You mostly hear about the bad ones. Mine has been doing great for almost 2 years now. I use it in a clean environment, I'm very careful and not clumsy, so that helps.
This is the same site that ran a front page saying if you vote for Trump you are literally a racist. I liked it better when it was just headphone reviews and holiday gift guides to pump their affiliate revenue. XD
I have zero interest in folding phones and only read to kill time while eating, but this review is incredibly irritating. "This isn't exactly like another phone, with a bunch of subjective design differences, therefore it's dated and bad!" I hate this way of thinking so much. Products should be different. There should be small phones and large phones, thin phones and thick phones, rather than scoring them all against the latest fad in order to try to force the market to conform. I hear small phones don't sell well and that's why nobody makes them anymore, but I can't help but wonder if small phone sales are artificially deflated by shitty reviews like this one that punish companies for manufacturing outside the media's anointed design trend.
Reviews like this like to exaggerate certain things in order to get a punchy headline ("feels like the end of an era") and to create a matching narrative for the article. To keep readers engaged. Pretty typical for The Verge.
But as far as reviews go, this one is just as bad as most. They didn't do any standardized measurements of the battery life including comparisons with similar phones, or performance benchmarks, or any camera measurements that go beyond vibes. They are just reporting what anyone who bought the phone could also tell you: subjective impressions and a few out-of-context sample photos.
Steve Jobs insisted on single-hand-sized iPhones because that's legit the best design for healthy phone use. But the kind of people who buy phones the most aren't using them healthily, the phone is constantly in both hands in public, and that's also a large portion of the market now. Even when Apple went back to making "mini" iPhones (still larger than the 3G-5S), they didn't sell well.
Also I don't think anyone makes buying decisions based on these reviews. It's more entertainment than anything else. When I was a kid, I used to sit in the dentist's waiting room reading about the exact specs and driving reviews of $100K+ cars in those magazines.
I'm tempted to get one to replace my very cracked Pixel 9 Pro XL. With all the incentives Google offers for Google Fi customers it's not all that expensive. Comes out to about $1100 after trade-in and includes a free Pixel Watch 5.
I'm foldable-curious and Samsung just includes too much overlapping bloat "features". Gemini is bad enough, I don't need Bixby and whatever else. Not to mention I would have to pay full price.
> Samsung just includes too much overlapping bloat "features"
Yep, that's a major drawback. My partner has a Samsung phone and seeing all of the included bloatware, plus the terrible updates and add even more, made me not even consider one of their devices last time I bought a phone.
Just be careful about what your actual use case is.
For example, this form factor of foldable doesn’t give you significantly more screen real estate for 16:9 video content since it’s such a square aspect ratio.
They also generally aren’t large enough to take advantage of tablet layouts, while tri-fold designs fold out to be almost identical to a tablet size.
You have to really want to use two apps side by side in my opinion.
I'm on fi and got the fold 8 through fi for a pretty steep discount. It was cash off immediately + fi credits. I can pull up exact details if you care but it was several hundred dollars off split pretty evenly between instant discount and fi credits. Coming from nearly 10 years of pixels/nexus the transition hasn't been that bad. I miss a couple pixel exclusives, but nearly all the samsung bloatware can be disabled or removed entirely. I haven't bumped into bixby once.
One genuine nice Samsung feature is DeX. Been using it + moonlight (when needed) to make the phone basically a secondary computer when hooked up to USB-C monitor. Honestly I think this phone may end up replacing several other devices - kindle, gaming portable (eg: steamdeck, replaced by phone + GameSir G8 + controller), laptop, tablet. I think it can only replace laptop in my use case because I can remote into my desktop from it if I need extra compute - so if you are laptop only I don't expect it to be a straight replacement.
Honestly, best phone I've ever used - but I hope next year either google gets off the sidelines and adopts passport form factor + gets its shit together on the crease, cpu and dex equivalent so I can get my pixel exclusives and vanilla OS back, or alternatively Samsung makes the wide form factor the "ultra" and gives us better cameras, speaker placement, s-pen and IP68.
it's crazy how normalized spending 1k+ on a phone has become. I can't imagine paying that for a phone that is almost identical in features I care about to something 1/3 the price.
I drop my phone a lot, I have a great case for it so not a scratch after 6 years. I am interested in getting the foldable but apparently the cases don't protect the hinge or let dirt get in? Anyone have experience with this? Maybe I'm not the right audience, too clumsy
Among other manufacturers Spigen has cases that protect the hinge. I've owned a foldable for 3 years and never had anything get into the hinge thanks to that, though some amount of dust did gather inside the hinge cover over time.
But I would be nervous about spending that much on a phone if you expect to be dropping it a lot, honestly.
I think the clumsiness can be improved. I always make a conscious effort when I grab my phone or put it away, so that is is always secure. No "I thought it slid into my pocket but apparently it was still outside it and then dropped". I would grab my phone with both hands in a lot of situations that are risky etc.
It's a bunch of small habits to change, then you may be ready for a fragile foldable. Until then, yes, probably not the target audience!
I picked up a Z Fold 8 for a test device, in order to optimize my app for folding phones (also in anticipation of Apple's folding phone), and the squat form factor really seems like something out of the future (certainly something different), I like it way more than I thought I would, the front is convenient for a lot of quick scrolling, checking things, and the wide 4:3 inner screen is really great for content viewing and web surfing. Even the front screen alone is better for content viewing then the traditional slab phones.
I like it so much I'd consider a non folding phone in the squatter form factor as well.
Nice looking phone im seriously interested in but they don't say what US carriers I'd be able to use anywhere I could find which seems odd with the off the shelf chipset.
While the form factor does seem nicer for the pocket, and perhaps better when using the cover screen, I fear I would miss the screen real estate of the tall foldable.
Not having to rotate the phone to view either portrait or landscape content is more convenient than I thought.
> trapped in a shape everyone else seems to be moving on from.
Really not sure if we were ever there. Foldable phones still feel like a novelty that is expensive and fragile, among other tradeoffs. Also moving on to what, exactly? The regular slate form factor is what people buy, and have been for years at this point.
I'm confused, what is everyone else moving away from, folding phones? The same article said Samsung is still making folding phones and Apple is about to release one.
Moving away from the tall narrow foldables that open to a square, to shorter, wider foldables that open to a rectangle, like the Galaxy Z fold 8 and the rumored iPhone foldable.
The biggest benefit of the passport-style foldable is it might actually fit in your hand. Modern phones haven’t been ergonomic since the iPhone 13 Mini.
Not really, there are a couple of new products like that but they are fairly uncommon and inconvenient.
I think there is a real movement to want to use social media and phones less, but I think it's is more likely to come from Apple implementing tools to help break social media addiction than buying a flip phone.
I've looked seriously into doing this, and there are just too many situations where I'm expected to have access to a particular app or website on my phone in day to day life. Maps are also a killer feature, and I use instagram messaging with some friends here (expats with unstable phone numbers).
The best I've had was to turn my phone greyscale, which really helped me cut back on any short form video consumption, but my endless reddit scrolling is still there.
You could get a really shite smartphone. For a while the iPhone 6 Batterygate Edition really made sure I'd only use it for essential stuff, cause even typing on the keyboard was a waiting game.
I tried switching to iphone briefly (lifelong nexus/pixel user) because I hate using iphones. I didn't end up holding out very long and I switched back to android after a couple of weeks, and in the switch back, apple screwed up my texting and I wasn't able to receive texts from iphone users for over a month.
Maybe I should go back and do that again. The typing experience on iphone is so poor that it made commenting on reddit (my main vice) painful.
Well it may work, cause at some point Apple permanently messed up how the iPhone keyboard works. I cannot spell anything on the iPhone 12 mini I use every day, but if I pick up my old 5 that's been sitting unused for years, it feels fine.
This is definitely a thing. I thought I was just getting old, but I am almost incapable of writing a word without mistyping now. It always registers neighboring letters.
I use a thing called Brick. It basically locks all the 'fun' stuff down using the phones built-in features, but you can unlock it by scanning an nfc tag thing.
I leave the brick in my car. I can still scroll if I want, but I have to intentionly get up and move to do it. Most of the time I decide it isn't worth it.
This is likely a small side track that emerged recently..... but i'm afraid that's not really the situation. the younger generation utilizes a ton of social media, and they would need to rely on smartphones just for that.
I doubt that very much. They will always be a lot more expansive than even large (~6.8") single screen devices. I don't see how folds will ever be easier/cheaper to produce than single screen displays.
The same way that smart phones aren’t easier nor cheaper to produce than feature phones. Once the technology and features get good, people’s default expectations shift.
I’ve not been sold on flip phones so far, but the latest “passport” style has made me curious.
20 million is a rounding error, 1.3 to 1.5 billion smartphones are sold per year every year since 2013.
I was in the heart of the VR revolution in 2015, they were predicting 150b+ market by 2020, it barely reached 20b... In 2025...
They're always hyping their new gadgets but at the end of the day people are just not buying these in any meaningful amount. They love to take the past 6 months performance and draw a straight line from there.
Folding phones aren't going away; they're becoming more mainstream. The initial versions of folding phones that came out five or six years ago had issues and some aspects that weren't addressed. But we are literally in the sixth or seventh generation of folding phones, and Samsung has basically perfected them. If you think the durability is bad, think again, because they are very, very durable. I use a Z Fold 6, and it is built like a tank. The next ones are even tougher.
In terms of usefulness, they are actually more useful than the bigass phones like the iPhone Max or S26 Ultra, and other comparable ones from various manufacturers. The outer screen is pretty small and very usable with one hand. There are a few multitasking options you can choose from once you unfold them. you can have two or four apps open at once if needed. They are also very good for watching videos. A huge number of smartphone users do spend a lot of time watching stuff on their screens.
The latest Samsung Z Fold 8 has become a huge success... its size appears to be even more ideal for one hand. the thinness and overall size of it once opened has essentially seemed like the perfect form factor for the latest generation of smartphone users.
I can believe this for Samsung, but Google's hardware is as crappy as one would expect.
I had a Pixel 9 Pro Fold, and within half a year it developed some issue probably related to the sensor that tells it which screen should be turned on, and the screen would randomly stay black.
At least Google replaced it with the newer generation model for free, which I then sold.
And mine is almost 2 years old and in great condition. It's hard to know what is responsible in those cases, a manufacturing defect or a rough user. And knowing what I've seen people do with their non-foldable phone, I'm not sure who to trust.
I'm not sure you can engineer your way out of the fundamental problem: You have a lever with both arms converging into a fragile display fold. Sand and dust can't not be brutal on that.
I don't think it is a big of a problem as it looks. Most of the dust / sand issues were on the earlier models and were related to the hinge mechanism itself.
My Fold 4 at some point started making grinding noises that raise ones blood pressure. I guess it is now solved as the new hinges are waterproof and stuff.
The screen does not really fold completely does it? All hinge mechanisms have a way to allow the screen to have a smooth arc on the fold point, not rubbing on itself. I've not used a foldable since that model so these are second hand info.
I submitted a long product suggestion to apple a couple years ago for an iPhone nano but they still haven’t taken me up on it lol.
They were mad the mini was a financial flop but like come on, they didn’t try to market it as a lifestyle device really at all, which is the key. “Think Different”, right? It’s easy. So bummed their first foldable is gonna cost 2 grand or whatever and not be a flip phone with an outer screen. I would pay a crazy amount of money but not for something that unfolds into a freaking iPad mini…
This article is extremely poorly written and has the assumption we all very deep in folding phone lore and can read the writers mind.
I think there's some new folding phone aspect ratio ("passport sized"?) that's more popular but the article never really explains which one they're talking about. Don't think it means moving away from folding in general.
Dunno which country they mean, but my passport is quite big. I would never buy such a behemoth phone. But maybe that's just me, always sticking with the smallest (flagships) available... I also never bought a tablet, so the foldable brings something in which I was never interested.
> That’s enough to mean the 11 Pro Fold still feels like a smart purchase right now, but I’m worried it won’t do for long.
How long are these phone's purchasable windows? like 12 months max?
So it's still a "smart purchase" now, despite being out of date? So maybe it's not out of date yet? But will be soon, like literally every other phone?
> Foldable phones still feel like a novelty that is expensive and fragile, among other tradeoffs.
I've had a Moto Razr Pro for three years now. No signs of wearing out and it's taken quite a bit of abuse. The only tradeoff is probably water resistance and the crease in the screen (which you get used to but is a trade-off). The positive: same size a a wallet when folded, outer screen makes checking notifications fast, and the outer screen lets you use the outer camera for selfies and video recording. I'll probably get another one when the battery dwindles away.
I had a Razr 2023. My inner screen's touch layer died out of the blue after ~1 year and a few months which essentially broke the phone (it has a very small and limited outer screen). It was otherwise pristine too, no visible damage or anything. From what I read it's not that uncommon either. Still gambled on a Samsung Flip because I like the form factor but I am worried about durability. I'm generally pretty gentle with devices and never had a screen break or anything of that nature.
I think there are plenty of people like me who would like to try one, but don't feel like spending multiple months of rent on the privilege of doing so.
I'm holding off for the coming while with the current RAM prices keeping phones incredibly expensive, but in five or six years when my current phone goes EOL I hope to see affordable options.
A second hand pixel is a quarter of that. A four year old second hand phone being worth as much as a new midrange phone still makes these devices a bad deal, especially with the Z Fold 4 receiving no more security updates within a year.
It was an awesome deal because I love having a folding phone. If you don't then it won't be.
And it wasn't 4 years old when I bought it. It was a year old. My point is you can buy second hand of the previous model or so, a lot of people have FOMO and upgrade often even though newer Folds have only minor differences.
I have pixel 10 Pro Fold. Formfactor: for Pockets. The slim when folded is great for most pockets. I think it's great and I use it in folded and unfolded mode every day depending on what I want to do. Not sure how well the wider one would work with pockets when folded. It's an important feature for me at least.
Texting is the single most important feature on a phone.
Also it's not Apple's fault that MMS was terrible for years and now RCS is still terrible. Google also tried to make their own proprietary chat and failed... like 10 times. But more importantly, I don't care, this is not my battle. If everyone used WhatsApp, then I'd be on that.
Android users still go on WhatsApp for group chats instead of using RCS. I'm in an RCS group chat with some Android users, and they're always missing messages even between each other. So no I don't buy it. Same with MMS, other phonemakers always blamed Apple, but nobody actually wanted to use MMS even in a full Android group chat.
Maybe RCS between Pixel phones is ok, because that's not the same thing, it goes through Google's servers only. And that was also the only way you got E2EE in RCS until very recently.
Nope rcs is great, except when iPhones are involved. Sms and mms are only fallbacks and it's always iPhones that fallback. Rcs just says the other device is offline and wait
The iMessage app does both SMS, and the iMessage protocol. Apple could have released an android app to let you have blue bubbles on android and communicate securely without any of the constraints of SMS by simply releasing "iMessage for Android".
Somehow Signal, Whatsapp, Telegram, Discord, WeChat, LINE, KakaoTalk, etc etc all manage to have both iOS and Android apps that can message each other, but for some reason the richest company in the world, Apple, cannot manage to port its chat app to one additional platform?
It is 100% Apple's fault that messaging between iOS and Android has had so much dumb "green bubble" friction.
Apple's conflation of the SMS and iMessage protocols has also made it harder for people to realize what's happening. Frankly, Apple should have had two apps from the start (Text Message and iMessage), one of which only spoke SMS, and the other of which only spoke iMessage.
You're correct that SMS is straight ass and needs to be deleted from the world. And you're also correct that RCS sucks (seriously? No end-to-end encryption built into the protocol? Jesus Christ is it 1998?)
But many companies build protocols all the time and then open them up. iMessage only works on Apple because Apple is greedmaxxing. Not because of any technical or cultural constraint. They know the value proposition for an iPhone will drop significantly if they open up iMessage, so they don't. This is on the record, by the way, not speculation.
I don't see why Apple is obligated to fix SMS/MMS/RCS's mess and it isn't the standards body's fault that their standard sucks.
Of course iMessage makes iPhones valuable. Apple has invested in iMessage since 2011 for their own gain, which is simply business, and maybe Google should've done similarly.
I did buy flagships few times and to be honest I did not regret them.
I kept them longer and I was able to do more... but that was few years ago when phones were getting more powerful for a reason.
Cameras were getting more megapixels to get on par with non digital photography (arguably, if you are not an artist at least) and everything needed to come along, memory, storage, processing and of course screen resolution.
... but again once that was done, which varies for everyone but still, and that is the key part of the argument, reaches a plateau of usefulness for the average user, then everything "more" was really a technical specification d*ck measuring contest. Unless you have superhuman vision, current screens are "good enough" to check your family photos and your work email.
Long story short I went from flaghships to 2nd hand few generations olds Pixel 8 (cheapest I could try GrapheneOS on) and I don't regret that decision at all.
TL;DR: I did, I don't anymore.
PS: before someone argues I don't know what I'm missing as I'm probably not using my phone for much, I do quite a lot on my phone including programming on it (directly on it, not via ssh), streaming videos on video projectors, running qemu for other architectures, etc. I'm not a casual user.
I think a lot of people pay their phones off with a contract over several years.
Signing up for a new phone contract, you start looking at a $600 phone. Thats $25 a month plus $15 for your calls and data, so $40 a month. Then you see the next phone next to it thats only $1200, it's so much better, and you're only paying $65 a month for it.
And then they flash this one in front of you, only $67 a month (just ignore the fact it's now over 3 years instead of 2)! 5 minutes later, you are in.
I wish we'd go back to subsidized 2-year contracts with one lower price upfront for the phone, the 2 year contract all-in price per month, and then walk away satisfied or walk off paying the $3-400 ETF.
Instead carriers played a funny game to uncouple the phone from the now month-to-month service contract (so they can keep changing the fees, prices, and plans on you with no recourse) but then couple the contract to terms of a 0% APR finance agreement that becomes immediately due in full when you cancel the month-to-month service agreement.
And now we're about to go to charging interest on those finance plans... because the phones are getting more expensive and carriers are starting to realize there's a lot of risk letting a family's worth of 4-6 phones upwards of a $10,000 transaction out the door in a single blink of an eye.
Sadly, I can't read this article due to the hard paywall. Is The Verge actively trying to shrink their readership? Why would I want to subscribe to yet another monthly subscription if I can't even get a taste of what this one is offering?
Does anyone use one of foldables for more than a year? I know a couple of people who have them and the massive creases seem like they’d be really hard to get used to.
you get used to it almost instantly like within 1 hour of use. But I also have the OnePlus Open which has probably the best hidden crease you can buy besides Oppo which is just the company OnePlus came from
Even in this article, they repeat the same: what everyone always gives as the advantage of Pixel phones has nothing to do with form factor or even hardware in general. Presumably also because there's not much special about Pixel form factors, but the plusses are almost always the software, features, and "cleanest android" with occasionally the camera mentioned (mostly because people are repeating what phone reviewers say). With the iPhone people sometimes respond that the hardware is a plus, but for Pixel I have never even heard that. For Samsung it's the opposite. People buy Samsung phones for the new and powerful hardware, and on a hardware-capabilities-per-dollar they are fantastic, with occasional mention of the pen integration.
Pixel phones are "great software with a frankly boring phone built around it".
I think this even works for Google: if the hardware ceases to be the differentiating factor as we go on in time, it seems to me Google's position would keep improving over time, certainly over Samsung.
I kept hearing how Pixel is the clean Android software experience, then I got one as a work phone. It honestly felt pretty unintuitive, and I thought that was just how Android is, but then it broke and I got a Samsung replacement... The Samsung UI is surprisingly better. Down to the clock settings.
They have been for years. Almost all smartphones have roughly the same set of features, with fashion-like differentiators. You pay more for a premium one and it lasts a bit longer before the never-ending app bloat inevitably renders it obsolete.
The real question these days is: how badly does the software stack screw you over?
Well. I, for one, picked up Moto Z Fold, as soon as it has been out, and can't get enough of it. Won't be moving back to candybar phones. Content consumption feels so much more natural, and context window I'm able to see while reading is dramatically larger. And I'm not talking about Youtube etc; regular work or family chats, browsing sites, reading books with Kindle , that kind of stuff. When I was deciding to pick this formfactor, I wanted to read more books. I can't read on a regular phone, too small of a page being displayed is somehow a blocker for me. Not anymore; I'm unfolding my MoFo every now and then.
I just don't see why you would spend more than double (almost 2K USD!) for the fold phones though. I have large screens in my home to watch high quality video content. I do like the Pixel Pro XL series with 6.8" screens though, but they are a lot cheaper.
While they are more expensive, if price is the only concern, you could get last year's Z Fold 7 for a price similar to the launch price of an iPhone 17 Pro Max.
It's not that noticeable when you use the device. It will depend on your ambient lights usually and how you hold it. It's a lot easier to see when someone else is holding the phone too, so if that was your reference, you may want to use them a bit more first.
Work on alternative input mechanisms and display options. This gimmicky, look we can fold the phone is a mess and just plain ridiculous. The manufacturers are on this very strange, bullshitty innovation trajectory, where everyone eyes the other and copies everything in an instant.
I hope Samsung (Royole) does a 180 and introduce something groundbreaking soon, of course, after everyone copied their shit.
What a strange question. I guess we no longer need monitors because a phone display is all anyone should need? Why do I need two devices when one would do? I get we are not there yet but I can certainly imagine having just one device and virtual displays in my glasses / contacts. Those displays will not be phone sized
Also, bad eye site, large fonts, suck in small screens
Well, the way I use a device with a monitor is a different kind of UX though. Usually it involves a keyboard and mouse, not a touch screen, and I can do certain things better through that kind of input. For that reason I personally like having different devices that are specific to different use cases, as I can express myself better then through the mechanical intuition that I have built up, instead of shoehorning one generic way to do everything. Phones I mostly use to quickly check things such as news, sometimes to watch videos, and messaging/calling, I don't need a large screen for that because at some point it compromises my ability to hold and operate the phone with one hand. Having a virtual environment that responds to your body/hands of course allows you to emulate all types of things, when it gets to that point I think I agree that having one device is the future.
Bad eye sight is a good one, but I don't think it explains the popularity of large screens fully, are there really so many with bad eye sight to the point that they need a larger screen?
ROTFL! I can't wait until you kids get old enough to have to put readers on to use your devices like most older people do. And while I am yelling at the kids on my lawn, let me add every UI/UX person at apple - the idiotic and unnecessary choices they make for the sake of "cool design" infuriate me on a daily basis.
someone said "tablet". When I use a tablet I personally don't just notice it, I literally can't stand any uneven surface under stylus or uneven reflections.
So the unfolded state of the folded phone is not a "tablet" to me. Maybe a tablet with a glaring defect... definitely not a tablet I could use as an actual tablet.
Yep! Having just got the Pixel Fold 10. I've been wanting a tablet for casual browsing and video watching but I knew I wouldn't use it because it's not my phone. The apps data would be different logins are annoying. If I'm getting another device out I'll just get my laptop. This thing is great though. There can't be a more seamless transition. The multitasking is pretty good and with coding agents it's actually turned out fairly production to have two apps side by side.
No, these are shockingly bad at watching video. The video output is only slightly bigger than a regular phone due to the form factor. Big ole black bars on everything, and movies are worse.
I remain an irreductible fan of the one-hand theory, and therefore stick with an iPhone 13 mini. I might be late at the folding-phone revolution.
Alas it seems we won't see any such phone that fits in a pant's pocket and that can be operated single-handedly. I am afraid that the 13 mini is the last of its kind.
Yet many reports of people dropping their gigantic phones. Maybe that's a business model after all.
I just held it in my hands today, its reduced height makes it fit much easier in the pocket. Overall a better form in my opinion, the price tag still too high for me.
I’m hoping that with a supply of the passport-sized front screens it might become a new form factor for non-folding phones. Though again, ideally I’d like something Mini-sized or smaller.
There is a wave of 'blackberry-like' android phones coming soon (4:3 screen + qwerty keyboard) - Unihertz Titan 2, Clicks Communicator, Minimal Phone 2 to name a few.
Not sure if all, but some (Clicks i am sure) will offer touch-sensitive keyboards where you can swipe over keyboard to apply gestures as if was the screen itself, so its not such a dead space if you are not typing.
You can still navigate by interacting with the lower half.
It's funny that at some point we'll have completely different tech and all those screens would look like old tech :)
Anyway,
I have fiddled with it few times in stores.
* It feels nice form factor for holding. but the folded 'passport' screen still feels it's not yet caught by websites or apps.
* The claims are Apple is suspected of doing this form-factor (and as a display manufacturer I guess Samsung could sniff it...), meaning Samsung tried to be first. like the Galaxy Edge.
I guess the discussion over the form factor would be more valuable in a year or so after Apple drops their product. If enough actors has similar form factor, I'd expect designers to caught up with it.
The Z Flip is even smaller folded and has been around for years. The cover screen used to be very limited, but the made it larger and added more functionality over time. I think some people use the cover screen for daily messaging, etc.
Yup, the new phone size is in between the Flip and the previous Fold (now Fold Pro).
I would not take the release of this device as evidence that people wanted a smaller phone, no more than the release of the original iPhone Mini and Galaxy S10e, and to some extent the iPhone Air and the Galaxy Edge. Manufacturers are experimenting to see what form factors people will buy and it is entirely possible that this size will be phased out by both Samsung and Apple in a generation.
Samsung has a major advantage over Apple in that they have multiple generations of folding phones so modifying both their manufacturing and software is less of an issue.
I don't even think this counts because then you'd be paying for the brittle and useless big folding display as well, when all you want is the smaller outer one. Plus the worse repairability.
The goal is that your phone will be your wallet. In EU we will have soon the EUDI Wallet, so why don't just replace your own classic wallet with phone totally?
I have one and love it. In the early foldable days (7 or so years ago), manufacturers tried that form factor and eventually abandoned it because of other compromises.
Even MS tried with the surface duo but the device sucked in other ways. Now is a good time to revisit with advances in battery, thinness and heat management. I'd bet that's why Apple is finally doing it too to remain relevant in the massive Asian markets. Nailing the software makes it a fantastic device
Isn't the passport-sized Samsung Z Fold simply a rerun of the original Pixel Fold format?
And, as I understand it, it tends to give more usable screen space for viewing videos but is actually more difficult to use one-handed than the newer tall/narrow candybar format.
The normal Android one hand mode doesn't really help at all on the squatter passport format as it works by moving the content down, not across.
Samsung's 1 hand mode doesn't just shift the UI down, it downscales it to the left or right (swappable with a tap) so, for example, on my S24Ulta my one thumb can reach the entire screen height and width.
I had the 12 mini (before it I had an iPhone SE, then iPhone X, then the 12 mini), which unfortunately did not work for me because the battery drained too fast.
Really hope you're wrong and we do eventually get some more one-handed phones in the future, especially once battery tech evolves.
I think this problem was unique to the 12 mini. I remember hearing a lot of people complain about it at the time, and I haven't experienced anything like it with my 13 mini (which I upgraded to from a six-year-old 1st-gen SE, so clearly my usage is not typical; YMMV).
I really want something 13 mini sized but the battery life is no good for me. They could fix that with less fat and bloated software but like hell that's going to happen.
The last phone I really liked was my iPhone 6s. Right size, shape and feel. That was incidentally the last phone that had a camera that didn't oversharpen everything too.
> I am afraid that the 13 mini is the last of its kind.
Yeah, I thought mine was great but just wasn't up to the job of running the latest & greatest. Ive switch to an iPhone Air. It was a reluctant switch and I would go back in a heartbeat if Apple released a smaller form factor with the latest internals.
I used to think I preferred a smaller phone until I upgrade from an SE3 to an iPhone 17.
It’s not even that much bigger, less than the screen size suggests because of the end-to-end screen and taller aspect ratio. And that extra screen area is extremely useful.
Would be nice if it was smaller in my pocket, but it’s already not an issue to carry
I broke my 12 Mini, replaced it with a 17, then went so far as to return the 17 and buy a used 13 Mini.
It was totally annoying to me to not be able to operate the phone with one hand without feeling like I was about to drop it. I kept the 17 for most of the return window thinking I’d get used to it, but I just kept finding more situations where it bothered me. Battery life on the mini is not amazing, but a slim magsafe powerbank makes it largely a non-issue.
How long did you use the new phone for? I was a mini advocate for a very long time, then changed to a 17 pro for work, it took me around solid 2 months to get used to it. Now the mini feels comically small. iOS26 did a lot to eliminate the need to reach for the top in most places, but there’s still a lot to improve.
Edit: as others have pointed out it’s extremely hard to go back to the lightning connector too.
I also refuse to use two-handed phone, which is why right now (after finally accepting there will never be a new version of the Palm Phone) I use the Motorola Razr Flip and just keep it flipped close 99% of the time.
I'm with you brother/sister. It is a tragedy that even with the diaspora of Android makers and models, we can't get anything like it. I hung onto my Pixel 4 for years; bought a new Pixel 4 after too many screen cracks and battery deterioration; used that until it stopped working for mobile payments (security reasons or something), then finally caved and bought a 10.
I don't need a Pixel. An iPhone would be fine. Or arbitrary Android phone. Just make it not huge. I have human hands and pants.
The pixel 5 ticks a lot of the same boxes as the pixel 4 btw. Similar form factor, but bigger battery and wireless charging. Plus if you install florisboard from f-droid you can customize a one-handed mode for the keyboard, which works quite well.
Also this: https://lineage.microg.org/ so you can run a less-google-ish phone, but also run maps if need be.
The Pixel 5 was an absolutely brilliant phone; everything about it was right: the texture, the size, and the battery was great too. It was the best phone I've ever had. It's a blueprint for creating a great phone, IMO.
I've since moved onto a Pixel 9a and it just isn't as good, IMO. The screen seems so much... weaker? I used to drop the 5 quite a bit onto hard concrete floors, and it never sustained the damage that this one has (without as much abuse): the screen is cracked along the side. I'm still not sure how it came about.
If it wasn't for GrapheneOS and the desire for a private and secure OS, I don't think I would stick with the Pixel line-up any longer.
The Pixel 4 is basically the same size as a standard iPhone (Pixel 4: 147.1 x 68.8 x 8.2 mm, iPhone 17: 149.6 x 71.5 x 7.95 mm, iPhone 17e: 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.8 mm).
I don't think most people realize that. The iPhone mini was essentially a category on it's own (iPhone mini 13: 131.5 x 64.2 x 7.65 mm)
> Alas it seems we won't see any such phone that fits in a pant's pocket and that can be operated single-handedly
Check out the Motorola Razr! I switched from an iPhone 13 Mini to the Razr last year and I'm a big fan. The outer display is 4"! It runs all applications and it's extremely usable one-handed. Some apps and websites are clearly not designed for a screen that small, but the vast majority work just fine. And it unfolds into a phablet for when you want/need an enormous screen. And it's Android so you can use Firefox. I'm much happier with it than I was with the iPhone.
I also had this worry when moving from an iPhone 8 (or something) to a 14.
But you can use a swipe down gesture on the white bar at the bottom of the screen which pulls the whole thing down, bringing the top part of the screen easily in reach of your thumb.
Maybe they're running out of ideas. I'm also a fan of one hand theory, and this seems cyclic. Back in the day phone manufacturers also tried to expand this concept, so maybe it won't be long before they try to make the back of the phone be a screen again too, then realize people were fine with that. Not knocking a foldable if you like it just one hand preferred club representing here ;)
I think of the mini is like firefly, cancelled prematurely.
Apple cancelled it because sales weren't that strong, but I wonder if they can now collect enough data to see they are kept in use longer? (Or are all iphones passed down, forever)
> Now they cost like a used car, everyone buys $1000+ iPhones without batting an eye, insane.
It appears you haven't attempted to buy a used car lately either. Details vary, but in the US, generally you are looking at $6k floor for a running car.
I get more value from my smartphone than I used to, and I upgrade it less often.
The photos I take with it are genuinely precious to me, and I'm more than happy to shell out 800-1000€ every 3 years so as long as yhe cameras keep getting better.
I have zero interest in folding phones though. Theyre less durable and have worse cameras so im out.
Your feeling is right, but you got the numbers wrong.
In today's money, they used to be around the $400-$700 range. Now they start at ~$1000, which is insane; especially considering a last-gen, extremely performant laptop with a 5x larger screen and battery can be had for those $700.
People used to buy new phones every year or 2 because the technology differences were enormous.
Nowadays a 4 or 5 year-old phone is perfectly usable and you're not really missing out on anything. That changes the economics of phone manufacturing, ultimately you're still paying about the same for an equivalent measure of time using the phone.
Surprise! Used cars are no longer 1000 dollars. If you want something that's not an absolute beater, as in ~150,000 miles, that's three grand baby. You can probably find something for 1000 dollars at 200,000+ miles with body damage but... probably shouldn't buy that.
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[ 0.25 ms ] story [ 38.2 ms ] threadBut as far as reviews go, this one is just as bad as most. They didn't do any standardized measurements of the battery life including comparisons with similar phones, or performance benchmarks, or any camera measurements that go beyond vibes. They are just reporting what anyone who bought the phone could also tell you: subjective impressions and a few out-of-context sample photos.
Also I don't think anyone makes buying decisions based on these reviews. It's more entertainment than anything else. When I was a kid, I used to sit in the dentist's waiting room reading about the exact specs and driving reviews of $100K+ cars in those magazines.
And that is to say that it looks dated and ugly, particularly compared to Samsung's square phones.
Google's design comes with larger bezels, more weight and thickness, and a bigger crease.
The rounded corners are subjective I guess.
I'm foldable-curious and Samsung just includes too much overlapping bloat "features". Gemini is bad enough, I don't need Bixby and whatever else. Not to mention I would have to pay full price.
Otherwise, in no world is $1100 for a cell phone anything but expensive.
Yes, iPhones are also expensive.
Yep, that's a major drawback. My partner has a Samsung phone and seeing all of the included bloatware, plus the terrible updates and add even more, made me not even consider one of their devices last time I bought a phone.
For example, this form factor of foldable doesn’t give you significantly more screen real estate for 16:9 video content since it’s such a square aspect ratio.
They also generally aren’t large enough to take advantage of tablet layouts, while tri-fold designs fold out to be almost identical to a tablet size.
You have to really want to use two apps side by side in my opinion.
I’ll never go back to tiny thin rectangle.
One genuine nice Samsung feature is DeX. Been using it + moonlight (when needed) to make the phone basically a secondary computer when hooked up to USB-C monitor. Honestly I think this phone may end up replacing several other devices - kindle, gaming portable (eg: steamdeck, replaced by phone + GameSir G8 + controller), laptop, tablet. I think it can only replace laptop in my use case because I can remote into my desktop from it if I need extra compute - so if you are laptop only I don't expect it to be a straight replacement.
Honestly, best phone I've ever used - but I hope next year either google gets off the sidelines and adopts passport form factor + gets its shit together on the crease, cpu and dex equivalent so I can get my pixel exclusives and vanilla OS back, or alternatively Samsung makes the wide form factor the "ultra" and gives us better cameras, speaker placement, s-pen and IP68.
Thats expensive :/
But I would be nervous about spending that much on a phone if you expect to be dropping it a lot, honestly.
It's a bunch of small habits to change, then you may be ready for a fragile foldable. Until then, yes, probably not the target audience!
I like it so much I'd consider a non folding phone in the squatter form factor as well.
https://www.unihertz.com/pages/telecom-compatibility-check
They were having some issues with ATT certification in the States, but looks like it's done. They have more info on their KickStarter page - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jellyphone/titan-2-elit...
I never even considered buying a foldable phone, and they're already moving on from that shape.
Not having to rotate the phone to view either portrait or landscape content is more convenient than I thought.
Really not sure if we were ever there. Foldable phones still feel like a novelty that is expensive and fragile, among other tradeoffs. Also moving on to what, exactly? The regular slate form factor is what people buy, and have been for years at this point.
Which honestly I support. I still have my LG VX8100 and wish it would work on modern networks.
I think there is a real movement to want to use social media and phones less, but I think it's is more likely to come from Apple implementing tools to help break social media addiction than buying a flip phone.
The best I've had was to turn my phone greyscale, which really helped me cut back on any short form video consumption, but my endless reddit scrolling is still there.
Maybe I should go back and do that again. The typing experience on iphone is so poor that it made commenting on reddit (my main vice) painful.
I leave the brick in my car. I can still scroll if I want, but I have to intentionly get up and move to do it. Most of the time I decide it isn't worth it.
It cut back usage like 99%.
What have they implemented?
Foldables will slowly become the standard phones, probably over a decade or so.
I’ve not been sold on flip phones so far, but the latest “passport” style has made me curious.
I was in the heart of the VR revolution in 2015, they were predicting 150b+ market by 2020, it barely reached 20b... In 2025...
They're always hyping their new gadgets but at the end of the day people are just not buying these in any meaningful amount. They love to take the past 6 months performance and draw a straight line from there.
They look weird.
They make some people sick.
They're distancing people since the experience is single person.
They can't be used much outdoors.
Etc, etc.
A different smartphone format that has the potential to merge smartphones (super popular) with tablets (also popular) is a totally different thing.
Once screen durability goes up and prices go down to 800 or less, they will fly off the shelves.
They're selling 20 million units at an average price of 1.8k each.
In terms of usefulness, they are actually more useful than the bigass phones like the iPhone Max or S26 Ultra, and other comparable ones from various manufacturers. The outer screen is pretty small and very usable with one hand. There are a few multitasking options you can choose from once you unfold them. you can have two or four apps open at once if needed. They are also very good for watching videos. A huge number of smartphone users do spend a lot of time watching stuff on their screens.
The latest Samsung Z Fold 8 has become a huge success... its size appears to be even more ideal for one hand. the thinness and overall size of it once opened has essentially seemed like the perfect form factor for the latest generation of smartphone users.
I had a Pixel 9 Pro Fold, and within half a year it developed some issue probably related to the sensor that tells it which screen should be turned on, and the screen would randomly stay black.
At least Google replaced it with the newer generation model for free, which I then sold.
My Fold 4 at some point started making grinding noises that raise ones blood pressure. I guess it is now solved as the new hinges are waterproof and stuff.
The screen does not really fold completely does it? All hinge mechanisms have a way to allow the screen to have a smooth arc on the fold point, not rubbing on itself. I've not used a foldable since that model so these are second hand info.
Cool. I want one like that, just without the inner screen.
They were mad the mini was a financial flop but like come on, they didn’t try to market it as a lifestyle device really at all, which is the key. “Think Different”, right? It’s easy. So bummed their first foldable is gonna cost 2 grand or whatever and not be a flip phone with an outer screen. I would pay a crazy amount of money but not for something that unfolds into a freaking iPad mini…
I think there's some new folding phone aspect ratio ("passport sized"?) that's more popular but the article never really explains which one they're talking about. Don't think it means moving away from folding in general.
> That’s enough to mean the 11 Pro Fold still feels like a smart purchase right now, but I’m worried it won’t do for long.
How long are these phone's purchasable windows? like 12 months max?
So it's still a "smart purchase" now, despite being out of date? So maybe it's not out of date yet? But will be soon, like literally every other phone?
I've had a Moto Razr Pro for three years now. No signs of wearing out and it's taken quite a bit of abuse. The only tradeoff is probably water resistance and the crease in the screen (which you get used to but is a trade-off). The positive: same size a a wallet when folded, outer screen makes checking notifications fast, and the outer screen lets you use the outer camera for selfies and video recording. I'll probably get another one when the battery dwindles away.
I guess you are not nearly as bad at handling phones like I do -- sometimes I drop the phone three times a day.
I'm holding off for the coming while with the current RAM prices keeping phones incredibly expensive, but in five or six years when my current phone goes EOL I hope to see affordable options.
And it wasn't 4 years old when I bought it. It was a year old. My point is you can buy second hand of the previous model or so, a lot of people have FOMO and upgrade often even though newer Folds have only minor differences.
The average customer just buys the latest Galaxy or iPhone without thinking about it.
$1900?
Wow wth
Also it's not Apple's fault that MMS was terrible for years and now RCS is still terrible. Google also tried to make their own proprietary chat and failed... like 10 times. But more importantly, I don't care, this is not my battle. If everyone used WhatsApp, then I'd be on that.
Maybe RCS between Pixel phones is ok, because that's not the same thing, it goes through Google's servers only. And that was also the only way you got E2EE in RCS until very recently.
The iMessage app does both SMS, and the iMessage protocol. Apple could have released an android app to let you have blue bubbles on android and communicate securely without any of the constraints of SMS by simply releasing "iMessage for Android".
Somehow Signal, Whatsapp, Telegram, Discord, WeChat, LINE, KakaoTalk, etc etc all manage to have both iOS and Android apps that can message each other, but for some reason the richest company in the world, Apple, cannot manage to port its chat app to one additional platform?
It is 100% Apple's fault that messaging between iOS and Android has had so much dumb "green bubble" friction.
Apple's conflation of the SMS and iMessage protocols has also made it harder for people to realize what's happening. Frankly, Apple should have had two apps from the start (Text Message and iMessage), one of which only spoke SMS, and the other of which only spoke iMessage.
You're correct that SMS is straight ass and needs to be deleted from the world. And you're also correct that RCS sucks (seriously? No end-to-end encryption built into the protocol? Jesus Christ is it 1998?)
But many companies build protocols all the time and then open them up. iMessage only works on Apple because Apple is greedmaxxing. Not because of any technical or cultural constraint. They know the value proposition for an iPhone will drop significantly if they open up iMessage, so they don't. This is on the record, by the way, not speculation.
Of course iMessage makes iPhones valuable. Apple has invested in iMessage since 2011 for their own gain, which is simply business, and maybe Google should've done similarly.
But I also rarely use proprietary software in general, so I think our perspectives are different.
Also, I do not care about Apple’s bottom line. I just don’t.
I kept them longer and I was able to do more... but that was few years ago when phones were getting more powerful for a reason.
Cameras were getting more megapixels to get on par with non digital photography (arguably, if you are not an artist at least) and everything needed to come along, memory, storage, processing and of course screen resolution.
... but again once that was done, which varies for everyone but still, and that is the key part of the argument, reaches a plateau of usefulness for the average user, then everything "more" was really a technical specification d*ck measuring contest. Unless you have superhuman vision, current screens are "good enough" to check your family photos and your work email.
Long story short I went from flaghships to 2nd hand few generations olds Pixel 8 (cheapest I could try GrapheneOS on) and I don't regret that decision at all.
TL;DR: I did, I don't anymore.
PS: before someone argues I don't know what I'm missing as I'm probably not using my phone for much, I do quite a lot on my phone including programming on it (directly on it, not via ssh), streaming videos on video projectors, running qemu for other architectures, etc. I'm not a casual user.
Signing up for a new phone contract, you start looking at a $600 phone. Thats $25 a month plus $15 for your calls and data, so $40 a month. Then you see the next phone next to it thats only $1200, it's so much better, and you're only paying $65 a month for it.
And then they flash this one in front of you, only $67 a month (just ignore the fact it's now over 3 years instead of 2)! 5 minutes later, you are in.
Instead carriers played a funny game to uncouple the phone from the now month-to-month service contract (so they can keep changing the fees, prices, and plans on you with no recourse) but then couple the contract to terms of a 0% APR finance agreement that becomes immediately due in full when you cancel the month-to-month service agreement.
And now we're about to go to charging interest on those finance plans... because the phones are getting more expensive and carriers are starting to realize there's a lot of risk letting a family's worth of 4-6 phones upwards of a $10,000 transaction out the door in a single blink of an eye.
Pixel phones are "great software with a frankly boring phone built around it".
I think this even works for Google: if the hardware ceases to be the differentiating factor as we go on in time, it seems to me Google's position would keep improving over time, certainly over Samsung.
With google the added question though is, are they losing interest again?
The real question these days is: how badly does the software stack screw you over?
I hope Samsung (Royole) does a 180 and introduce something groundbreaking soon, of course, after everyone copied their shit.
Is it time to bring Jony Ive back?? Have some backbone, Apple...
> that, rumor has it, includes all of the above and adds iOS too.
Ok, this snippy comment is for The Verge - what crack reporting got you the scoop that Apple would be releasing an iOS phone?
I'm curious what people need the huge screens for on phones? Is it mostly for watching videos?
Also, bad eye site, large fonts, suck in small screens
Bad eye sight is a good one, but I don't think it explains the popularity of large screens fully, are there really so many with bad eye sight to the point that they need a larger screen?
ROTFL! I can't wait until you kids get old enough to have to put readers on to use your devices like most older people do. And while I am yelling at the kids on my lawn, let me add every UI/UX person at apple - the idiotic and unnecessary choices they make for the sake of "cool design" infuriate me on a daily basis.
That said, with the Pixel's enormous crease you feel it if you touch the middle of the screen.
So the unfolded state of the folded phone is not a "tablet" to me. Maybe a tablet with a glaring defect... definitely not a tablet I could use as an actual tablet.
It also enables multitasking by having applications side by side which can be very useful on a phone too.
You don't have to use it all the time, but it's nice when you need it.
Alas it seems we won't see any such phone that fits in a pant's pocket and that can be operated single-handedly. I am afraid that the 13 mini is the last of its kind.
Yet many reports of people dropping their gigantic phones. Maybe that's a business model after all.
Granted it is still considerably bigger than ip13mini, but it's step in right diretion
https://comparesizes.com/comparison/Unihertz-Titan-2-vs-Clic...
Not sure I’d want a physical keyboard, but it’s nice to have an option potentially.
You can still navigate by interacting with the lower half.
Anyway, I have fiddled with it few times in stores.
* It feels nice form factor for holding. but the folded 'passport' screen still feels it's not yet caught by websites or apps.
* The claims are Apple is suspected of doing this form-factor (and as a display manufacturer I guess Samsung could sniff it...), meaning Samsung tried to be first. like the Galaxy Edge.
I guess the discussion over the form factor would be more valuable in a year or so after Apple drops their product. If enough actors has similar form factor, I'd expect designers to caught up with it.
I would not take the release of this device as evidence that people wanted a smaller phone, no more than the release of the original iPhone Mini and Galaxy S10e, and to some extent the iPhone Air and the Galaxy Edge. Manufacturers are experimenting to see what form factors people will buy and it is entirely possible that this size will be phased out by both Samsung and Apple in a generation.
Samsung has a major advantage over Apple in that they have multiple generations of folding phones so modifying both their manufacturing and software is less of an issue.
Even MS tried with the surface duo but the device sucked in other ways. Now is a good time to revisit with advances in battery, thinness and heat management. I'd bet that's why Apple is finally doing it too to remain relevant in the massive Asian markets. Nailing the software makes it a fantastic device
And, as I understand it, it tends to give more usable screen space for viewing videos but is actually more difficult to use one-handed than the newer tall/narrow candybar format.
The normal Android one hand mode doesn't really help at all on the squatter passport format as it works by moving the content down, not across.
Really hope you're wrong and we do eventually get some more one-handed phones in the future, especially once battery tech evolves.
Battery-saver on all iOS devices.
I think this problem was unique to the 12 mini. I remember hearing a lot of people complain about it at the time, and I haven't experienced anything like it with my 13 mini (which I upgraded to from a six-year-old 1st-gen SE, so clearly my usage is not typical; YMMV).
The last phone I really liked was my iPhone 6s. Right size, shape and feel. That was incidentally the last phone that had a camera that didn't oversharpen everything too.
Yeah, I thought mine was great but just wasn't up to the job of running the latest & greatest. Ive switch to an iPhone Air. It was a reluctant switch and I would go back in a heartbeat if Apple released a smaller form factor with the latest internals.
It’s not even that much bigger, less than the screen size suggests because of the end-to-end screen and taller aspect ratio. And that extra screen area is extremely useful.
Would be nice if it was smaller in my pocket, but it’s already not an issue to carry
It was totally annoying to me to not be able to operate the phone with one hand without feeling like I was about to drop it. I kept the 17 for most of the return window thinking I’d get used to it, but I just kept finding more situations where it bothered me. Battery life on the mini is not amazing, but a slim magsafe powerbank makes it largely a non-issue.
Edit: as others have pointed out it’s extremely hard to go back to the lightning connector too.
fits in the pants pocket too
sent from my iphone
I don't need a Pixel. An iPhone would be fine. Or arbitrary Android phone. Just make it not huge. I have human hands and pants.
Also this: https://lineage.microg.org/ so you can run a less-google-ish phone, but also run maps if need be.
I've since moved onto a Pixel 9a and it just isn't as good, IMO. The screen seems so much... weaker? I used to drop the 5 quite a bit onto hard concrete floors, and it never sustained the damage that this one has (without as much abuse): the screen is cracked along the side. I'm still not sure how it came about.
If it wasn't for GrapheneOS and the desire for a private and secure OS, I don't think I would stick with the Pixel line-up any longer.
I don't think most people realize that. The iPhone mini was essentially a category on it's own (iPhone mini 13: 131.5 x 64.2 x 7.65 mm)
That said, I have long fingers and can easily use the largest phones with one hand.
I’d probably still be on my 13 mini if this feature didn’t exist.
But it does not make my hand bigger to hold my phone, and it adds a gesture i.e. friction to the UX.
Check out the Motorola Razr! I switched from an iPhone 13 Mini to the Razr last year and I'm a big fan. The outer display is 4"! It runs all applications and it's extremely usable one-handed. Some apps and websites are clearly not designed for a screen that small, but the vast majority work just fine. And it unfolds into a phablet for when you want/need an enormous screen. And it's Android so you can use Firefox. I'm much happier with it than I was with the iPhone.
But you can use a swipe down gesture on the white bar at the bottom of the screen which pulls the whole thing down, bringing the top part of the screen easily in reach of your thumb.
I use my phone one handed very often.
Apple cancelled it because sales weren't that strong, but I wonder if they can now collect enough data to see they are kept in use longer? (Or are all iphones passed down, forever)
New iPhones used to be $199 and when they went to $299 the decision was seriously questionable.
Now they cost like a used car, everyone buys $1000+ iPhones without batting an eye, insane.
This one is $2000, I wouldn't get it if I had a billion on principle.
With a 2-year contract with your carrier in which you pay the cost of the phone gradually each month
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/long-covid-brain-1.7171918
It appears you haven't attempted to buy a used car lately either. Details vary, but in the US, generally you are looking at $6k floor for a running car.
Ah! Fair.
The photos I take with it are genuinely precious to me, and I'm more than happy to shell out 800-1000€ every 3 years so as long as yhe cameras keep getting better.
I have zero interest in folding phones though. Theyre less durable and have worse cameras so im out.
In today's money, they used to be around the $400-$700 range. Now they start at ~$1000, which is insane; especially considering a last-gen, extremely performant laptop with a 5x larger screen and battery can be had for those $700.
Nowadays a 4 or 5 year-old phone is perfectly usable and you're not really missing out on anything. That changes the economics of phone manufacturing, ultimately you're still paying about the same for an equivalent measure of time using the phone.