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Google Pixel Fold

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Re: Google Pixel Fold

#301
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more than the price of a nice smartphone, and a nice tablet. An iPhone 14 and iPad Pro are gonna' run you $1,600, and be more useful in most cases. I mean, sure, you're not going to fit an iPad in your pocket, but do you really need to? And when it's out, it's more productive to have a separate tablet and phone, than just one device that's trying to do it all. Folding phones are a neat idea, and as a technical a…

> Folding phones are a neat idea, and as a technical achievement, this is impressive. But in terms of price and practicality? I don't really see the appeal or value. I thought that was the consensus... It surprises me that Google is investing money on such a device. Weird.

Folding phones have some good use cases like video/photo/music editing, desktop publishing, word processing, and probably some other things I can't think of. However, those are all great things to do on a tablet or laptop. The foldable phones seem to be the next evolution of the phablet design but those didn't exactly sell well. Although the reason those didn't sell well was because of how big they are, a foldable gives you the package of a phone but the screen size larger than a phablet. Do you need to do all of these editing/publishing tasks on the go and don't want to carry any more than a portable keyboard? A foldable might be for you. Google just doesn't want to miss out on the potential market. Will they continue to sell? Honestly who knows. Carrying around such an expensive device like you would your phone seems risky but I'm probably not the market for these devices. Google is just looking to make sure that Samsung doesn't corner the market even if its just a fad.

With Apple bringing Final Cut and Logic to the iPad, they can cut further into the "creative on-the-go" market without having to bother creating a foldable and just leverage their existing tech.

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm never going back. I only type and respond to things unfolded, I have big hands and the split keyboard + bigger buttons are great. Outside of that I'm a fairly big reader and I enjoy reading both articles and books unfolded and have no interest in bringing a second device to do so. I also write notes with stylus on it which is practical unfolded. More real estate for video etc. And then I can just fold it and use…

I have a note 10+ and the stylus is a game changer, I would like a wider screen for taking notes but can't justify the cost. Also my note is nearly 4 years old and showing no sign of slowing down or battery issues.

Went from a Note 8 to iPhone. Lack of stylus bugs me all the time. One of my favourite features was being able to hover over foreign language words and it would translate them, even if the word was in image or a button on an application.

On iOS if you wanted to translate the text on a button you have to take a screen capture, then translate the screen capture.

This was possible partly because of the stylus hover feature, but also because the Android permission model allowed for applications (translation service) to 'see' the screen of other applications. Something I don't think iOS allows.

If you enjoy using foreign apps, learning languages or living in an area with a different language the Samsung Note series was fantastic.

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#303
post #266
post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only charge up to 80% battery unless you need the full charge and the battery generally lasts much longer

Is there a place that has empirical data on this stuff? Like what battery factoids are still true with the latest devices or not? I would honestly love for phone manufacturers to outright build in some software to build in best practices if they actually exist. Don't let me charge to 100% at first or something!

I don't believe Apple has released empirical data, but Apple has optimized phone charging built into recent versions of iOS (Settings > Battery > Battery Health and Charging). It will stop at 80% and then resume charging to 100% about an hour before you start using your phone every day. iOS tracks your daily habits to determine the start of your day.

In the most recent iOS versions, if it can determine when "clean energy" is available near your location, it will also try to charge only during those time periods. I don't think any 3rd party has determined if it is effective.

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#304
post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The iPhone/iPad will also have 2-5x the lifespan of foldables too from what I’ve heard. Neat devices but not really pragmatic.

Foldables are emerging tech right now anyway, they're probably going to see way bigger improvements in other functionalities over the next 5 years than the iPhone has in the last 5 years. I think if you're buying a foldable at this stage you're probably not attached to keeping it more than 2-3 years in the first place. In the future I'm guessing their durability will also be much better.

You'll know they're mature when Apple releases one.

(IMO this is not a bad thing either way)

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#305

Yeah that price point makes it an instant pass - In all honesty, phones, at least for me, have been reaching a point of diminishing returns. I upgraded from an iPhone 11 to an iPhone 14 recently, and the difference was practically nothing. I didn't think it was possible to experience buyer's remorse after waiting three whole generations, but here we are. I wouldn't be surprised if it's five years before a phone has s…

Your reasoning is flawed. iPhone 14 fits the same use case as iPhone 11, but Foldable fits a different use case than normal phones. You may find Foldable useless but that doesn’t make your reasoning any less flawed.

And what use case would that be?

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#306
post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No sign of battery issues is huge, I'm still rocking my 3 year old Pixel 3a and recently replaced the battery, it was a night and day difference. General slowness/lack of responsiveness, half day battery life. Been like that with all my other smart phones since 2013. Would love my next phone to go on year 4 with no sign of battery degradation (although in lieu of that I'll take an easy to replace battery).

How do you feel about the lack of security updates? I miss the smaller size of the 3a bit upgraded since they stopped shipping software updates. I'm hoping you can talk me in to resurrecting it.

I believe you can install LineageOS on any old Pixel and still get updates. Though the type of updates will be limited. https://www.lineageos.org/

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#307

I just don't understand who wants these foldable phones, especially at the $1799 price point. I guess a use case is wealthy frequent travelers who don't want a separate device with a larger screen to watch movies/videos on the go? Someone help me out here.

I bought an original Surface Duo last year for $350. For the price it was a really investing phone. The proper dual screen is actually really handy, I don't think I'd find it nearly as useful with a single foldable display that is effectively a worse tablet.

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#308

I just don't understand who wants these foldable phones, especially at the $1799 price point. I guess a use case is wealthy frequent travelers who don't want a separate device with a larger screen to watch movies/videos on the go? Someone help me out here.

When Apple makes a foldable phone a bunch of people will want them, if for no other reason than to just stop scratches.

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#309

Could you imagine if Amazon made a fire phone unfolded that’s opens into an e-ink kindle? I would own that.

I dream of a clamshell e-reader, with dual 7 or 8" screens, that reads in the traditional two-pages-at-a-time kind of book orientation.

It seems a no brainer to me. It would keep the fragile e-ink substrate safe, while being more ergonomic and allowing you to have twice the screen real-estate without ending up with the terrible reading experience with too-long-lines that you get from current large-screen e-readers.

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm never going back. I only type and respond to things unfolded, I have big hands and the split keyboard + bigger buttons are great. Outside of that I'm a fairly big reader and I enjoy reading both articles and books unfolded and have no interest in bringing a second device to do so. I also write notes with stylus on it which is practical unfolded. More real estate for video etc. And then I can just fold it and use…

Yeah reading the specs, it's s larger screen than my Nexus 7 tablet, with a smaller overall device size, and fits in my pocket.. it's tempting. But definitely pausing at a $1800 price tag

If this was around the 1200 price point they'd be selling like crazy. Chewing into the premium android and iPhone share. Google would have been a trend setter with foldables if they offered a lower price.
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