What smartphone are you using right now? Surely you are viewing this article on your favorite Samsung phone or Xiaomi with a familiar form factor and a flat screen, right? However, the time when such phones will end are near. There are several foldable smartphones on the market now. It is this form factor that will become the main one in 2021, but is it worth considering buying such devices today? I will try to answer this question.
Why you shouldn't rush to buy foldable phones
My colleague Artem has already written about why you shouldn't buy the Fold and Mate X, and now it's my turn to share my opinion on foldable phones.
Foldable smartphones are an extremely convenient format, one should not deny the convenience of their use, when at any moment we can turn a small device into a full-fledged tablet or a completely compact book into a familiar 6-inch device.
You guessed it, I mean Galaxy Fold, Huawei Mate X, Galaxy Z Flip and Motorola Razr. The first two are more of a foldable tablet, but the latter offer the form factor of a book familiar to everyone. Such phones were popular in the early 2000s, but today they appear before us in a completely different form.
What I like the most is the Fold and Mate X format, when phones when unfolded offer displays comparable in size to the screens of full-fledged tablets. Such a 2-in-1 device will undoubtedly become convenient in the future, as content on the Web becomes more and more, people want to have more multitasking, and only with such a form factor will this be possible.
Galaxy Z Flip
In addition, the consumer wants to replace not only the tablet, but also the laptop with a smartphone, which is why manufacturers offer a desktop mode in their phones, which, by the way, is already built into Android 10 and is an experimental function. The presence of a desktop mode will entail an increase in screens, and it is the Fold with Mate X coupled with a similar mode that is a logical continuation in the development of the smartphone market.
But in this whole situation, there is one big problem – cost. The current smartphones in this form factor are too expensive. At present, few people are willing to pay 1500-2000 dollars for a telephone. For this money, a consumer can buy some Surface X or a regular MacBook by purchasing a dialer for it.
Galaxy Z Flip
Smartphones-tablets with desktop mode can replace all devices only if they offer a better price tag. In my opinion, the market today needs an analogue of the Fold worth $ 300-400. Yes, even if it will not be equipped with the flagship hardware and the best camera, but the feature of such a device will clearly not be in this. And something tells me that many popular Chinese brands are already working on similar phones. However, it's already difficult to call them phones – it's more of a personal device.
I have no doubt that such devices will become much cheaper in the coming year, but I really want these times to come as soon as possible.
If you want to get a different look at folding devices, you can view the material of my colleague Vladimir, where he reveals the advantages of folding devices.
Do you agree with the opinion of the author? Do you think it's time for foldable phones to get cheaper and are you ready to purchase such a device for $ 1,500 today? Share your opinion in the comments and don't forget about our Telegram chat.