It's looking more and more likely that Samsung will follow Huawei's suit with its very own tri-folding device at some point this year, but you shouldn't expect a very wide release or reasonable price point from it.
I do. The only reason I don’t want any of the current foldable phone is because they are still too small to be a proper “tablet but fits pocket when folded”.
With a tri-fold system it could easily have a main screen size beyond 10", and then it’s finally getting into proper tablet sizes.
The real strength of current foldables, and why I love mine, is it’s ability to multitask at a moment’s notice. I really like being able to open it up and have each side used for a different thing. I also like holding it like a book-like ereader.
It’s also unmatched as an emulator for ds games, which I value a lot! Maybe those things aren’t for everyone, but the form factor really suits some stuff that I like to do frequently on my phone
That’s the thing, for multitasking a foldable’s screen size is not even remotely as transformative as a 10+ or even 12 inches proper tablet, while for just the most basic “have each side for different thing”, which I guess is like the lowest possible standard we can have for multitasking, a conventional non-foldable phone doesn’t do it that much worse, you just turn your phone horizontal and do split screen in landscape orientation.
On the other hand, with a 12" proper tablet you can meaningfully have 4 or even 6 windows showing on your screen at the same time, for some real multitasking, at a moment’s notice.
My point is that current foldable phones don’t offer enough screen size, to be transformative enough to justify the long list of downside you have to deal with, like fragile screen, screen fold crease, etc.
Does anybody actually want one of these things?
I suspect that most of the sales will be to tech reviewers on YouTube.
I do. The only reason I don’t want any of the current foldable phone is because they are still too small to be a proper “tablet but fits pocket when folded”.
With a tri-fold system it could easily have a main screen size beyond 10", and then it’s finally getting into proper tablet sizes.
The real strength of current foldables, and why I love mine, is it’s ability to multitask at a moment’s notice. I really like being able to open it up and have each side used for a different thing. I also like holding it like a book-like ereader.
It’s also unmatched as an emulator for ds games, which I value a lot! Maybe those things aren’t for everyone, but the form factor really suits some stuff that I like to do frequently on my phone
That’s the thing, for multitasking a foldable’s screen size is not even remotely as transformative as a 10+ or even 12 inches proper tablet, while for just the most basic “have each side for different thing”, which I guess is like the lowest possible standard we can have for multitasking, a conventional non-foldable phone doesn’t do it that much worse, you just turn your phone horizontal and do split screen in landscape orientation.
On the other hand, with a 12" proper tablet you can meaningfully have 4 or even 6 windows showing on your screen at the same time, for some real multitasking, at a moment’s notice.
My point is that current foldable phones don’t offer enough screen size, to be transformative enough to justify the long list of downside you have to deal with, like fragile screen, screen fold crease, etc.