Foldable smartphones have reached their fifth major generation, as heralded by Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Fold 5…
For me it’s definitely the durability concerns. I’ve valued my phone’s water and dust resistance since getting an ip67 phone years and years ago. My brother had a flip and a grain of sand in his pocket got under the display; when he closed the phone the display died. And they expect me to pay more for the privilege.
The flips smaller size is awesome, but I think that positive is offset by the annoyance of having to open the phone the every time.
The fold I could see myself buying in a later gen. Once the hinge and screen are through a few more iterations I think I’ll buy one. The huge screen is just so nice. But folded up it shouldn’t be much heavier, larger, thicker than a normal phone, I already think modern phones are way too big as it is.
That’s kind of the magic of the flip, it forces you to purposefully decide to open your phone, so for some folks thats a benefit! Being more present in everyday life is something I was focusing on when I was considering the flip for my next phone. I ended up with a fold for other reasons, but that was one of the best benefits I was considering.
That’s where I think the larger ext. displays on this years flipables could help a lot…