Until I can explain why it’s worth the extra expense or compromise, I’m having a hard time understanding why you’d want to give up your familiar phone and get one. The Galaxy Fold (and the rest of the industry will eventually have to deal with their own foldable device) is that it’s more expensive, fragile, and takes up more space. It’s about convincing people that buying a mobile phone is worth it. The worst thing about foldable devices right now is that they take a toll on the most important device you own: your smartphone.
A flip phone intuitively seems like a great idea. Phone is good! Pills are good! Simply put the two together and fold them in half to get the best of both worlds. I also thank Samsung for willingly submitting to all the growing pains of figuring out how to make a good flip phone. Last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 3 folded well, and the new Z Fold 4 looks a little better, though. I will give it to the opportunity.) which no one has actually done yet, is discuss why we actually need a foldable phone.
Highlights
The company’s website says one of its first selling points is that you can lean the screen half-open on a table for hands-free video watching and recording. We actually call it a stand here, and it’s a very expensive one. This mode only uses half the screen, defeating the whole purpose. So far, multitasking seems to be the foldable’s only real advantage.
The new Fold 4 is slightly shorter, about an ounce heavier, and about twice as thick as the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It’s also $600 more expensive. The Ultra has a bigger battery, a better camera spec, and a 6.8-inch screen with S Pen support. The Fold 4 is obviously bigger when it’s open, but the candy bar phone is still bigger. And Fold makes a lot of sacrifices to get more real estate. They don’t even realize Samsung knows why it has to make all these sacrifices.
When you open the Galaxy Fold, you can run two apps side by side, or even three or four apps on the screen at the same time. Being able to use your browser and the Notes app side by side, or see your calendar and email together, is much better than constantly switching between two full-screen apps.