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.

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.

Fidget toy

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Because I can’t fit a tablet in my pocket

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.

Bigger screen, smaller pocket size.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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 have a vertical folding one and I actually get way more use out of the front screen. It's way nicer to hold and use the small form factor than the big one. You can also use the phone as it's own kickstand and I really enjoy that. Mostly the benefit for me is only using the inside screen when I need to.