That’s because users are trying to use normally accepted folding methods and not Apple approved proprietary iPhone folding methods.
Every phone maker seems convinced that if they can be the one to make this work, they’ll be the champion of world forever, or something.
I can’t understand why a user would even want this. How many users do want this?
I like the idea of it, but I can live without it.
A foldable phone has the benefits of a tablet (screen size) and a phone (more compact), allowing you to alternate between the two at will. I can see the appeal.
Kinda. They tend to result in a phone that is too big to be comfortable, that open to a tablet that is too small to be all that useful.
The Duo has a cover screen that is 5.4 inches and it unfolds to 7.6", while being thicker, bigger and heavier than a 18 pro max with a 6.9" screen. Is the pro max a tablet already then, it’s quite dang close in screen size after all.
To me, it’s the aspect ratio of the screens.
This passport style ratio is what I want from such a device because that’s how all paper looks like in my country. We use the ISO paper standard being A sizes. They’re like the Goldilocks shape for books and media. Modern smartphones right now is closer to cinematic ratio of 21:9, but most TV content are still 16:9. Letter boxing is at the left and right side and I somehow dislike this.
This more bookish shape puts the letter box on top and bottom and somehow that’s more preferable for me.
It also fits a lot better with papers and documents as A4 paper size is proportional to the passport ratio.
I’m going by the assumption that the duo is following the ISO paper ratio though. IIRC the Samsung fold 8 outer screen does follow it, but due to engineering the inner bigger screen is 4:3, which is not ISO paper ratio, but close enough.
All this to say that a 7.6" screen with a 20:9 aspect ratio will not fit the same way with a 1:1.4 ratio for non progressive web content. And I prefer the latter.
To me it just seems like you get a tablet that is too small with the cost of having a chonky and heavy phone and a screen that has a added failure point.
But I’m one of those weirdos who doesnt know where my phone is 95% of the time. I check KDE Connect for notifications once or twice a day and if it shows that the battery is low, I find the phone and plug it in. So I guess I’m not the person these new phonetablets are marketed to
Things are already generally optimized for a phone screen though.
Yes that is a good point I noticed all the time when using a foldable. Most uses are just optimized for the standard format. Also phone holders and such.
Why not make something like the 3DS? Like, it flips open and you have 2x screen size. It doesn’t actually have to be one continuous screen, with all the failure points that entails; you’re allowed to have two separate screens that join into one. Every dual monitor home PC setup works this way.
Heck, take it one step further and have a little keyboard that can slide out from the bottom if you’re feeling brave.
That’s what I think. I miss physical keyboards on phones, and generally don’t mind a phone on the heavier side.
People absolutely hate bezels though, so it’d never fly with the flagship phones.
You can’t understand why someone would want phone that becomes a tablet? Really?
For real. Just last weekend I was at a conference and realized that I left my tablet at home and the agenda/workbook for the event was PDF. I was pinching and scrolling with my iPhone while my colleague next to me opened up his Galaxy Fold and was reading everything fine. I mean, yeah, it’s not a common need for me, but there’s definitely use-cases for this–especially for people who have to read digital documents on the go a lot and don’t want to have to carry extra devices just to do so.
Not in this form factor, no. It’s too wide and… square to be convenient in either mode. The BlackBerry passport was a bad form factor for similar reasons.
You’re saying there’s been zero times you’re looking at something on your phone and would like a bigger screen for it? Not once have you had something on your phone and wished it was full size? Or gone to open it on a tablet or computer instead?
Having never owned a tablet, it’s either a phone or my pc monitor. I even have an iPhone 12 MINI, and I’m a bigger dude so it looks like a business card in my hand.
Same here. iPhone 13 mini and I’m a bigger dude too. Can’t stand these gigantic phablets, and the form factor of this foldable is dumb.
All those times i also wanted a mouse and keyboard.
I can say as a Pixel 9 Pro Fold owner, I have used it. And never once have I really needed a full keyboard and mouse for what I’d even think of using my phone for.
I only use it for some mobile gaming, and websites that do very poorly on mobile despite that being the only online device for so many people nowadays.
Having actually use one as a daily driver for over a year,… it’s not worth it. It’s not worth the additional weight and bulk, carrying it around all the time for the handful of times I do use it. And without a significant battery increase to justify despite being literally twice as thick as a normal phone.
You’re the problem when it comes to big tech, you realize this, yes? Why shouldn’t I buy this unnecessary tech? Why shouldn’t I use AI as much as I want? Sure, put on the ring, what harm could come of it? Of course I want a camera on my glasses!
Well yes, but I’m very good at saving things for later and watching it when I’m in front of the big screen at home 2 months later.
Not the person you asked but yes actually. I never want more screen on my phone. I barely use it. I have the Pixel because it can run Graphene OS, and I want that, but if I could run Graphene on it I’d want something smaller. It’s so annoying to carry the thing around. I use my phone to test and call people. And to use organic maps and gps to tell me when my next turn is. Basically nothing else. Altho if people want to use their phone as their everything device then they’re free to I guess. Just not for me. So I’d never want a folding one.
Thats what laptops are for.
And you always have a laptop when out and about during the day? While on transit? Waiting for an appointment?
There are a lot of people that don’t own a computer anymore. Their entire digital life is through their phone. It’s the only portal to the web that have.
I do. Consolidating my phone and tablet into a single device would be very convenient. Adding support for an external monitor, keyboard and mouse to replace my laptop would be even better. I didn’t buy a Duo not because I don’t want the product, but because I know they won’t work well for another few iterations (at least).
I’ll join the chorus. If the price-point were right and the tech were reliable, I’d happily trade a good amount of thickness in order to have the option of an iPad Mini or an iPhone, but in the footprint of the latter when not in use. I really prefer to carry my phone in my front pocket and not to EDC a bag.
It’s just that the price-point is wrong and the tech is not reliable.
I wanted one. I tried to buy one. It sold out faster than I could click add to cart.
I currently have an iPhone 16 pro max and it isn’t big enough. I liked the idea of having a bigger screen on-demand, in a portable cellular form factor.
Why would I want this? Because I’m sad and I fly around the world and I thought that instead of having a tablet and phone I could have it in one!
Then I listen to these tech YouTubers say that this is it! I bought my folding phone and I very rarely unfold it. Wasted so much money and I’m like bleh …
Then guess what? I see the YouTubers say, last year’s iteration wasn’t it, but this year’s one fixes it!
Urgh …
I bought my folding phone and I very rarely unfold it. Wasted so much money and I’m like bleh …
Basically the experience I had with my first smartphone: I got it into my head that having a foldout QWERTY keyboard would make writing more than just short text messages on a phone less weird and that getting a Nokia would also help ease the transition from dumb to smart since most of my previous phones had been Nokias.
Turns out I quickly stopped using that keyboard and the Symbian OS Nokia used back then was compatible with like a dozen apps or so 🤦🏻
Guys, we had the optimal form factor, the LG Wing, years ago! No folding displayed required!
I’m not even joking. I used mine for years and loved it.
Guys, we had the optimal form factor, the LG Wing, years ago! I used mine for years and loved it.
I genuinely thought this would be some old ass phone from when before smartphones were a thing.
It came out in 2020. The phone I’m typing this on came out 1,5 years after that.
Also what is this monstrosity??
It’s awesome multi-tasking bliss, and it’s durable, and it’s easy to repair if you do break it!
I really miss my LG Wing. The USB port went out first and I used to charge it only with wireless charging for a few months but that’s just not viable for longevity. No shop around here wants to take a crack at repairing it for me.
Genuinely the second small screen is so useful. I can have my navigation and music player on screens and not muck about as much. I can list more but now I’m ashamed as most of what I use both for are for media consumption lol
I like the Surface Phone 2 form factor. Having the display be glass helps a ton, and the bezel inside is pretty small. It would be even better with an e-ink outer display; that’s plenty for most phone things, and then you could open it up for videos and such.
Investors want repeats of the iPhone and social media revolution. They won’t get it by making tweaks to the smartphone or social media platforms. Nothing will stop them from trying, but all of this is just spinning the wheels.
I want one but then I go to T-Mobile and see that dammed crease in the middle and I know my OCD ass won’t be able to handle it.
And I work in the repair industry so it wouldn’t last very long. And it has no practical use. At all. It’s just a keeping up with the Jones gimmick and it’s made by apple. All their tech sucks they survive on nothing but name.
I get the appeal, especially as I get older and my vision isn’t as good. Having a screen that can be bigger as needed helps in a number of ways. That said, no way I’d buy one because I don’t see how they survive in the long term.
The concept is kinda cool. Take the Galaxy Fold 8 for example; a nice and compact phone that actually fits in your pocket and can be a tablet if you wanna watch a movie or something in bed or public transport.
I still wouldn’t buy one; spending over a grand on a phone that even if it holds up fine can be damaged by accidentally tapping on the screen wrong seems dumb. Nevermind that I personally wouldn’t buy a Samsung for multiple reasons.
can be damaged by accidentally tapping on the screen wrong
That’s not really a thing unless you mean tapping with a hammer or something. I’ve been using these since the Z Fold 3.
It’s not the most wise way to spend your money of course, but not everything needs to be.
Isn’t the inside screen really soft and prone to pressure damage?
Pressure damage? Like, accidental, with your fingers? No, neither is it especially scratch prone.
I think I was talking about the small permanent ridges you could make with your fingernails. It’s entirely possible that they solved that problem a few generations ago, though.
Nah, the outer layer of the flexible screen is quite rigid to the touch. You don’t leave marks with your fingernail. I’ve used TPU screen protectors on the inner screen that have that property, I think. If you look at the glare from a light source, you can see indents in that. But even then, it’s not something you otherwise notice.
I don’t want to seem like a breathless booster for flexible phones, they are too expensive to be considered practical, I think. But there are some misconceptions about them, some which seem to come from the first version of the Z Fold, which honestly does sound like a nightmare device.
I love the concept of phones like the Z Flip, don’t get me wrong, if someone convinces me that they’re just as durable as a normal phone I’d buy one
I can’t understand why a user would even want this. How many users do want this?
I dunno what to tell you, I love the thing. I’ve liked the idea of foldables for a while. My buddy got the Z Fold 7 and loves it, I picked up the Duo and it’s great for me.
Foldables certainly aren’t the right fit for everyone, there are inherent trade offs. But I love the concept. I love having a small tablet with me everywhere. I love how compact the device is when folded. I’m enjoying a phone that is substantially different from every smartphone I’ve ever used. It reminds me of when smartphones were new and each one had things that made them unique.
I can certainly understand why people wouldn’t want one. But I find it surprising that you can’t understand why someone would.
I have no desire for this. Id rather have an old school folding style type phone that folds flush so when you open it the display is across two sections with a miniscule gap. Like a phone sized Nintendo ds. Instead we get DS sized phones that are awkward as hell with so many typea of clothing.
These things would sell like hotcakes if they didn’t cost so much and were reliable. People want them, the tech just isn’t perfected yet, and who knows if the price will ever be reasonable.
Meh I like no tech and making attempts. I would never spend that money on a phone. I have never spent half that on a phone.
I like products not designed for absolutely everyone though, niche is nice
China phone manufacturers like Xiaomi, OPPO, Huawei already have 5th or 6th Gen folds and they are awesome. Many people here use folds. The build quality is outstanding.
Plus the software is actually designed to use either the full screen or split screen. What Apple have done is a joke. The few people that bought the Apple fold, are returning it because the software is useless.
I’m confused, are you in China or the United States? Your comment history strongly alludes to both, depending on what you’re saying.
They’re only from the US when meddling in elections or pretending to be smugly superior. Standard tankie behavior.
Been using my Honor Magic V2 for 2.5 years now, might be the best phone I’ve ever had. If I could change two things, it would be perfect: I’d love for it to be 1-2cm shorter and properly support third party launchers. Otherwise, no complaints at all.
Have a look at the Xiaomi 18 fold. It’s an interesting size and much more compact than the previous versions.
Thanks! It’s similar to the Samsung Fold 8 in terms of size, right? I tried that one in a shop recently because I thought the size was interesting but it felt a bit too wide for my hands. The Xiaomi with its rounded corners might be a better fit though, thanks. I’m also waiting for more info on the rumored Motorola Razr Flex which seems to be a very interesting form factor as well (even smaller, and not as wide).
me, i have a Motorola flip, excellent pockeabikity, tried the Samsung Fold 8 (not ultra) looks excellent for my use but I’m poor, so it stays on the display.
I for one can’t wait to see what Motorola brings out next year on the RAZR lineup that is fully compatible with GrapheneOS. If they manage that, with an inner screen that is 6.7" then I’m selling my Pixel. Otherwise, I guess I’m keeping the Pixel until it dies.
I thought the first Motorola with grapheneOS have been confirmed and it’s not a flip form factor. And it’s flagship. This caused a lot of jimmies rustled. I understand why, because Motorola is more known for their budget offering, but I also have seen why it has to be flagship because there are hardware stuff that’s needed by grapheneOS.
The Pixels having the proper security hardware on their poor performing on benchmarks SoC seems more like a happy coincidence to me. I’m happy to be politely corrected.
Yeah, I’ve had pretty much every pixel XL (for when they made smaller Pros because I need large screes) ever, except for the 5. My last one was the 10 Pro XL. Right now I use the 10 with GOS for personal and an 8 Pro in stock for a work phone.
I really would love a RAZR ultra with GOS, but we need to see if the hardware will meet the GOS requirements.
My understanding is that no Motorola hardware has been approved by GOS yet, and that the partnership actually means getting GOS involved in the choice of hardware and its implementation and architecture, but I could be wrong.
Phone new oogga booga phone go squish oogga booga
That’s the exact failure that happened on the bend test for Zak on JerryRigEverything. Crazy it’s happening without the full-muscle stress test.
The article says that the best guess is there’s a physical part of the hinge about there that must be perfectly aligned, and if it isn’t then that specific screen is eventually doomed.
Yeah, this boils down to a manufacturing engineering problem. There’s some process happening during assembly that’s resulting in these slipping by… or being allowed by.
EDIT: And I mean, yeah, the thing could’ve been designed better from the get go, but that ship sailed long ago.
I saw the test and the more glaring issue to me was that despite the IP68 rating, it utterly failed to withstand dust. It was technically still fully functional but wouldn’t close properly. Those are fundamental issues that basic QC at Apple should have caught during development
Looks like Apple should have made sure their precision engineered hinge was also accurate engineered.
I haven’t heard an accuracy vs precision joke for years, that’s brilliant :D
Would you make a quality product if you knew that people would buy it no matter what?
Yes, which is one of the many many reasons I’ll never be a billionaire (unless the currency devalues by more than three orders of magnitude).
Tbh, I figured Apple taking their time on these was because they were trying to improve the engineering over the Android folding screen offerings.
Now I wonder if they just wait because everyone assumes Apple would try and make it better, and then they just sell a bunch + the Apple tax, even though it’s just as bad of a product. Like, the marketing team just saying: “wait a couple years”.
They still have to develop the software.
Even if they just clone the hardware.
Apple usually do the software more integrated than Android shipping phone companies.
It makes sense that it takes longer to do those integrations.
For me the price point is just becoming insane for even basic iPhones and the battery life is terrible
Apple usually do the software more integrated than Android shipping phone companies.
And yet the software rollout has been very bungled, and added more fragmentation into the app store, adding a “designed for iphone duo” label and poor support for existing apps. About 10-15 years ago, this is something which Apple fanboys made fun of Android about.
Given Jobs didn’t even want a larger iphone form factor, he’s probably rolling in his grave by the fragmentation this causes.
It’d be interesting to see a different world where Jobs were still alive and what Apple would have done differently. Jobs did have a history of hypocritical statements which basically boiled down to “Feature X sucks, no one wants it” until Apple would come out with the same feature, and then he’d say “Now that Apple re-engineered Feature X, it’s perfect, buy it from us”. I could see him selling the iPhone Duo but the difference would be he’d push for better app integration over the last 10 years ahead of launch so that it’s not so janky.
If given the choice between all these different sized iPhones and a foldable iphone, I do think from my completely uninformed view of him, that he’d maybe choose the foldable option heh. But ya it would be interesting to see the difference in how the company unfolded.
True, but one might have hoped they were doing both in parallel. If no one can improve the hardware, these are going to go the way of 3D TVs, though due to reliability rather than annoyance and nausea.
No one could have ever seen this coming
It’s a first generation product. Remember the first Galaxy Fold and what a disaster that was? It’s kinda like that (only more expensive).
Apple should have the benefit of hindsight but apparently not.
Remember the iPhone 6?
The first phone to perfectly bend with your butt. And it came in rose gold. It’s awesome.
This is hilarious to me because all I hear from Apple fanbois about why iPhones are always years behind Samsung et al on new features is because “Apple don’t release things until they work properly”
History is not on their side unfortunately.
Apple ia not brraking into a new segment with new tech like Samsung did. Foldable phones have been around long enough for them to sell a working phone.
It’s still the first time Apple had a go at it and its design is obviously flawed, otherwise it wouldn’t be failing so quickly.
Apple probably didn’t plan for their planned obsolescence to work THIS quickly.
Finally a massive flaw that apple can’t lie about or hide from the public, like they usually do. What is sad is they’re already about 3-4 years behind Android in releasing a foldable device and they still somehow fucked it up
I was all set to wait for a Motorola Razr with Graphene to drop (and finally be done with Apple) until I read the iFixit tear-down of the Duo and realized that all foldables are fragile and require extra care (that I, a surfer and parent of four children, cannot guarantee). I think now I’m going to get a Fairphone 6 with /e/
sand hyper accelerated my z flip 5’s death. As much as I liked that phone, I’m not sure I’ll get a foldable again because I normally like robust phones I can keep for ages with a little care
Yeah, they’re nowhere near as hardy, that’s for sure. I have a galaxy Fold, took a vacation to the beach last month… basically had to leave the phone in the hotel for the entire weekend lol.
I just want Motorola to remake the old RAZR V3xx with 5G and a decent UX.
I’d literally buy two.
Yeah… Folding screens were never a good idea.
I am all about trying new stuff though. Remember when phones had cool gimmicks? Now they are all exactly the same damn thing. Shit, even my old Samsung Galaxy whatever had an IR blaster and heart rate monitor. Now they don’t even have 3.5mm head phone jacks. Every phone is the same black rectangle. I think a phone like the one from the Spike Jonze movie “Her” would be sweet.
Gimmicks are expensive and too risky, some or all people would dismiss the product immediately. We’ll never see it anymore because we’re no fun now.
Then again, folding screens are not that different.
I keep looking at phones with IR cameras. Thermal imaging is super handy for electro/mechanical diagnostics, and some of them are under $500.
I am cautiously optimistic. Early touchscreens were pretty shit too, but they’ve been developed pretty well by now. This might be figured out in time as well.
I don’t know if they’ll ever be perfect, as it’s just a serious materials science issue to make something fold that should never show a seam, but I’d be willing to tolerate a little crease if they didn’t charge an arm and a leg and made them “reliable but eventually with a small crease.” Seems we are not there yet, but I thank the early adopters for their service.
I don’t know man. I do remember what I thought of the early touchscreens. They got scratched up by a wet fart, they were inaccurate, they were generally not great to use. But the potential was there, and everyone could see it.
Then people much smarter than you or I made better kinds of glass, more accurate capacitive sensors, etc. They can even hide fingerprint readers behind them now, which would have been inconceivable some time ago. I do believe the crease thing can be solved with enough R&D. And I do believe it will be, because unlike the stupid edge screen stuff Samsung put on their phone ca. Galaxy S7 or thereabouts, foldable screens have a clear potential to be way more than just a dumb gimmick that nobody really cares about.
I don’t know how anyone can say this with a straight face.
I have been using folding phones exclusively for years and they are excellent.
It isn’t for everyone, but they are really good for many people.
I’d like a folding phone that runs Linux as a laptop alternative
This is basically a tablet people, get a dam tablet, especially one that isnt 2000 USS. 😑
I never really understood the appeal of these.
They are nifty tech but new black rectangle that does the same shit as the last black rectangle has long ago stopped interesting me.
I now just get medium priced black rectangle every four or five years and ignore everything in between.
Along with the increased prices, its mind boggling to me that people want to pay rent prices for a stupid phone that aint gonna last 2 years.
Thats how a phone should be, hence i went to android cause of that. Tired of Apples BS
I’m with you in spirit, but phone can last longer than two years, especially if you change the battery.
I lost my USB-C port a long time ago, so I got a contact charger and syncthing…
Yup. I think the old Pixel Tablet has a few years of Graphene support left. That’s seems like a good option at a much better price point, but check me on those EoL dates.
As an owner of multiple galaxy folds, I really wish people that don’t see the use case would stop treating their opinion as fact.
This is a phone that folds open into a tablet.
Not “basically a tablet”
The apple one is nothing special, its essentially the same as the wide fold 8. (The one i currently use)
I have a tablet. I don’t use it. Because it is heavy, it doesn’t fit in my pocket and i can’t make phone calls on it. All the things that make a phone different to a tablet are present on my “basically a tablet”
I have a specific use case for this phone. It suits me down to the ground. I don’t pretend this phone is for everyone, but i also don’t pretend it is for no one like you have done here.
Sorry to direct this at you, but it really does trigger me when i see this type of comment.
If you don’t see it working for you then just don’t buy one. No need to throw shade because you personally don’t like them.
So i cant throw shade at a company that supports mass consumerism and extreme unaffordable prices, with a product that has basically been the same since the iphone 13-15 but with Ai and a bigger screen?
There has to be more feaaible options than this, especially one that shouls make sense. What is the different than thw iphone 17/18 or a cyberdeck that is the same size but not evem a third of the cost of this phone?
Im not treating anything im saying as fact, just it makes no sense on the price point and mindset of where these phones are going(if you want to call it a phone at this point) . All these phablets do is just encourage consumerism and act less like a phone, i just have a problem with the company and the product, not whoever wants to use it.
You want to use it,cool, thats on you.
I’m happy you fit the niche.
I don’t. I agree with them that for the price of the folding iPhone, I already have an iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, and can take calls on all three of them. I dont care if my iPad is heavy because I have two more portable devices
You’re almost the perfect use case lol. The whole point of the fold is for people that have or want both a phone and a tablet, but only want to carry one device.
I don’t currently have an iPad. My wife does and I end up using it a lot. I want an iPad mini for the times that I want just a bit bigger screen, but I’ve held off because I don’t want another device.
So I’ve got a duo on order. 90% of the time I’ll probably have it closed. The other 10% of the time it’ll serve the use that I use my wife’s iPad for but will have my setup instead of her layout that I’m not used to lol.
I’m surprised it became a noticeable problem this quickly. I was gonna give it a few more months before the failures started happening.
