Are foldable smartphones a gimmick?

Are foldable smartphones a gimmick?

  • Yes

    Votes: 49 83.1%

  • No

    Votes: 10 16.9%
  • Total voters
    59
MichaelP

MichaelP

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Are foldable smartphones a gimmick?
 
Samsung: Behold our new foldable screens.
Apples fans: Foldable screens are a gimmick and will never catch on...
Apple: We are releasing a foldable iPhone in 2026.
Apple fans: OMG! It's going to be the best thing since sliced bread.
 
Bit late now to ask this type of question when we have foldable laptop screens.
 
No, it isn't a gimmick, but it is not very accessible. Obviously, anyone who can't buy one because they don't have the money will deem it a gimmick.
 
Wut said:
Samsung: Behold our new foldable screens.
Apples fans: Foldable screens are a gimmick and will never catch on...
Apple: We are releasing a foldable iPhone in 2026.
Apple fans: OMG! It's going to be the best thing since sliced bread.
Click to expand...

The more AI advances, the more important screen real-estate will become. Apple knows this.
 
Wow it took 3 posts before an Apple hater. Must be a record.
Fulcrum29 said:
The more AI advances, the more important screen real-estate will become. Apple knows this.
Click to expand...
It'll become less important. Siri app intents or Grok Macrohard or Gemini will do everything for you.
 
Smiggles said:
Wow it took 3 posts before an Apple hater. Must be a record.

It'll become less important. Siri app intents or Grok Macrohard or Gemini will do everything for you.
Click to expand...

That is agentic AI. AI is heading towards content creation which, in addition, means content consumption.

Then again, you seem like someone who will use Copilot to ghost write you about some movie, and then post that summary here.
 
Gimmick depends on who it's for and how well it works.

They're getting thin enough that they're basically the same thickness, 8mm (26 Ultra) vs 9mm for the fold 7, and if the price comes down far enough, and battery life is good enough, people will get it.

I borrowed one from a friend for two days to test drive (Fold 3, so 14mm, he upgraded to the 7), and even then the thickness was all right, and I liked it for stuff like my home assistant dashboards, reading, video, was nice for cooking having video on one side while recipe on the other.

My only complaint was how easily the inner screens scratch / don't like the crease, newer one its a lot better, and then price.
 
It's good for rolling joints. Clean your weed in the center. Fold in half and pour it into the joint.
 
Last edited:
i like the concept but right now its still a fledgling technology and it will improve as time goes on - to me a 7 inch or thereabouts phone that can unfold into a 16:9 10" or 12" tablet is like something ideal to carry around, BUT what i really cannot get around right now is that Samsungs price for its Tri-fold is still insane

i mean just to put things into perspective for the price of that Tri-fold i can get an S26 Ultra plus a 14,6" S11 Ultra tablet as well as a buds 3 pro and a Galaxy watch 7 and a wireless charger that charges that lot at the same time, plus a PD GAN charger to quick charge those things if i need to, and still have change to buy an iphone 17 pro max to try as an alternative 😜 😉
 
RedViking said:
It's a funny form factor
Click to expand...

maybe the regular fold phones are a bit dodgy in terms of form factor but the tri-folds make a lot of sense besides for the aforementioned pricing issues

maybe in 10 to 15 years they might become affordable or have affordable models available is the tri-fold form factor that really becomes a tablet sized item and then it will make sense to have one ..... especially if they stop the two way fold cr@p
 
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