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Samsung taking market share from Apple in U.S. as foldable phones gain momentum

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Re: Samsung taking market share from Apple in U.S. as foldable phones gain momentum

#111

Post by baby »

pseudocomposer wrote: post #107
ZeroCool2u wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I genuinely think book reading is the killer app for foldable devices. A bigger screen for a movie or TV is nice to have, but not a game changer. When you have that much screen real estate you can get a really enjoyable experience reading a novel or just easily read a textbook or research paper in a way that's simply not possible on even the largest of what you might consider a typical size phone. Plus, you no longer…

I agree with your first paragraph. For your second, I think you don’t understand why people buy/use iPads. First off, I don’t really know anyone who uses an iPad mini for anything productive (other than as a test device). A 7-9” screen is just not useful compared to a 13” iPad for things like Sidecar or reading sheet music in live performances. The 7-9” screen being an unfolded phone doesn’t change this. A folding iP…

My folding phone has completely replaced my ipad pro (which was my favorite device until now)

Re: Samsung taking market share from Apple in U.S. as foldable phones gain momentum

#112

Post by baby »

jsbisviewtiful wrote: post #62
dkobia wrote: post #46

I thought the idea of a folding phone was just a cash grab until I saw someone on the plane across the aisle from me interacting with one. It has been a while since I saw someone get so much enjoyment out of a device. The back and forth between folded and unfolded to read messages and watch movies/read a book was mesmerizing. It made me realize that this form factor could actually enhance the user experience in a mea…

I had never seen one in the wild until I made a new friend recently, who has one of the foldable Samsung devices. My initial impression was that it is clunky, way too thick/large for comfortable pocket storage+running and it looks cheap for how much it cost... and last week my friend said he got his first ever dead pixel of any of his devices on the foldable phone. Take that opinion and info as you will.

Screen is really good on the google folding 9. On the other hand my gf broke her iphone screen twice in one week (the second time a few days after getting an official repair...)

Re: Samsung taking market share from Apple in U.S. as foldable phones gain momentum

#113

Post by baby »

dyauspitr wrote: post #88
dkobia wrote: post #46

I thought the idea of a folding phone was just a cash grab until I saw someone on the plane across the aisle from me interacting with one. It has been a while since I saw someone get so much enjoyment out of a device. The back and forth between folded and unfolded to read messages and watch movies/read a book was mesmerizing. It made me realize that this form factor could actually enhance the user experience in a mea…

Sounds horrible to me. Why would I want to do the extra step of flipping things open and typing in two form factors. But then I’m not really watching long form videos on my phone so maybe I’m just not the target market.

Imagine that you need to grab your laptop or your tablet because you need a larger screen, now you can just do that from a small movement

Re: Samsung taking market share from Apple in U.S. as foldable phones gain momentum

#114

Post by baby »

rjh29 wrote: post #9
wraptile wrote: post #2

I just bought a 2nd hand Fold 6 for 800$ and I'm not going back to slab phones ever. Primarily because I've never done as much reading as I've done in the past month with this phone. Removal of friction here has been such a game changer when it comes to productive use of my phone - now when I would doom scroll otherwise I just unfold my phone and do a bit of reading. The only drawback is the camera but turns out it's…

I also bought a 2nd hand Fold 4 for $700... it lasted a year before the wifi/bluetooth broke, it stopped folding all the way, and eventually stopped booting up. Seem to always have reliability issues with Samsung phones. Hopefully the 6th iteration is more stable.

The google fold seems better quality

Re: Samsung taking market share from Apple in U.S. as foldable phones gain momentum

#115

Post by RyanOD »

ZeroCool2u wrote: post #52
dkobia wrote: post #46

I thought the idea of a folding phone was just a cash grab until I saw someone on the plane across the aisle from me interacting with one. It has been a while since I saw someone get so much enjoyment out of a device. The back and forth between folded and unfolded to read messages and watch movies/read a book was mesmerizing. It made me realize that this form factor could actually enhance the user experience in a mea…

I genuinely think book reading is the killer app for foldable devices. A bigger screen for a movie or TV is nice to have, but not a game changer. When you have that much screen real estate you can get a really enjoyable experience reading a novel or just easily read a textbook or research paper in a way that's simply not possible on even the largest of what you might consider a typical size phone. Plus, you no longer…

Too bad that when it comes to reading for pleasure, "all signs show a slump"...

https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2024/federal-data-reading-...

Though I agree with you that a larger reading screen would be very nice, I doubt such an experience on a device that offers endless digital distractions will reverse this downward trend - not that you said it would.

Re: Samsung taking market share from Apple in U.S. as foldable phones gain momentum

#116

Post by baby »

jrs235 wrote: post #33

Personally I think they're ugly. They might have some functional advantage, that I don't know. I believe they're going to be the cyber truck of mobile phones, primarily a status symbol.

That's the thing, all phones are ugly, but folding phones bring such life improvements that nobody seems to care.

I bought mine because it's useful, it's weird to read that someone would think that it's a status symbol. Are noise canceling headphones a status symbol too for you?

Re: Samsung taking market share from Apple in U.S. as foldable phones gain momentum

#117

Post by baby »

seec wrote: post #59
jrs235 wrote: post #33

Personally I think they're ugly. They might have some functional advantage, that I don't know. I believe they're going to be the cyber truck of mobile phones, primarily a status symbol.

Yes but it's not ugly in the look/fashion sense, it's just ugly because it doesn't match a reality where it has a purpose. Either they have good form factor closed but they suck open or they have good form factor open but they suck closed. They could go with no external screen but it would be much more annoying to use. And I think it says something fundamental about smartphones, that Steve Jobs intuitively understood…

I'm reading your comment like a review of smartphones from a nokia 8210 user

Re: Samsung taking market share from Apple in U.S. as foldable phones gain momentum

#118

Post by baby »

Zigurd wrote: post #42

I hope the iPhone Air is successful. Folding phones seems so obviously a gimmick. A year from now many of these relatively affordable folding phones will be e-trash, and social media will be full of complaints and retrospective wisdom about how they could never have been reliable. But consumer product offerings are full of gimmicks. Apple is trying not to give into herd mentality.

Folding phone user here, you will have one in the next 5 years for sure

Re: Samsung taking market share from Apple in U.S. as foldable phones gain momentum

#119

Post by wffurr »

baby wrote: post #108

I switched to Android last year, from being a long time iPhone user, just for the fold. I got the google pixel fold 9 pro. I also got lucky as it's right when all the cool AI integration started (and it sounds like it doesn't really work on Apple). My first hand experience is that I will probably never be able to go back to a non-folding phone. The ability to get a small tablet on demand anywhere (subway, train, bed,…

>> android also doesn't have the same polish as iOS

As someone who switched from using Android for many years to iOS for the iPhone Mini, this seems to be all about what you're used to. The lack of polish on iOS for many features, notifications and quick settings first among them, makes me crazy but not enough to deal with a huge phone. Android's had the notification shade with integrated settings since just about day one and it's a killer feature.

Re: Samsung taking market share from Apple in U.S. as foldable phones gain momentum

#120

Post by robin_reala »

williamdclt wrote: post #7
robin_reala wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given the price and fragility of foldables, I’m happier to stick to a cheap phone with a small screen to minimise the urge to use it (second-hand iPhone 13 Mini), and carry around a Kobo for reading needs.

> I’m happier to stick to a cheap phone with a small screen to minimise the urge to use it (second-hand iPhone 13 Mini) Me too, but this option is disappearing. As our minis reach end of life, I don't think we'll have other "small" options than foldables, unless you're willing to go for super niche android phones (eg unihertz) Hopefully the foldables become more resilient by then

I fully expect to get 3-4 more years life out of my 13 Mini; hopefully by that point Apple will do another small(ish) phone release for people who are holding out.
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