The closed display halves almost touch, and that can smash debris into the screen.
Any first gen foldable phone is just asking for heartbreak, it seems like. Seems like the best bet is to wait until the 3rd or 4th generation, when they’ve worked out most of the problems and can start working on refinement.
If you are really interested in a folding phone, I have the Microsoft Surface Duo 2 and it’s holding up really well. The 2 screens don’t meet in the middle, but the hinge system is extremely sturdy, and my phone has stood up to lots of drops and fumbles with just one or two scratches. I have the bumper/magnet case, and I have to say, being able to use the Surface pen (the new slim and the classic Surface pen) is so nice. It runs a modified Android with some Microsoft and Office apps built in, and considering I have my entire personal device ecosystem held together through OneDrive, it works out really well to have the Microsoft and Google apps side-by-side.
Isn’t the idea more of one large screen than two screens?
Two screens on a small mobile device seems really useless for most people.
I have my launch fold 3 and I love it. I’ve dropped.it a few times, mostly from waist height as I sometimes miss my pocket. Last weekend I dropped it from.shoulder height and it landed on the case, well half case as the other half broke a while ago and I never replaced it. It’s still fine. It doesn’t open all the way but I think that’s dirt amd debris that has made its way in and clogged the gears. The only thing holding me back from the fold 5 is the likely price. I had hoped a pixel fold would be somewhat cheaper than a Samsung but oh well. Life has changed a lot for me since I got my phone so affordability is more of a concern now. That’s not to say there’s not lemons that still come out, see the story were commenting on, but from my expierence folding phones are there now.
I knew it was gonna be good when their YouTube ads said “the only foldable phone designed by Google”
Brownlee didn’t seem too pleased with it either.
I’m willing to leave folding phones in the past. I can’t imagine these ones are especially durable, with the two screens that stretch across a folding body. People weren’t having a whole lot of luck with the Nintendo DS back in the day, either, and that had two separated screens and reinforced plastic hinges.
I’ve had a Galaxy Fold 4 since release (last september), and I haven’t personally had any durability issues whatsoever. The thing here, though, is that Samsung is scheduled to release its fifth generation folding device in about a month or so, while the Pixel Fold is Google’s first try at a folding device.
The Flip and Fold 4 are probably the most refined foldable devices at the moment, and I’ve been really happy with mine. Google is a couple of years away from this level of refinement, so it doesn’t exactly surprise me that the first Pixel Fold is “meh”.
Yep, there’s a serious risk to being an early adopter of a Google product in general. IMO this is definitely a Google problem and not a foldable phone problem in general, I’ve had the Fold 4 since launch and have had no concerns over its durability. I also don’t see foldables going anywhere - being able to open it up into a tablet form is amazing for any type of media consumption that’s not simple texting.
I’ve always been concerned about screen durability with this style of phone. I like the idea, though.
I just wish Google would bring back Glass.