (50 ultra),

When i fold it down it's tiny and easily pocketable and when i flip it open on the 2 hr high speed train ride I just took, it's a great size. for catching up with a couple videos. It's unfolded now, the bigger screen at the top of the on screen kb is nice I got this one for an excellent price, 50% of rrp and had $200 in nearly expired vouchers but the screen isn't that much higher then a slab phone but is 1/2 the size in my pocket and I can do a fair bit on the outside screen re messages etc

I'd like a Samsung Fold 8 but can't justify the price, also when i travel i think I wouldn't need a laptop at all, a small foldable kb and mouse because it's really a pocket computer.

As someone who's used one before. I can see the benefit. But in order to be useful, it would need to replace something. Right now, the main thing it replaces is tablets. Me personally, I dont care for tablets and its also why i dont like folding phones. Either I do whatever I need to do on my phone or my laptop.

But the more interesting idea is it replacing the laptop. The idea of a singular device being able to run both desktop and mobile apps, makes it a little more intriguing. The closest you can get to this right now is Samsung dex (and I think android 17?). Hopefully in the future though, Linux phones will become more stable and useable. That'd genuinely be amazing.

It is a consumer good. If people consume it, the point is to fulfill that demand. To them it probably seems useful to have a phone and a tablet in one device. The unfolded screen size simply doesn’t fit in one’s pocket.

Doesn’t suit me; sounds like it doesn’t suit you either, but the point isn’t a mystery, I believe.

The folding phone comes in the flip phone version to make it smaller. Or the mini tablet version. The mini tablet version is super useful for showing off pictures to the elderly or for using a remote GUI or for consuming video on the phone when stuck on a flight. Those are my main uses for the larger inner screen. It is a niche product a very nice niche but one not necessary for most. I have found it to be very reliable thus far.

edit some people use side by side apps often I figured I might going in so far I have not

Flips are awesome, folds (opens on a vertical joint) are ass

I am far more interested in folding phones that have a horizontal fold rather than a vertical one and even then I am not totally sold. I would like to see a 2027 Razr with Graphene and a Clicks keyboard then I might actually want a foldable phone.

For all the naysayers - I've wanted a fold since the S4 (2014ish) when Samsung demo'd two S4's hinged together.

Being able to double screen real-estate when needed (eg having a tablet sometimes) but carrying it in a phone-sized device makes lots of sense.

And having double the physical space inside offers an opportunity for better heat management - if only to shift the battery to the other side (also means you can fit a physically larger battery).

Lots of potential, but also lots of hurdles to overcome. Unfortunately they've all focused on making the screen seamless first, rather than making the software seamless first.

The main issue I had with folding phones beside the screens being permanently damaged by fingernails is that they aren't that much better with the big black sections of the screens, so the 1.4:1 ratio screens like the duo are the first step in the right direction the original folding phones imo.

If cost was no different I would get one if they would do it right. Motorola had one that had a normal phone sized screen and then folded in half like a dumbphone but then they put onther screen on the outside. I would like it designed to protect the screen when closed and I don't want another screen on the outside to be available to break. conversely I use a tablet and having a phone that gave that larger form factor as an option would be great. now really my ultimate though is just a dumb/featur/flip:phone that can act as a mobile hotspot and that you can connect to and go through all the settings and features and such from a web browser to the local address of the phone. especially to upload/download contacts and calendar.

I think it's probably the bigger screen size and an attempt to boost sales by offering something different because there's not much to really motivate the regular person to buy a new phone unless theirs is just old and needs a refresh. Now that I say that it makes me think there might be a big market someday for refurbished older phones because they don't have fucking AI in everything.

Easy… I’ll give you the answer in one word…

NOSTALGIA

Us millennials thrive in the world of nostalgia and the market knows that.

I've had one of the smaller Samsung foldables for almost 2 years now. I hate Samsung's software experience, but the hardware is actually pretty great due to the half size in the pocket. Im having issues with my screen protector now right at the hinge now and need to see about getting it replaced and I used the phone on a river in a dry bag once and ended up getting a piece of sand in it early on so there is an annoying little spot on the screen protector from that too so I avoid putting the phone in more rugged environments now.

TLDR: So yeah, best thing is a smaller device to carry around but other issues with them.

I agree that I don't see a point. I do want to say, phone is a legacy term though. They aren't used to make phone calls often.

The advantage I could see would be to use desktop-ratio content on a mobile device. Smart phone resolution has become so common this isn't an issue though. In fact the wider content is far less supported for phones specifically. There's probably a handful of jobs where that format is better, but I don't see the advantage for consumers.

My brother had a foldable Samsung years ago, and it's the only foldable phone he's had, which should tell you something. There's really no advantage and several disadvantages. It's a gimmick and that's it.

I've been a sammy Fold user since 2022, I'llnever go back to a typical phone. I don't use the tablet mode too often, maybe 1-2 times per week, but it's super handy during those situations. For me it's mostly spreadsheets, navigating Canvas (school website), some email. I got just shy of 4 years out of my last one. Previous device died after 1 year... inner screen died, phone still worked of course, but replaced it under insurance. I've been in a chain of trade-ins that offset the cost of each new one device once I got past the initial cost of my first one from back in the day. I bring it up because the high pricetag is a major downside for people, but the high trade-in value is a benefit (my current device was $900 off). It's definitely not for everybody, and definitely not something for the beach lol, but very useful to have a tablet available anytime.

Folding phones work great for selfies, you can use the front screen to compose the shot and and the quality of your rear camera.

I'd say they are slightly better in terms of watching videos. It really depends on the shape of the phone. Most of the time, the full screen is only slightly larger for widescreen content, but the big benefit is that there is a lot of dead space where you can hold the phone, or see captions without obscuring the video.

Folding phones are surprisingly much better for web browsing and reading. Larger views for web pages navigate much more easily, and the double-wide screen gives a lot of eye relief when reading e-books, and you spend less time turning pages, which does add up.

If you use any kind of remote desktop application from your phone, having the wide screen of a folder is a godsend. I do a lot of remote desktop shit on-call, and most of the time I just carry my phone with me instead of a full laptop.

Source : I use a Pixel 9 fold as my daily driver.

where is my 16:9 king? it's long gone 😔

Well I have one for the removable battery

less damage. less chances of dropping and shattering or scratching the screen

Slop for the sloptumors. Flimsy expensiv gadgets that will be replaced by a new model in less than a year, an even more expensive one no doubt. Fodder for the ever hungry god of capitalism, for if it stops eating it will cease to exist. A single speck in an unending stream of shit.

It is a gimmick. I think people just like the "wow" factor and ignore every other aspect of the phone. Some people complain about phones being too big now and so their justification is to get this phone and then... fold it.

From a practicality standpoint, makes no sense. Even more idiotic than the notch design phones had for a while. Screen protectors don't make sense for that phone. Neither do cases. From an industrial design perspective... and what people seem to ignore is that phones are just small enough computers. Try opening one and take a look... all those parts are not meant to be folded. They will have a finite limit and it will eventually cause problems.

I would much rather just get an actual flip phone.

Size and weight are the most important things for me.

I had one of these; and I think this was the pinnacle of smartphones.

It could do pretty much everything my current phone does and I had either a gameboy or super nintendo emulator on it as well. The cool part was it was a workhorse that was small unlike today's tablets phones. Oh yeah and this was in the early 2000s.

I don't get it either. Seems like mostly just a novelty item. I sometimes get the feeling that smartphones have become pretty much as good as they can get in this current form and manufacturers are just trying to come up with imaginary problems to solve in order to stand out somehow.

Just buy any mid-range Android (or and older iPhone) and you'll get a great device that does everything it needs to and you can stop thinking about whatever the next year's release does marginally better than the device you have now and use that mental energy on something else.