Technology

#Foldable Phones Make Normal Phones Look Boring (And That’s OK)

Google Pixel Fold with the internal screen slightly closed
Justin Duino / How-To Geek

There’s no denying that a phone that fits in your pocket and can transform into a tablet is very cool. However, foldable phones are full of problems and compromises—many of which have already been solved by boring smartphone designs.

Early smartphones didn’t look as boring as they do now. There were flip phones, slide-out keyboards, trackballs, flip out keyboards, kickstands, and buttons as far as the eye could see. Phones didn’t just come in multiple screen sizes—they had multiple form factors, too.

The iPhone never really partook in this “wild west” smartphone design era, but Android saw all sorts of different designs. Slowly but surely, they all coalesced into the now standard flat slab. Foldable phones are a big departure, but they’re giving us a perfect demonstration on why phones got boring.

RELATED: Smartphones Need More Physical Buttons

The Aspect Ratio Debate Rages On

Nowadays, smartphones typically have a display aspect ratio somewhere between 18:9-20:9. This change happened around 2017, when phones such as the LG G6 and Galaxy S8 moved away from the classic 16:9 aspect ratio. There was some initial hesitation about the new taller displays, but it didn’t take long for that to become the new normal.

Foldable phones are currently experiencing their own version of the aspect ratio debate, but the options are more spread out. Even when the inside screen sizes are essentially the same, manufacturers don’t agree on the primary orientation. For example, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Pixel Fold both have 7.6-inch inside displays with similar resolutions, but the Z Fold opens to portrait mode, while the Pixel Fold opens to landscape.

Pixel Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 4 displays
Google | Samsung

A flat-slab smartphone can be scaled up or down pretty easily and maintain a consistent aspect ratio. That’s not the case with phones that fold open. When you adjust the footprint of the closed phone, it changes the aspect ratio of the inside display when opened. That’s why the outside displays sometimes have strange sizes—it’s all about the inside display.

After nearly five generations of folding phones, there’s still a lot of debate over which aspect ratio is the best for this form factor. Samsung’s approach on the Galaxy Z Fold puts apps in portrait mode most of the time, and works well for side-by-side multitasking. Google’s wider inside display on the Pixel Fold is more like a traditional tablet.

The fact is there’s simply going to be a lot of variety when it comes to foldable phones. The brand you like might not make your ideal shape foldable. It’s harder to make everyone happy, which is a problem flat-slab smartphones have mostly solved. You can buy an iPhone in three or four different sizes, but will Samsung offer a foldable phone in multiple aspect ratios? Probably not.

RELATED: What Is Aspect Ratio?

Moving Parts Are Breaking Parts

USB-C port and speaker on the bottom edge of the Google Pixel Fold
Justin Duino / How-To Geek

We can’t talk about foldable phones without discussing how fragile they are. The most recent foldable phone to hit the market—the Google Pixel Fold—for example, has already had its fair share of display defects and failures.

One of the biggest reasons smartphones have gotten boring is the elimination of moving parts. Remember slide-out keyboards? Physical navigation buttons? Trackballs? Even physical keyboards that didn’t slide out or open? All of these features have essentially been eliminated from modern smartphone designs, and that has led to much more durable devices.

Sliding and flipping mechanisms get jammed up. Buttons get mushy and unresponsive. All of these things create more entry points for dust and water to enter the phone. By making phones more boring, we’ve been able to get phones with IP68 ratings and very few failure points. Modern phones might seem boring, but they’re tougher and more water-resistant than ever before.

Foldable phones are the exact opposite—they are loaded with failure points. Folding displays are soft, and susceptible to scratching and large areas of OLED failure. The hinges can let dust and water inside the phone. Even if dust or sand doesn’t get inside the phone’s body, it can easily be sandwiched between the “pages” of the display resulting in pressure damage and scratching. Foldable phones are novel, but there are so many new failure points compared to boring old flat-slab smartphones.

RELATED: How Water Resistance Ratings Work for Gadgets

Boring is Good… Sometimes

iPhone cable testing
Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek

As boring as smartphone design has become, there’s no arguing against how it makes for reliable, durable devices with very few failure points. You can buy pretty much any ol’ smartphone and easily get several years of use out of it with minimal care. We can’t yet say that about foldable phones.

Will foldable phones ever reach the level of boring reliability of regular smartphones? It’s hard to predict how the technology will evolve, but a folding or expanding device will always have more moving parts than a flat slab. There’s always going to be that extra complexity that causes issues.

The good news is foldables don’t have to get to the same degree of durability as flat-slab smartphones. A tablet is more durable than a laptop, but that doesn’t mean laptops are bad. Different types of devices have different pros and cons, and that’s okay.

Even with advances in foldable phone design and material improvements, foldables will likely always be more fragile. But for folks who want the equivalent of a mini tablet they can stuff in their pocket and unfold at will, it will remain a worthwhile tradeoff.

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