Android

Why would I care if my phone folds. Id rather have no crease in my screen. But I don't drop my phones often, is that the point of it folding? Cause it getting wider and shorter doesn't necessarily make it more convenient

Simple: price. I think that is true for the majority of users. When there's a $200 foldable out there, people will try it just to see what the fuss is about. But that's not even on the horizon.

For me personally, they need to come wayyyy down. Like 1/3 of the current price. That would put them in competition with budget flagships like the Pixel 7.

They're way too expensive and they're still early-generation devices. Plus, why would I trust Google to continue with the product line seeing as how they keep killing viable products and services?

If they get to the Pixel Fold 4 or 5 and the price is down to the $500-600 range, then it'd be a very serious contender for me. (Assuming the insane fragility is resolved)

The fact that there will always be a seam in the folding screen. If I feel it while swiping over it or there's weird glare because the surface is uneven that would drive me bananas

Huh... the folding. I'm already mad that I can't get a solid 5 years out of a $1200 phone, there's no way I'm shelling out for a first wave foldy.

My clothes have pockets

They're way too expensive. Moving parts such as the folding screen are just a focal point for stress, which is unacceptable given how expensive they are. I hate hearing that people can get dust in the hinge without anyway to clean it out.

You're also paying for extra screens such as the one on the outside and the folding inner screen. This is just added unnecessary cost when you'll never use both at the same time. I'm guessing the outer screens were added to reduce the number of times people unfold the phone over its lifetime, which gets back to my other point that adding moving parts just adds more issues than it solves.

Overall, I see it as a novelty at best. From the prices I've seen them sold at for the phones that turn into a tablet like device when unfolded, you can just buy a phone and a tablet separately for less. I think their purpose is to create a product more expensive than what the current flagship phones run, giving rich people something to spend additional money on to to show they have a lot of money and enough novelty for tech reviewers to discuss during reviews.

Their poll doesn't have the option of "I already have one"

Talk about selection bias.

doesn't provide a benefit for me for the tradeoffs in smaller battery size, screen size, lower water resistence, lower durability, no open source documentation/parts to enable consumer repairability

Price and durability concerns

The price, obviously. However, I'd also worry about the screen cracking where it folds.

The crease is still far too noticable for me. That and the outrageous price that some of these things close when they eventually make it to the shelves with the "Australia tax" applied to it.

Nothing is. I'm currently writing this post on one. I will consider that weight is a big issue, one I wish was spoken of more than the plethora of reporters and journalists upset that Instagram, famously known for not having an iPad app, also doesn't have foldable support. I really like my Pixel Fold regardless.

Nobody's mentioned it, but the main thing for me is that the screen aspect ratio isn't any good.

I've always preferred bigger screens and bigger phones and willing to pay a bit extra for a foldable screen now they've been on the market for a while. I doubt they'll last as long as a normal phone screen, but they generally review well and I get they impression they are more durable than most people expect.

But.. the main benefit of a big screen (for me) is for watching videos. If it's not 16:9 (or close to it) then what's the point? I don't need to multitask on my phone, I'll switch to a laptop for that - I've had phones that do split screen for years and it was a cool gimmick for a while, but I've never really made good use of it.

If anyone can tell me of a phone with a big screen and 16:9 aspect ratio then I'd be willing to reconsider...

Lack of interest in the form factor. Too thick when folded. Folds are too large for one hand when open. Cost is high for the chip sets and memory.

There is no way a folding screen phone would survive my job.

When they have a phone that opens like scroll that I can put in a gasket sealed tube, I will consider it.

It's way too expensive for what I want.

I actually just want a very small but very functional smartphone since I currently don't have a phone at all.

I just use my Tab S7+5G as a phone, been doing that since the S6. I've just recently ran into some issues where I might need a smaller device, e.g. to use some store app QR codes or similar stuff where you'd have to present your phone. Well... I can actually do that just fine, but pulling out a 12inch tablet makes you look like a dork.

To be honest, I'd wish someone made a non-folding phone with a the height of a folded folding phone lmao

To contrast some of the comments here from people who've clearly never used one of these foldables outside of a display case, I've had my Fold 3 (the larger folding tablet style) for two years. I came from the Note and S lines, Windows Phone, and have bounced between iPhones. My Fold 3 is in great shape and has survived many falls. It's definitely durable enough for me. I take care of it, but I get that some people don't desire to take care of their devices and expect them to be exceedingly durable. Never had anything under the screen. Never take it to the beach unless it's in a sealed ziplock. I take care not to put it in dusty environments or let sawdust or shavings get into it (hobbies).

Unfolded, it's better than any other phone out there. Viewing videos enlarged or widescreen is great depending on video and application. During normal usage, the crease is not noticable enough to be a distraction unless viewed from a severe angle (think the person sitting next to you). Unfolded scrolling of Lemmy, the internet, and reading is a better experience than anything else out there - bar none, no argument. The screen is just huge and viewing websites in mobile or desktop is fantastic. It makes the web actually useable from a mobile device. I never use my Galaxy Tab anymore. Samsung does a pretty good job software-wise adapting apps to fit the foldable aspect ratio if a guveb app doesn't officially support it. More apps are supporting foldables every day.

I would agree with the sentiment that the Z Flip line likely has a more gimmicky purpose. At least the Fold line functions as a tablet and is a decent phone folded up. At least, that is my experience with a Z Flip 3 before swapping for a Fold 3. But I'll be buying foldables exclusively from here on out. After using the Fold 3 for two years, I can say it's folding screen is definitely NOT a gimmick.

I really just cant stand the weird plastic-looking screens they all have on the inside.

Also yeah being anywhere from double to triple the price for something that I think looks objectively worse than a regular glass phone screen is just... not gonna happen.

I want a phone that lasts at least 5 years

Money

My phone hasn't died yet, so I can't justify buying a new one.

I'm also afraid if my phone is too good, I'll stop using my computer as much where I'm more productive

Edit: wow, looking at the poll results, this is definitely a minority opinion. Most people are about price/durability

I actually had a z fold 3. I absolutely loved it! Battery life was great for my usage and the extra screen space was wonderful. You don’t notice the crease when your actually using it. You only notice it when your actually looking for it.

What stopped me from getting the next one was because on my device I saw what I assumed were hair line cracks that were developing at the crease. At first I thought it was scratches but eventually more showed up. As a former technician I knew my screen was going to fail soon. The unfortunate part was I had the phone financed through my carrier and these started to develop well before my upgrade period. It made it just a little over a year when this started to happen. This prompted me to pay it off the rest of the way and trade it in for a more conventional phone.

Again I loved it. But I think it’s too soon for me to fully commit to foldables. At least I actually tried it.

I don't like them (as they're now). Price.

Price and durability. I'm not going to pay exorbitant prices for something I'll have to replace in 2 years

As someone who just got the pixel fold, it is pointless.

I don't see myself folding a foldable. Why would I want that?

Nothing at all, I've had two of them =]

Hmmm... I think our weekly discussion thread this week had everyone gave their inputs on foldable, go check it out before we switch it out tomorrow.

https://lemmy.world/post/2436246

Although I don't think our sticky posts on this comm are working correctly for our friends at lemmy.ml, so please take a note of that.

IMO, I think it's a pretty dumb concept in the way we're currently implementing it. If I want a borderline TV to carry around, I'll buy a tablet. I just want a phone for quick access to my communications mainly; I don't have vision issues that requires the screen to even be as big as some of the "small" offerings from the larger players in the cellular market. Additionally, to satisfy the quick access, many have multiple screens now, which I think is equally dumb, you're never going to use both screens at the same time, and most of the time there's no use-case where both screens would be on. The only viable folding device IMO, is the zFlip, and my pockets aren't small enough for me to care, or justify the extra cost, and durability concerns.

I recognize it's an important step in the process to make phones like this to further the foldable screens, so they can be further developed to be more durable, more flexible, and overall better than they currently are, but I, personally, have no need for one, nor desire to own one. The crease isn't pretty either, but it's not my chief concern.... it's just way too much for way too little. I haven't appreciated the direction of phones for a while, or the emphasis on the camera; simply, I want something better, faster, easier to use, and that lasts longer. Not a phablet with less than 18 hours of battery life, and a last-gen mobile radio in it.... Samsung did that kind of thing with the Galaxy Note, and I find the folding phones to be an extension of that.

I love technology, I wok in technology and I appreciate it, but I have no desire for this. Give me a 5" screen, with powerful hardware under the hood and a good, latest-gen LTE/5G/whatever radio and WiFi 6e/7/whatever, and a decent battery, and I'm happy. Lately phones are too big for my large hands, and have cut so many corners that anything affordable is slow as all heck. I don't want to pay multiple thousands of dollars for something that works for me, simply because it has a bunch of fancy camera features I'm never going to care about. Having a camera is good, but 90% of the time I'm taking pictures of racks of equipment, wires, and my cat. I don't need a 50 megapixel camera with both wide angle and telephoto supplemental cameras and AI enhancements/image processing to capture images of my feline, or my network switch. What I do need is something that I can flip between half a dozen different apps to do my job, with a fast network connection so I can move data around quickly, and a battery that doesn't need charging multiple times a day so that my phone will stay powered on while I work...

I took the dive, got one and it's awesome. I browse Lemmy 95% of the time on my outer screen. I went with Motorola Razor+ because I'm not the biggest Samsung fan and I totally impulse bought it. Unless it's something that demands I open my phone, I don't really, and that was what got me to get it. Without the outside screen I probably wouldn't have gotten it, but totally glad I did.

Aside from price, the fact that they are twice as thicker as a regular phone make them pointless for me. When we have the technology to make them 8-12mm thickness I might be interested.

Bulky, expensive, unneeded

Until they make the protective screen durable up to lvl 5 scratches without dmg, ip 68 protection, flat front side without slightly risen bezels so I can comfortably use gestures, even the battery size and camera capabilities with normal flagships and the price of course, it's a nono for me. 🤔 Otherwise overpriced gimmick..

Maturity, I would consider the Pixel Fold 2