4 reasons why foldables still don't outclass regular phones

Summary

Conceptually speaking, I love book-style foldable smartphones.
We’ve seen major progress in the foldable space in a short period of time, but some issues remain unaddressed.
Here are the main factors holding me back from purchasing and using a foldable handset on the regular.

I really love folding smartphones. In particular, I’m drawn to book-style foldables — the ones that resemble a regular candy-bar-style phone at first blush, and yet manage to cram an entire small tablet display on the inside.

Over the past several months, I’ve had the pleasure of testing out a number of book-style foldables, including the Honor Magic V3, the Tecno Phantom V Fold 2, and the Oppo Find N5.

I’ve enjoyed every moment of using each of these devices, and yet I can’t help but feel that, despite their impressive technological inner workings, the product category is far from ready to hit true mass market status.

Here are the main factors holding me back from personally making the switch to a book-style foldable — if phone makers can successfully address these elements in the coming years, then I believe we’ll see the adoption rate of folding phones skyrocket as a result.

Honor Magic V3

Honor’s latest book-style foldable phone is incredibly thin and light — more so than many slab-style devices.
Oppo Find N5

The Oppo Find N5 is a book-style foldable smartphone with a super-slim design, the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, and a triple array of rear camera sensors.

Our folding phone-filled future is so close to reality, and yet so far away

Foldable phones have come a long way in a rather short period of time – we’re so close to foldable ubiquity, and yet so far away.

1 Durability

All things considered, foldables are still too fragile

My chief concern when it comes to foldable phones is undoubtedly their fragility. We’ve seen phone makers work to improve on this front over the years, with more robust hinge mechanisms, the addition of water-resistance ratings, and more. Nevertheless, two major durability issues remain in need of addressing: the form factor’s soft inner display tech, and its poor resilience against sand, dust, and other particulates.

…two major durability issues remain in need of addressing.

I’m honestly not sure how phone makers might improve the durability of inner-foldable screens — after all, these displays need to be soft enough to fold in half. On the other hand, I have a hunch that some clever engineering will solve the dust and sand problem sooner rather than later.

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 6 unfolded

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2 Display crease

Some phone makers are doing a better job at crease reduction than others

As in the case of inner display durability, I struggle to see how foldable phone makers will be able to eradicate the inner screen crease in its entirety. We’ve seen great strides in this department, to be sure: the recently released Oppo Find N5’s crease is barely noticeable, which can’t be said for earlier-generation foldables.

Personally, I can live with a subtle crease going down the middle of my display, especially if the screen itself can achieve enough brightness to mitigate reflections when using the device in a sunny outdoor environment.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip in several colors.

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3 Aspect ratio

Book-style foldables have settled on a near-square inner display shape, which comes with a drawback

The Galaxy Fold 6 beside the OnePlus Open

Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen book-style foldable phones consolidate into a standard set of aspect ratios across both phone and tablet modes. When closed, most resemble a standard tall candy bar handset, and when opened, most unfold into a near-perfect square shape.

This design consideration is practical in that it makes a foldable look and feel just like any other phone when shut, but the square inner aspect ratio isn’t always ideal. A widescreen ratio is preferable for side-by-side multitasking, as well as for watching most video content. The Oppo Find N5’s inner display has more surface area than the Apple iPad mini 7‘s, but you end up with less usable real estate in most real-world situations.

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Foldable phones are cool and all, but a foldable iPad would be even cooler.

4 Cost

Book-style folding phones are still too expensive to be practical

Perhaps most importantly of all, folding phones are still too expensive. The hope is that prices will trend downwards due to economies of scale, and yet we simply haven’t seen this occur. It might be true that purchasing a book-style foldable is cheaper than buying both a regular smartphone and a tablet together, but price tags of $1,500, $2,000, or even higher, are a tough pill to swallow no matter how you look at it.

The hope is that prices will trend downwards due to economies of scale.

If folding handsets are to truly take off, I reckon prices will need to reach $1,000 and below. Whether psychological, economical, or a mix of both, this quadruple-figure barrier is enough to stand in the way of book-style ubiquity ever becoming a reality.