Samsung's Foldable Fone ?

[mdbradigan]

Mashable reporting that Samsung possibly coming back to the party after explode-gate with a foldable phone... man oh man would I LOVE an iphone that does this. Make it twice as thick, but all day battery and foldable, therefore doubling display? Or even tri-fold, a la the amazing Westworld tablets. Yes please. This would be "courageous", no? Let's see some innovation again! Just... one more thing... (!)

http://mashable.com/2017/01/11/samsung-foldable-phone-transforms-into-tablet/#E9Xlo2TN65qW

 

[sunking101]

I'd hate a foldable phone....

 

[mdbradigan]

Yeah, totally fine. I wouldn't. I'd LOVE one, and buy it in a heartbeat if it locked in place and was well done.

 

[Foggydog]

It does look cool.

 

[Amplelink]

What's the use for a foldable phone. Not sure I get it. I had one over 10 years ago and am fine with never going back.

 

[mdbradigan]

For me - it's not the fact that it folds... it's not a flip-phone design that I want or care about. It's that - If I can suddenly and easily double my screen real estate? If I can carry around a device the size of an iPhone 6+ and then fold it out to be the size of an ipad mini when I want to do some work, or watch a video... that would be amazing. Would make it a real productivity / enjoyability leap for me.

 

[EM2013]

I don't know but that seems kind of silly.

 

[spinedoc77]

It's not foldable, it irks me when I see that term used. It's bendable at best. My fear is that it will be much too thick to make sense. At some point it would make more sense to just carry around a small phone and a larger phablet/small tablet. But we haven't seen the finished product, we've barely even seen any patent pictures. The rolling concept is interesting, maybe a tightly rolled cylinder that unrolls to a tablet, but has some notification ability when rolled up would be nice.

The concept is awesome and I can't wait for someone to get it right. LG is also working on one for 2017. But I also wonder if it's even the right direction, at least short term. Now that we can have no bezels at all, why not just mate together 2 screens with no bezels with a hinge? That would truly be "foldable" and would most likely be much thinner than something that has to bend around a radius.

 

[elf69]

I have a sony tablet p.

not truely foldable but was a brave move at the time.

I'd have one depending on cost.
but how durable is the fold?

will it fail quickly if used alot?

 

[mi7chy]

A flexible phone makes more sense than a foldable one so you don't have to take it out of your pants pocket for when you bend over to tie your shoe laces but even then it seems more of a gimmick. I'd rather companies focus on evolving the next logical hands-free computing form factor which is discrete VR visors that look like sunshades.

 

[Lightsaber]

Rumor has it that a foldable Microsoft Surface is on the horizon (not the upcoming Surface 5 but a following model). It may explain why Microsoft has gone rather quiet on the phone front as a foldable computer with phone capabilities would tend to change the dynamics of the market.

 

[Hastings101]

The modern idea of foldable/bendable (AKA not one of those awful two screen phones) always sounds cool to me, being able to open up a small screen to an 8 inch one or something, but I have concerns about longevity and reliability. And anything that a consumer is encouraged to bend that costs $1k makes me nervous lol

 

[MRU]

It's one of those things where the idea is great, but the practicality of using it, especially a folded device (along the horizontal axis) to the ear screams impractical ...

Foldable Tablet / Computer = ok

Foldable mobile phone ? Like putting a 3DS to your ear and see how useful it is to hold there.

 

[frankgrimes]

This would be so awesome but some site mentioned that the prices for mass production aren't there for foldable phones yet. Meaning you'd be looking at 1,5k + for now.

I'd absolutely love folding my Note 4 when I need to make phone calls, write a text and then for surfing other stuff fold it back to it's usual form, awesome idea.

 

[JaySoul]

It's one of those things where the idea is great, but the practicality of using it, especially a folded device (along the horizontal axis) to the ear screams impractical ...

Foldable Tablet / Computer = ok

Foldable mobile phone ? Like putting a 3DS to your ear and see how useful it is to hold there.

I'd love to know data for how much people actually put their phone to their ears nowadays.
[doublepost=1485792402][/doublepost]If it can work well, I think it's a brilliant idea.

You're talking about a 7 inch tablet that can fold in half. I'm on board! Would be interesting for a Note 9 or 10 in particular.

 

[nfl46]

This looks cool, but I wouldn't buy version 1 of it. There's a good chance it would be ridiculously expensive and not as functional as it could be.