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Smartphone manufacturers still want to make foldables a thing
(arstechnica.com)
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this post was submitted on 31 Dec 2023
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For me it was mainly gaming. Can run two full apps, both in real time, not that thing where it suspends one with a static image when you touch the other one. They both actually run at the same time, full frame rate. The fold 4 in tablet mode "wide" screen is pretty close to 4:3, so it's nice for emulating console and computer games from that era, which I do alot. And the tablet in tall mode is a great size/shape for reading, can even leave it slightly folded down the middle for the real book feel, lol. And the battery life they manage to pack into both halves of the phone is pretty great. But most importantly, putting it back in my pocket when not using it. Carrying even a small tablet around all day would not be awesome otherwise.
I should mention I am 6'4" with relatively large hands, so fold 4 still feels pretty small to me, before I got the handle case I had to make due with palming it when I wanted to hold it one-handed. It's decently comfortable for me to palm it in vertical tablet mode, but horizontal tablet mode while still possible, wasn't comfortable. But with the handle case, it would be comfortable for almost anyone to hold it with one hand.
One of the things I was most worried about was that the screen crease would be visible, or that it would get annoying to play games where you gotta move your finger accross it. Luckily, the crease isn't visible when you are straight head-on with the screen, only when you try to show other people stuff on your phone, lol. And even after more than a year of not treating the phone as anything special, the crease isn't annoying to my fingers either. The original built-in screen protector did peel off from folding the phone alot when it was cold out(Canada), but I normally don't use screen protectors, so I just left it unprotected. Not really sure what you have to do to your phone to benefit from screen protectors, I don't baby mine, but I've never had a scratch. And screen protectors just feel so much worse to use than the naked screen does.
Might be a good time to mention I am autistic and hypersensory, so there is nothing mild about mildly annoying things to me, lol.
Well, it sounds like a good device for you then. Personally I want to be able to use my phone with one hand, so I want to be able to reach the entire screen with the thumb of the hand that is holding the bare phone.
It has the outer screen too for when you want a one-hander. Though you'd have to go with either fold 5 or one of the other brands to get a better outer screen, fold 4 and lower were not particularly useful there. Too skinny. I pretty much only ever use the outer screen for actual phone calls. You can transition from tablet to phone while already having answered the call with no issues.
And as with all larger phones, you always have the option of going into "one-handed mode" using whatever shortcut you assigned(either diagonal swipe or triple tap home are the defaults). It's less necessary when you just have the option of a smaller one handed screen on the outside, but still there if you'd rather that option.
I tried using it for a few months. too many compromises to battery life, the main screen crease etc. just sitting in the closet now. I'll check back when diverging actually good comes out. flop 4