Three years had passed without touching a folding smartphone. This is what I thought after trying almost all of them 1 comment

It has been only four years since the Showcase World Congress, where we could not touch the star technology of the fair. After the cancellation of the 2020 edition and the devastating voids of 2021, the 2023 edition was the first event to truly feel “normal” again, with so much attendance and without the main character being a mask.

Three years to the biggest phone event for a server, and four years to the biggest innovation in the industry, this time without analyzing terminals: folding phones. MWC 2023 was the first event where I was able to freely test the still reduced but no longer so exclusive offering of this “new” phone type. Opportunity to take the pulse of the market and eliminate bias.

The market is growing: all I can prove

While navigating MWC 2023, I was able to test out big bets from big (and not so big) companies. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, Huawei Mate XS 2 (the successor to the Huawei Mate X3 already exists), Oppo Find N2 Flip, Oppo Find N2 and Honor were not missing. Against Magic These usual suspects are joined by another almost unknown model from a smaller manufacturer, such as the Tecno Phantom V Fold, which suggests we’re close to stocking up with these terminals at more limited prices.

before you start talking about commodity or a big trend in the market, since big players like Apple or Google still need to attend, the truth is, four years after Mobile World Congress, where we couldn’t touch the folds, these are They no longer have the air of exclusivity of yesteryearalthough you still have to scratch your pocket to get hold of any of them.

After carefully trying all of the above, the overall impression is, placement by common factors, no doubt it finally brings a certain sense of maturity. We still don’t know what’s going to happen to foldables ten years from now, but we do know what ideas have gained traction in these first five years. Around all this, the idea of ​​fragility continues to revolve, but where it can now be accompanied by an overall impeccable material quality.

It bears four years after its birth: what are they and what do they contribute to today?

Even a manufacturer like Tecno today offers much higher quality than was seen in benchmarks recently.

Once we see the cast starting to form, we can talk about it. the presence of two common types of folding: Shell type like Galaxy Z Flip and book type like Galaxy Z Fold 4. These are currently the best-selling and recognizable models as a result of being part of Samsung’s annual periodic launch strategy.

Clamshell folds have one very clear advantage before and after they’re tried: size. are dream come true for people who don’t want a huge cell phone in their pocket or bag, but I want to be able to count on a generous screen diagonal. They also allow us to take selfies with the main cameras when we see ourselves on their small exterior panels, thanks to the location of their exterior cameras.

On the other hand, we have folding book typeThis is probably the standard that most of us, who have been following rumors since birth, have in mind. The idea of ​​having an almost normal sized smartphone that transforms in one step into something much bigger, a tablet. Like this? Gain space to play, play multimedia content, gain productivity using split-screen applications thanks to a larger work surface, etc. That and everything else that comes to mind when getting creative, because the odds are your users picks.

Within this group we should name the two main variables we have seen so far. Folding book type with external display and internal display, which looks like the winning model. And the constant folding that Huawei advocates is a smartphone with a single screen that closes, leaving the panel in sight.

This is what I will choose to build the future for, because It’s more like an ordinary cell phone that grows when you need it. without the need to add another screen. The negative part? The fragility of having a screen always folded in the air, and the fact that there is always a crease in a terminal that has a flat part when you use it closed.

It has its issues (extra fragility), but Huawei’s single-screen commitment seems to me optimal for having a regular mobile phone that’s suddenly bigger. The problem is that even the brand didn’t opt ​​for it in its latest model.

In addition, great prototypes have been added that have a 4 to 6.5 inch screen like Motorola’s, which we also tested at MWC, but always leave a curve (here on the bottom edge), as in the case of Huawei. ) in view. The single-screen foldable is losing out on the market, which is still in its infancy, and proof of that is that major proponent Huawei has chosen to take a dual-screen approach with the Huawei Mate X3 this week.

What are the advantages of folding in 2023?

Reading an Article Against Honor Magic by Xataka This kind of folding shines here. a joy

After having a good time with these smartphones, these seem to me to be their great advantages:

Read: While I’ve come to read books on an iPhone 5 and many articles on smaller screens, nothing comes close to the convenience of an ebook right now…except foldable ones. It’s comfortable to read on today’s smartphones, but we’re faced with constant line breaks that make reading less enjoyable than an e-book or tablet. I enjoyed reading and article scanning apps with book type folding with a gap that I didn’t know I missed so much, but there it was. Vertically rereading articles on a regular mobile device is costly after folding

space for productivity: Multi-window is king here, and while not all apps are supported, space makers are providing much more multitasking than the idea of ​​one app at a time every time Apple continues to support it on the iPhone. An app on top and bottom on Android (or side-by-side on a tablet) is an idea we’ve been using for years.

Games and… multimedia consumption? I was able to experiment with games during test periods and the truth is that the extra space provides a lot of extra enjoyment compared to the typical long format of the vast majority of smartphones on the market. In the multimedia section, foldables also have advantages, for example when playing videos, but it is best exploited when the content is adapted, above all in the square format of the ‘TQG’ video clip by Shakira and Karol G. for example the screen of a Galaxy Z Fold 4. In other cases, as we’ll see, the advantage is less.

Which aspects do not add up too much or are a disadvantage

The Oppo Find N2 Flip is falling in love, but it doesn’t add up much more than keeping it a bit closed. It will be more than enough for many people.

Shell format. As I said before, the big advantage is the small dimensions they take up when closed. But even with that in mind, I feel like they add very little to an existing smartphone. Finally we are using mobile open and there are similar, more fragile components, a longer screen etc which I like less than the traditional ones.

Finally, a mobile idea that I like because shows the possibilities manufacturers have to create new formats, but they contribute little on a day-to-day basis. Of course, the structure and finishes of the Oppo model were great for me. I can say that the brand that convinced me the most with two suggestions. Both are small but give quality.

Goodbye one-handed use. In connection with the above, it is almost impossible to use or open the mobile phone with one hand on almost all models. It’s nothing dramatic, but it takes away the comfort when you come from mobiles a little over six inches, like the Galaxy S23 or iPhone 14 Pro, which are still pretty comfortable at that.

Oppo is very handy with one hand both on and off, but it’s hard to open it without helping us for a second. I think it’s the ideal size.

Weight It might also sound like a downside, but the Galaxy Fold 4, for example, is only 23 grams heavier than an iPhone 14 Pro Max (heavy anyway, yes). In that sense, it’s the thickness that makes the biggest difference as the folding feel is a bit ‘old’ as we haven’t had devices this thick for decades.

Wrinkles, wrinkles everywhere. One of the biggest fears of 2019 is still here. as we move our hand over the screen to make draft, we continue to notice the distinctive crease of the areas separating the hinges. Like the “notch” it takes time to get used to, but the truth is that the feel is always less quality than ordinary smartphones. Here, it is necessary to mention the good role of Oppo, which leaves the mobile phones to which it is detected much less than most of the others.

Great ingredients until you touch the screen. One thing that surprises me with most models is the build quality. Terminals opening and closing, hinges intact, no squeaks or strange noises… everything is fine. The materials used are just as premium as any current high-end until you touch the screen and see the truth: you’re touching a sheet of plastic that manufacturers have added to provide more protection and that it’s almost imperative not to remove if you want. to avoid drama.

The feel of this plastic close to cheap screen protectors, and in the long run it leaves holes and obvious wear in the crease area. Although the hinges feel solid, the idea of ​​fragility does not go away for now with such a device in hand. As my colleague Ricardo Aguilar reviewed, “In our analysis of the Huawei Mate XS 2, one week of use was enough to notice wear in the center area of ​​the screen.”

media point. We’ve seen before that the use of the built-in display is great for adaptive and non-panoramic content. However, when viewing traditional widescreen content, folding screens leave a lot of black, which is not ideal at all, unless we want to stretch the content to complete the panel.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 vs iPhone 13 Pro With content that doesn’t fill the screen ratio of the foldable (mostly available on stream and YouTube), the size advantage in multimedia is greatly reduced.

This video clip by Karol G and Shakira highlights the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s screen like no other content because the aspect ratio almost matches the screen, leaving tiny black lines compared to 16:9 videos.

So the question that arises is: does a foldable device really have so many advantages for watching TV shows or movies? AND The answer depends on the situation. The extra dimension is appreciated today when faced with a “small” smartphone like the iPhone 14 Pro. Compared to something as premium as the 14 Pro Max, the extra usage is just too small to make up for a twist for it.

Despite all these ‘buts’, I feel the market is maturing at a good pace, and once the price issue is resolved (which is not trivial), we will almost certainly be talking about a new smartphone standard, waiting to see if there are new formats. as roll-ups can guarantee a similar or superior quality to existing fold-ups. Perhaps yes, we will never see a golden stage like that of smartphones between 2007 and 2020., because “new” threats appear in the background, such as augmented or mixed reality glasses that want to be the next mass device. There is much to prove in every way.