Foldable smartphones are here, folding smartphones are there, folding smartphones are everywhere. There is a lot of talk about them now, but many people do not understand why. I believe that this is definitely the future. I believe in them, but there is one small “but”. I absolutely do not want to buy such a smartphone. On the one hand, it sounds absurd, but there is logic in this, and I can explain my position. I am sure that many of you will agree with this opinion. It will change someday, but it is too early to say when this will happen. I've been using a foldable smartphone for a while, so I understand what I'm talking about.
Foldable smartphones are definitely the future, but it hasn't come yet.
Perspectives of foldable smartphones
Foldable smartphones are expected to change the market and they are really generating a lot of interest at the moment. Nevertheless, the impressive start of a new type of smartphones is well prepared and all steps on this path are calculated. There is nothing random and chaotic in this.
But so far, the concept of a foldable smartphone is somewhat disappointing and somehow everything turns out not as we would like. You just need to understand that this is only the first step on the way.
If we make an exception (which is rather difficult) regarding the price of the Galaxy Fold or Mate X, the main question is the fragility of these models. And this is the main problem with modern folding smartphones. Perhaps it was because of this that no company was able to start selling foldable devices in time in the first stage. I mean Samsung and Huawei, which released their devices last year much later than originally planned.
When were foldable smartphones released?
Samsung had to postpone the launch of its device until the fall after several American journalists struggled with the first reviews. It took a while for the company to finalize the model and improve the safety of the screen by expanding the protective layer on the screen and placing it under the bezel, thereby eliminating the possibility of its removal. And also the hinge mechanism had to be refined so that less dust gets into it. In the end, it can not only lead to a creak or crunch, but also destroy the mechanism if abrasive particles are inside.
it will be a pity to scratch such a screen.
Huawei also promised to launch its foldable Mate X in the middle of last summer, but got it done by the end of the year. Perhaps the company was affected by US sanctions and the resulting uncertainty, but this could hardly delay the launch of the finished device for several months. Most likely, the Chinese also faced design features and problems with its reliability.
Foldable smartphone problems
Despite significant design and reliability improvements, companies still have to make concessions to show their customers their loyalty. For example, Samsung even offered a relatively cheap screen replacement for its Galaxy Fold within its first year of use.
Probably, this is how the company tries to show that everything is not very scary and the screen is really reliable. Of course, in this case, one could offer a free replacement, but the screen is still fragile due to the thin and soft coating, which is easy to scratch through the user's fault. A flexible material simply cannot have high hardness. Here you have to choose – scratch-resistant, but prickly (now it happens in classic monoblocs), or flexible, but scratchy. But even if the screen cover is flexible, there is still a matrix underneath that can be damaged if dropped.
At the presentation, everyone was happy with this phone.
With the release of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, things got a little better and the company offered ultra-thin glass. It may feel a little better to the touch, but otherwise it's about the same. It still has a crease and scratches, although at the start of the sale, it was still quite good. True, most likely due to the form factor.
Why I think foldable smartphones are cool
And yet, despite all the problems of folding smartphones, I can only support this concept. Anyway, the innovations introduced in smartphones in recent years are quite limited. We only saw that the various indicators were getting “faster, higher, stronger.” Engineers ramped up processor performance, camera resolution, screen size, pixel density, and the like. Of really something new, there was only an outgoing camera and that did not take root to please 5G, since the case needed more space for a modem and a higher resolution. We wrote about this in our Telegram news channel.
We only have a few foldable models so far, but there should be more.
As a result, it is easy to see that smartphones from 2015 are very similar to what is being produced now. Until you turn them on, there won't be much difference between them. The difference can only be grasped by the number of camera modules. And people are now less likely to change their smartphones, and this also did not affect positively the progress in design and technical equipment.
Foldable smartphones have brought something new to this world and of course they can interest at least this. It is more and more difficult to believe those who release classics. Every time they say that this time everything is new, unlike the past. With foldable phones, at least it really shows that everything is new.