Are everyday smartphones becoming too capable for their own good? Reports show that Samsung, one of the most prominent brands in the smartphone industry, was hit with a 60% drop in profits last year, despite launching the new S10 range which featured a heavily revamped design and better performance than previous models. Despite the futuristic infinity display, the rest of the phone didn't really offer many real-world benefits over the already-incredible S9 launched last year, which was a a very minor revision over the S8 from 2017... Yet the some S10 models can easily eclipse the £1,000 mark should you choose to opt for more storage.
It is not just a Samsung issue, phones across the board are becoming incremental upgrades of former models, even though new models are not getting any cheaper. We are getting to the point smartphones are becoming very competent in their current form factor and getting people to depart with a significant amount of cash to have the latest and greatest phone is harder to justify.
So that's where foldable smartphones come in; these are a radical departure from smartphones we have been accustomed to over the past decade. So far, it appears two companies in particular have been in a race to get the foldable smartphone to the market first; Samsung and Huawei. The former ended up being the first to get their handsets to the market, but that ended up being a disaster. The Galaxy Fold had reliability issues which lead to phones being rendered unusable after regular use; the device was so sensitive that dust particles where able to get between the hinges and prevent it from operating.
After acknowledging the issues, Samsung issued a recall of the Galaxy Fold and delayed the launch. The Huawei Mate X features a similar form factor but instead of the main display being inside the device, Huawei places the display on the outside. It is not yet known if the display is as sensitive, but the launch is rumoured to be "very soon", so it will not be long until we find out.
I did mention there was a third player, and it is the first one to really take my interest thus far; Motorola. If you rewind to the era where smartphone where in their infancy (just over 10 years ago), the Motorola Razr V3 flip-phone was one of the hottest handsets around. Now Motorola have captured its design and turned it into a modern device with the most desirable form factor of any foldable smartphone to date. Like the Galaxy Fold, it has two interactive screens but the new Razr has the ability to fold into a very compact shape like the V3 and doesn't look too dissimilar from a traditional handset with the main screen active, aside from the prominent chin.
As attractive as the Razr is, it probably still falls victim to the main elephant in the room when discussing foldable smartphones the price tag. These devices are expected to retail for around £2,000, which is double the cost of some of the most high-end mobile flagships today. Furthermore, these are first generation products which are basically experimental devices which are likely to have far more refined and potentially less expensive follow-ups in a year's time. So perhaps now may be too soon for foldable smartphones to appeal to the mainstream market, but 2020 looks very exciting for a much-needed smartphone revolution!
It is not just a Samsung issue, phones across the board are becoming incremental upgrades of former models, even though new models are not getting any cheaper. We are getting to the point smartphones are becoming very competent in their current form factor and getting people to depart with a significant amount of cash to have the latest and greatest phone is harder to justify.
So that's where foldable smartphones come in; these are a radical departure from smartphones we have been accustomed to over the past decade. So far, it appears two companies in particular have been in a race to get the foldable smartphone to the market first; Samsung and Huawei. The former ended up being the first to get their handsets to the market, but that ended up being a disaster. The Galaxy Fold had reliability issues which lead to phones being rendered unusable after regular use; the device was so sensitive that dust particles where able to get between the hinges and prevent it from operating.
After acknowledging the issues, Samsung issued a recall of the Galaxy Fold and delayed the launch. The Huawei Mate X features a similar form factor but instead of the main display being inside the device, Huawei places the display on the outside. It is not yet known if the display is as sensitive, but the launch is rumoured to be "very soon", so it will not be long until we find out.
I did mention there was a third player, and it is the first one to really take my interest thus far; Motorola. If you rewind to the era where smartphone where in their infancy (just over 10 years ago), the Motorola Razr V3 flip-phone was one of the hottest handsets around. Now Motorola have captured its design and turned it into a modern device with the most desirable form factor of any foldable smartphone to date. Like the Galaxy Fold, it has two interactive screens but the new Razr has the ability to fold into a very compact shape like the V3 and doesn't look too dissimilar from a traditional handset with the main screen active, aside from the prominent chin.
As attractive as the Razr is, it probably still falls victim to the main elephant in the room when discussing foldable smartphones the price tag. These devices are expected to retail for around £2,000, which is double the cost of some of the most high-end mobile flagships today. Furthermore, these are first generation products which are basically experimental devices which are likely to have far more refined and potentially less expensive follow-ups in a year's time. So perhaps now may be too soon for foldable smartphones to appeal to the mainstream market, but 2020 looks very exciting for a much-needed smartphone revolution!
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