It might be for real this time. According to a Chinese tipster with a solid track record, especially when it comes to Samsung-related leaks, the company...
But it’s not though? Early generations, sure. But we’re at the point now where dropping a folded phone really does not have much of a difference in chance of breaking in than dropping a regular candybar phone.
You’re right in that technically it causes wear. In that regard, I suppose the fold mechanism would fail eventually. So it’s not going to be your daily driver for the next 10 years. But no phone is. Modern folding phones absolutely do well for the normal life of a phone (4-5 years maybe??).
Ime, battery has been the first thing to shit the bed of any given phone (folding or not). Yes, you can get them replaced, but that’s become either a complicated and/or expensive process nowadays. Your battery is going to become unusable before your screen breaks simply from wear alone.
Where credit is due, I think batteries have improved. I’ve noticed that the battery health no longer starts dropping fast after a year and a half (which was like a standard for me). When I got my phone, the battery health was already at 98%. I don’t know why and I didn’t really care as I got thru the days without needing to charge extra. After 2.5 years, the health is at 95% and I’m still not seeing noticeable degradation. Then again, I use battery health management system (smart charging and 80% charge whenever I didn’t need to last longer) which wasn’t a thing on older phones, maybe that’s the reason
It’s probably making a decent difference, yeah. But a lot of people don’t use those settings. I never charge my phone to only 80%. I know it’s an option, but it’s just not enough charge for me.
And these folding phones get HOT AF. Know what kills battery? Heat. I’ve been on my current Flip for about a year and while the battery life has definitely never been stellar on these things, there are some days now where my battery doesn’t last a full day’s usage.
My Z Flip 6 died after a year even though I babied that thing. The screen would freeze or fail to turn on unless you warmed up the entire phone. I tried the press-to-reseat-the-cable trick. Nothing worked. Samsung wanted to charge me $400 to repair the screen because it was a month out of warranty.
Yeah I know a few people who swear by their Flips and Folds, and I really did like that phone, but the experience soured me (ha - lemons) on the folding screen.
I was considering moving to iOS for unrelated reasons anyway, so for an extra 200 over the cost of the screen replacement I just made the jump. Side note: after 13 years of Android, iOS sure is quirky.
I’ve had mine for 3 years and it’s a little blurry at the fold. My wife’s is way better than mine but she uses hers less. I’ve not seen this catastrophic screen issues I’ve heard about.
I only knew of one person and hers was a goner in half a year, but she somehow managed to switch phones under warranty (didn’t know you can do that) instead of repairing. That being said, I have OnePlus Open (foldable phone), but it’s not the main screen that’s constantly gets bent which is the sus part to me. I open it at best 3-4 times a day when I need the large screen, not every time I need to use it. Mine is 2.5 years old, going strong. Some months ago I was in a phone shop waiting in line to buy a HDMI adapter for it and there was this lady arguing with the clerk about why can’t she submit her flip for warranty if it’s not her fault. 3 years actually blows my mind
I wouldn’t be surprised if I open and close mine 20 times a day or more, I certainly haven’t babied it. And I think the blur at the hinge is mostly the screen protector, I should probably change it since it’s a couple years old itself.
I say that and tomorrow the damn thing will probably crater. That would be about my luck.
Foldable fatigue. I forgot the technical term. Every foldable is tested for how many times it can fold before fatigue starts setting in, resulting in micro cracks/tears and eventually broken screen. I have no clue about flip, but I think the latest fold was rated at 500k folds and mine is rated at 1m folds, but it still sounds like the weak part to me.
It’ll die eventually, sure. But the numbers you quote are ridiculously high, it’ll take several decades to get there. So that seems like a non-issue to me.
I know, but each time you go to a foldable subreddit, you can almost certainly find people showing their broken screens. The numbers are just for folding in perfect conditions. It is the weak part, still. No hard glass cover, hardly water resistant, weak dust resistance, etc. I accidentally once folded my screen with a key inside (as I was folding at the same time as sliding into the pocket that had a key in it) and only noticed few minutes later. Survived, but that would not be a worry at all with non-foldable.
Sure, but there are tons of people walking around with cracked screens on slab phones too. The screen is always the weakest part. What would be noticeable is if screens on foldables failed way more than on slab phones, but I haven’t seen any evidence to support that. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the other way around: slabs break their screens far more when they get dropped because the screen isn’t protected on the inside like a foldable does.
But that’s what killing the screen
But it’s not though? Early generations, sure. But we’re at the point now where dropping a folded phone really does not have much of a difference in chance of breaking in than dropping a regular candybar phone.
You’re right in that technically it causes wear. In that regard, I suppose the fold mechanism would fail eventually. So it’s not going to be your daily driver for the next 10 years. But no phone is. Modern folding phones absolutely do well for the normal life of a phone (4-5 years maybe??).
Ime, battery has been the first thing to shit the bed of any given phone (folding or not). Yes, you can get them replaced, but that’s become either a complicated and/or expensive process nowadays. Your battery is going to become unusable before your screen breaks simply from wear alone.
Where credit is due, I think batteries have improved. I’ve noticed that the battery health no longer starts dropping fast after a year and a half (which was like a standard for me). When I got my phone, the battery health was already at 98%. I don’t know why and I didn’t really care as I got thru the days without needing to charge extra. After 2.5 years, the health is at 95% and I’m still not seeing noticeable degradation. Then again, I use battery health management system (smart charging and 80% charge whenever I didn’t need to last longer) which wasn’t a thing on older phones, maybe that’s the reason
It’s probably making a decent difference, yeah. But a lot of people don’t use those settings. I never charge my phone to only 80%. I know it’s an option, but it’s just not enough charge for me.
And these folding phones get HOT AF. Know what kills battery? Heat. I’ve been on my current Flip for about a year and while the battery life has definitely never been stellar on these things, there are some days now where my battery doesn’t last a full day’s usage.
My Z Flip 6 died after a year even though I babied that thing. The screen would freeze or fail to turn on unless you warmed up the entire phone. I tried the press-to-reseat-the-cable trick. Nothing worked. Samsung wanted to charge me $400 to repair the screen because it was a month out of warranty.
This is why I have trust issues.
That is absolutely fair and valid. Lemons do happen. I just think they aren’t nearly as common as people fear.
Yeah I know a few people who swear by their Flips and Folds, and I really did like that phone, but the experience soured me (ha - lemons) on the folding screen.
I was considering moving to iOS for unrelated reasons anyway, so for an extra 200 over the cost of the screen replacement I just made the jump. Side note: after 13 years of Android, iOS sure is quirky.
I’ve had mine for 3 years and it’s a little blurry at the fold. My wife’s is way better than mine but she uses hers less. I’ve not seen this catastrophic screen issues I’ve heard about.
I only knew of one person and hers was a goner in half a year, but she somehow managed to switch phones under warranty (didn’t know you can do that) instead of repairing. That being said, I have OnePlus Open (foldable phone), but it’s not the main screen that’s constantly gets bent which is the sus part to me. I open it at best 3-4 times a day when I need the large screen, not every time I need to use it. Mine is 2.5 years old, going strong. Some months ago I was in a phone shop waiting in line to buy a HDMI adapter for it and there was this lady arguing with the clerk about why can’t she submit her flip for warranty if it’s not her fault. 3 years actually blows my mind
I wouldn’t be surprised if I open and close mine 20 times a day or more, I certainly haven’t babied it. And I think the blur at the hinge is mostly the screen protector, I should probably change it since it’s a couple years old itself.
I say that and tomorrow the damn thing will probably crater. That would be about my luck.
The first generations had weak hinges, but those were solved several generations ago. I have no idea what you think is killing screens.
Foldable fatigue. I forgot the technical term. Every foldable is tested for how many times it can fold before fatigue starts setting in, resulting in micro cracks/tears and eventually broken screen. I have no clue about flip, but I think the latest fold was rated at 500k folds and mine is rated at 1m folds, but it still sounds like the weak part to me.
It’ll die eventually, sure. But the numbers you quote are ridiculously high, it’ll take several decades to get there. So that seems like a non-issue to me.
I know, but each time you go to a foldable subreddit, you can almost certainly find people showing their broken screens. The numbers are just for folding in perfect conditions. It is the weak part, still. No hard glass cover, hardly water resistant, weak dust resistance, etc. I accidentally once folded my screen with a key inside (as I was folding at the same time as sliding into the pocket that had a key in it) and only noticed few minutes later. Survived, but that would not be a worry at all with non-foldable.
Sure, but there are tons of people walking around with cracked screens on slab phones too. The screen is always the weakest part. What would be noticeable is if screens on foldables failed way more than on slab phones, but I haven’t seen any evidence to support that. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the other way around: slabs break their screens far more when they get dropped because the screen isn’t protected on the inside like a foldable does.