THERE HAS NOT been a paradigm shift in the way phones were made since the launch of the iPhone in 2007. Of course, they have been getting better—so much that most people stopped using other computing devices for most purposes. But phones have also become boring, with the same form factor—slabs with a touch screen on one side and a camera on the other—and similar functionality.
Samsung, which has a reputation of being a 'fast follower', for once, decided to take the lead here and introduced a foldable phone, named Galaxy Fold, a week ago. Technically, the Galaxy Fold is not the first foldable phone. It is the Royole FlexPai, which was an unfinished product with a half-baked software, launched three months ago. The Galaxy Fold, on the other hand, is almost production ready, and will be available in the US in April for about $2,000.
The Galaxy Fold has two displays—a 4.5-inch one on the cover and a 7.3-inch one that unfurls like a book. The smaller display functions like your normal phone. If you want a larger display, just open the device—it is a seamless transition. The device runs on Android Pie, with Samsung's new One UI skin on top. In tablet mode, it can run three apps simultaneously.
It was as if the other companies were waiting. Two days after the launch of the Galaxy Fold, Huawei Technologies unveiled a $2,600 folding smartphone with 5G connectivity. The Mate X is thinner and more polished than the Galaxy Fold, and has only one screen. When it is folded, you have 6.6-inch main display and a slightly smaller rear display. When opened, it is a square 8-inch display.
The next day, Oppo released images of its own foldable phone, which looked a lot like the Mate X. TCL, another Chinese giant, also displayed a prototype of its foldable phone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Xiaomi recently released a video of what is believed to be its version of a foldable phone, and Motorola is working on relaunching its iconic RAZR with a folding screen.
Foldable phones are here to stay, as they offer the comfort of a large screen and the convenience of a phone. It is just that it will take a while before these companies figure out the best form factor.