The thing about foldables is that they are great and great for a while now - hardware wise. Like, my Fold 4 is amazing. The hole when it’s closed is a bit strange, but now they managed to close these phones technically flushed - so the only “real” problem disappeared.
the software side of things is what more important. how the OS handles the two (or three) and foldable screens.
It’s nice that Google too is pushing this market. This means the support for folding screens will be eventually completely baked into the OS and the manufacturers don’t have to hack up apps and services for it.
Now we need people to buy these to make the tech even more cheap and better. Though, if I look into the future in a kind of sci-fi glasses, folding and flexible screens are evident so I think we will be there eventually.
the software side of things is what more important
Nice thing about that is software is updatable, I find it silly when people say the hardware is nice, but the software isn’t there so nope. As if the software was as permanent as the hardware lol
It’s a valid concern, though. The tablet experience has always sucked on Android, so the foldable experience is trying to hybridize with something the OS has never been able to get right.
Inverse is also true, though. There’s no telling if a future software update will take a good experience and make it terrible.
That’s true, but software is software, it can be modified by end users to suit their needs, especially on Pixel foldables which are one of the few remaining US brands that still somewhat freely allow you to unlock the bootloader.
So in that case with an unlockable BL, one could even flash a custom ROM that fixes any issues
Everyone one of my finds aged out from lack of OS updates, not because the hardware failed or was too slow.
I have a box of them.
As if the software was as permanent as the hardware lol
There’s no guarantee that the software will ever be updated to something that the user finds usable though.
Google could just one day go “meh, we don’t think folding displays are where we want to be right now”, and - ta-da! - you’re left with a folding doorstop and Google’s got yet another entry on the “killed by Google” list.
That’s true, but Google Pixels are also one of the few remaining US brands that allows you to somewhat freely unlock the BL
So custom roms can easily be had, in fact GrapheneOS is one that specifically targets Pixels in general
It’s the 2nd biggest reason I didn’t jump onto the Foldy bandwagon with Samshit (#1 being how damn narrow the cover screen is)
Now we need people to buy these to make the tech even more cheap and better.
No, we need the tech to be cheaper and better for me to buy it. This isn’t my problem, the stuff is just not in a price segment where I can afford it.
Yet.
I’m waiting for it to get to Westworld quality haha
It’s too darn expensive for what it does. I’ll stick with my $350 phone and a laptop or tablet for now.
It’s too darn expensive for what it does
It’s a phone that folds in half, the tech has been in development for something like 15 years. I swear I’ve been hearing about folding/flexible displays at CES since like 2004
After years and years of complaints of nothing but stagnant candy bar designs we get something new and fresh and now it’s “too expensive” LMAO
Yeah because SURPRISE, not everyone is rich.
Believe me, I’m not rich either lol
I buy phones like millions of others in the US, from the carrier on a EIP
So its more like ~50/month for a regular top tier flagship or an extra 25 (75/month) for a foldy
50% more monthly is a lot more though.
Just because you can afford something doesn’t mean you should buy it or that it is a good deal.
Sure. I’m not against people buying it. Including for novelty or be an early adopter. I’ve had a look at all the foldable phones in the store and I didn’t really like them. I mean it’s a nice idea, and I can see how I’d get some good use out of that large screen. But at least the Samsung one had a pretty noticable fold in the middle. And maybe I’m just not the target audience. I never got why people buy expensive phones. My $350 one can do pretty much the same tasks in everyday life and also the camera and everything is decent enough. And I spent the extra money that’d get me to $2.000 on a laptop and other things. Yeah, but I know different people make different decisions and that’s fine. I’d be in for something like a Nokia N950 if we want to change the form factor (and operating system for more diversity). But that’s not happening. Or just a regular uninspiring Pixel with the price point of the 4a, just with the current (extended) update timeframe.
The reason I got the OG pixel fold was because the dimensions were very similar in size to the pixel 5 and I love it. Bigger phones than that don’t work well with my smaller than average hands. That being said I don’t like how the newer one is less wide. Also yes there are non flagship phones that are smaller, but I want pixel due to update support and their A series which tend to be smaller always lacked wireless charging which I prefer to have.
A foldable costs more than my laptop and tablet combined. While being less resilient and less capable.
I’m not going to pay premium for a device that will break if it get exposed to dust.
I will pay premium for durability, fixability, modularity and for gnu/Linux that mobile device that can interface with android apps that society forces me to use.
I’m not going to pay premium for a device that will break if it get exposed to dust.
From what I understand the Samshit Foldables have achieved a dust resistance rating.
But in general, I think the dust problem is rather overblown. Just exposing it to dust isn’t going to kill it IME, if you were like a construction worker or other industry where you’re dealing with a very dusty environment to begin with then yea. But the average person should be fine with the occasional light dusty environment
I enjoy hiking and bake at home, both maybe cause dust like matter to destroy a very expensive device.
I know someone whose phone no longer folds because shit got in the cracks. Its very common for regular people, not just construction workers.
Doesn’t last as long as regular laptops either with how poor OS support is in comparison. Phones have felt like disposable tech compared to regular computing devices, since once a device stops getting security updates it’s not really something you want use for stuff like passwords or banking like you did when you first got it. Phones need to get better in that area.
