Foldable phones are the newest and fastest-developing type of mobile computer right now. Growing out of the desire to put the largest possible amount of screen inside the user’s pocket, they represent the cutting edge of technological innovation, with Samsung and Huawei offering the most notable early examples. A good foldable is one that combines the greater usability and potential of a large-screen tablet with the effortless portability of an everyday smartphone. We can expect foldables and their hinge designs to keep evolving at a breakneck pace, as hardware companies work to figure out exactly how to fold and market this new breed of portable computer.
5
Verge Score
The Razr 2023 folds, and it costs well under $1,000 — neat! But its small screen is too limiting to make it worth your time.
I wouldn’t say the 2003-era SGH-E700 it’s based on is as iconic as, say, Nokia’s 3310 or the Motorola RAZR. But the limited edition “Galaxy Z Flip 5 Retro” has a nice blue and silver color scheme, and a nostalgic Flex Window design. It’ll be available in “limited quantities” in Korea, the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Australia next month.
A Google Workspace update from Friday added a two-page view for PDFs in Google Drive when you look at them on Android devices like tablets or foldables now.
It’s the little things.
[Google Workspace Updates]
Despite OnePlus making no mention of stylus support for its new foldable, it seems sharing a design with the Oppo Find N3 means it also supports Oppo’s Pen accessory, as verified by Reddit user Rashed341. It even works on the outer display, apparently.
OnePlus says its new foldable has been “test-folded 1,000,000 times” and is certified by TÜV Rheinland. That’s a bold claim compared to the 200,000 to 500,000 folding cycles most other manufacturers claim their foldables are rated to withstand.
After months of teases, OnePlus is finally kicking off its launch event for the OnePlus Open, its first foldable. We have a pretty good idea of what the device looks after Oppo launched its version of the device, the Find N3, earlier today. Check out all the pre-launch leaks and announcements in our storystream.
YouTuber Michael Fisher (aka MrMobile) has published an early look of the upcoming foldable’s hinge and durability tests ahead of its official announcement. Unfortunately, the video doesn’t contain the phone’s two most important specs (its IP-rating, and the total number of folds it’s rated to survive). I guess for those we’re going to have to wait until October 19th.
Unbox Therapy has published an early unboxing of the upcoming device and interviewed CEO Pete Lau. Although the unboxing only gives a limited view of the foldable (OnePlus has plenty more announcements to tease out before launch, after all), it does give a nice look at how flat it’s able to fold shut.
At TechCrunch Disrupt on Wednesday, the company announced its new OnePlus Open is releasing “soon,” but leaker Max Jambor is providing some more specific insight: apparently, it will get its full reveal on October 19th, and a release soon after.
OnePlus hinted at the foldable’s name, “Open,” in July. Jambor reported that month that the device had an August release date.
Sick burn from Ars Technica’s Ron Amadeo, who points out the Surface Duo is likely the “worst-supported premium Android phone ever” with only two super-late OS updates to its name.
Remember, this is the phone that saw Microsoft Surface boss Panos Panay team up with Google Android boss Hiroshi Lockheimer and spend six whole years supposedly getting it right... only to ship a buggy foldable that’ll certainly make our next flops of the decade list.
iFixit just posted its video teardown — which includes throwing the phone in a bag with a bunch of bright green dust. The Z Fold 5 has an IPX8 rating, meaning it that it’s not rated for dust resistance, so you can imagine what happens with that bright green dust.
The Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 get the update this month, with other Samsung foldables getting it “sequentially,” according to Samsung. One UI 5 Watch is starting to officially roll out, too.
You can read more on Samsung’s website.
Founder and CEO Lei Jun has announced a launch date for Xiaomi’s latest foldable, the Mix Fold 3, alongside a short teaser trailer. We’re not expecting the phone to be available outside of China given Xiaomi’s previous foldables, so we’ll have to appreciate its massive four-strong camera bump from afar.
A YouTuber is livestreaming people repeatedly folding and unfolding two of this year’s biggest releases until they break. The Motorola Razr 40 Plus Ultra broke after just 126,266 folding cycles, but as of this writing the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is still going strong at over 330,000. Not bad considering Samsung’s promotional materials say it’s rated for 200,000.
8
Verge Score
It’s a big update year for Samsung’s flip-style foldable — and a much larger cover screen makes all the difference.
With all eyes on Samsung’s new foldables yesterday, Oppo subbrand OnePlus couldn’t help itself. “We OPEN when others FOLD,” the brand tweeted, in reference to the rumored name of its foldable. It confirmed its foldable plans in February, when it said it’d be releasing the foldable in the second half of the year.
Less than a day after Samsung announced its new foldables, Xiaomi is teasing the Mix Fold 3, which will be announced in China next month with an interesting rear quad-camera setup and Leica branding.
Let this serve as a reminder that a) hot foldable summer is alive and kicking and b) China gets a lot of foldables that never make their way to the West.
Okay this Galaxy Unpacked video was fun.
It captured well the frustration of phone cords. the excitement of the first cell phones (“I’m calling you from the back of a taxi!”). And the late night talk show-style gag about phablets being too big was spot on and a funny moment to look back on.
It almost swerved into being a little too smug, but I think pulled off staying on this side of the line.
