Over the past 3 decades cell phones have been under constant change and innovation with fierce competition and impressive specs and design. In the last few years it seemed the body style and specs were beginning to stabilize – light-weight and thin with vibrant screens and high-res cameras – only to be shaken up in 2019 with the release of folding smart phones.
I have yet to see one in action – but was fascinated with the premise, though worried about the overall durability. Taking me back to my own Motorola razr days – I thought flip phones were a thing of the past. But now the razr is joining the craze and making a comeback with Motorola releasing their 2020 version of the razr.
First released by Royole’s FlexPai, a little known Chinese phone company, and quickly followed by Samsung, Huawei, and many others in 2020 and beyond, including a rumored Apple device. The benefits of these folding phones is the compact portability when not in use, with the larger screen when you need to get things done. It’s clear to see why interest is growing for these phones – improved productivity with maximum portability. But what are the risks of a folding screen? Can it take the wear-and-tear and accidents that can occur with daily use? We’re not so sure.
Both the Galaxy Fold and the Huawei Mate X had delayed launches last year due to damages to their folding screen components – and with so much opening and closing – can the hinges handle this amount of use? Unfortunately, I think we’ll have to wait and see to understand the true durability of these devices when handled by some of the roughest phone users.
Royole FlexPai
Samsung Z Flip 5G
Huawei Mate X
We won’t go into too much detail about the current folding phones on the market as there are already so many options. But it certainly seems they are here to stay. In August 2020 Samsung announced the foldable phones and 5G offering were the pillars of their smartphone business going forward and we expect many other companies to follow suit.
We’ve asked our team at QSG what they thought about these new devices and there were mixed responses. Most didn’t plan to make the switch and didn’t see a use case for them right now. But we all agreed it will be interesting to see if they stick around and how the public receives them. Who knows, maybe in a few years we’ll all be wondering how we managed without a folding screen. Until then, we’ll enjoy watching these companies continue to release new innovations in the market.
Check out some of the folding phones below and let us know what you think. Are you going to make the switch, or do you wish this was only a trend and not here to stay?
LG G8X ThinQ Dual Screen
The LG G8X stands out with the option to choose between using one or two screens at time rather than being tied to folding screens.
Microsoft Surface Duo
