Personally for me; they’re something I hard pass on.

Foldables have breakable mechanical parts, unwieldy software support, janky resolutions, break easily, are difficult to encase protectively, tend to be prone to sudden screen failures at the substrate (LCD/OLED) layers, and are largely still an immature technology that hasn’t yet filled any niche need that I have.

I am more happy with screens that I can feel assured can possibly survive an appropriate impact and behaves like a properly hardened mineral (Mohs Hardness 7 or better) like modern screen glass typically should be. My phone should withstand occasional accidental impacts and incidents.

That expectation isn’t because I’m careless. It’s because I am an overabundance of careful. I deeply appreciate, value and enjoy the confidence provided by my phone being sturdy enough to survive the very occasional and casual mishaps that tend to occur. I do not like purchasing cheaply made devices typically. For smartphones; it feels like you need the device to have an actual lifespan; one should never need to replace their phone more frequently than once every 3 years; unless the phone itself breaks, or becomes obsolete due to cellular network technology upgrades.

Meh.

Now, show me a phone with a good physical keyboard, like my old Droid 3 had, and then you’ve got my attention!

Currently, I feel that it’s mostly a gimmick. However, I’m glad that they exist as they’ll just continue to get thinner and thinner to the point where they’re no longer a gimmick and many people will want them.

Repairabilty and durability are more important to me. AFAIK none of the folding phones are particularly repairable or durable.

I think they are an awesome concept, and I can see how certain people could really take advantage of the larger screen and better multitasking.

Personally the things stopping me are

• Plastic screens. I already scratch my glass ones.
• Cost. In Canada they are 2x more than a regular flagship.
• Worse front screen. I just know I’ll get lazy with the folding aspect quickly, and I’ll just be using a worse front screen the majority of the time.

One of the largest upsides I see, though, is the fact you can use the rear cameras as front facing cameras. That’s pretty wild and opens up WAY better selfies and video calls.

The Motorola Razr was the cool kid phone growing up, so when the new gen of flip phones appeared I was very hyped in a nostalgic way. I currently have a Z Flip 3, and while it’s fun, I’m not sure if I would get another. I do like the clamshell nature of it since I drop my phone a lot, but I feel like the dimensions are weird even though I have big hands. It’s just very tall. I don’t regret it and I might give the tech another shot down the road, but my next phone will be the type that only folds once.

Waiting for the price to come down and lineage support. The best thing about it is you get the best if both worlds with a big screen which can still go into your pocket easily enough.

I have an old cheap smartphone that I have wanted to replace for many years now. But any time I check the market it has been mostly more boring phones bloated with features and hardware that I care nothing for. The only thing that actually has me a bit excited are foldable or rollables, though I’m stuck in a endless “just wait one more generation” loop. I am gonna have to break it soon.

I’ve had two flip phones and I have loved them both, but both of them have had minor splintering appear on the screen at the hinge and it seems like once that starts your warranty is void because they refuse to cover their own manufacturing defect, and for that reason I wouldn’t buy another folding phone for a while, until the technology has matured. I do love my flip phone, it’s the most fun I’ve had with a smartphone and it’s a great conversation starter. Being able to take selfies with the outer camera and outer screen as a viewfinder is very nice too.

They’re a niche product, so it makes sense that the people who buy them love them. I didn’t know the Oppo existed, it seems a good solution to the crease problem.

Basically you get yourself an expandable phone if you need a tablet and don’t want to have two separate devices, for one reason or another. I’m sure people who travel constantly for business love them.

For the average user? Reliability is much more important.

I’ve got a foldable one, the phone’s performance is great, and I cannot feel the fold while I’m swiping around.

That said, I don’t use the folding part much, it’s just going straight in my pocket, and the split screen mode isn’t that useful for my use cases atleast - so much so that foldability won’t be much of a factor in my next purchase

I bought a foldable phone (Galaxy Flip) for the gimmick, but having used it now for a half a year, it’s really grown on me, and I’ve actually found the folding features to be quite invaluable.

One nicety of the folding screen is in being able to quickly see notifications without opening the phone (and thereby being tempted to browse/procrastinate) — with my folded phone, I can quickly hold it in my palm and glance at the time and any notifications.

Another benefit of the smaller form factor is being easier to fit the phone into my pockets — as phone sizes became larger, I was progressively having harder time finding clothes with large enough pockets for my phone. With the folding phone, I can comfortably fit the phone into my pocket, while still having a larger screen when I need it. It also makes it easier to take my phone with me while running, as I can fold it and place it into my running pouch — a larger phone might fit, but the volume would no doubt be uncomfortable against my body as I move.

Bear in mind, I’m referring here to a folding model which folds into a small square and thus has a smaller area — even I don’t fully see the benefits of the larger-form-factor folding phones.

i like my Fold 4 but i’m also a nerd that likes silly toys. it’s nice to have a phone that just feels different. plus it lets me read manga and stuff a lot easier

@spoonful
I think it’s a fun gimmick for people who want to play with it. I’m not even remotely interested in owning one.

Their a cool idea but until we can figure exactly how to fold it without it creating other issues they arent going to be very practical not to mention the durability issue