Consumer Technology No Samsung thread?

[stepee]

I’m soooo torn, I should probably wait to at least see the new iphone but it’s going to be so fucking boring I know it

[Ghost_MH]

Well, fuck me, I really like this phone. The aspect ratio is absolutely perfect. Since it's thicker than a regular phone, especially with a case, I really appreciate the more narrow display that makes it easier to use one handed. The foldable screen, meanwhile is just the right size for reading. I don't see how going wider, as Google did, helps as much as I thought it might.

 

For full screen video, going wider here could help...

 

...but it's still better to turn the phone to landscape where going taller wouldn't help.

 

Same goes if I'm reading a manga or comic. Going wider in portrait does nothing for me...

 

 

...and going taller in landscape doesn't help either.

 

The only scenario I can see is if your wanted to go half folded landscape.

 

Extra height there would be nice, but that's about it. It doesn't really help in any other scenario.

 

Only thing I miss is a telephoto camera. Side from that, I'm perfectly happy with this upgrade. I don't see myself going back to a slab.

[TwinIon]

So I gave in and got myself a Pixel Fold and my initial impressions are very positive. I really like the short outside screen. Being the same width as a normal slab phone means typing on it is an identical experience, and being shorter is often a usability boon since I can reach the entire screen pretty easily, where as it was a real stretch to get to the top part of my Pixel 6 Pro.

 

Open it up and the wide screen feels very natural as someone who spends a lot of time with an iPad in landscape. Most of my apps that I want to run in full screen do, and the new Android 14 Beta has now enabled a setting to force apps to use the whole screen for those that don't. It hasn't given me any trouble so far, but I've only had it for a day. I already really like it for showing off photos, and if I need to remote into a PC at work Teamviewer will be so much nicer to use on this screen. It also just barely fits into the tablet holder I have for my drone, so I can get a bigger view while flying without having to bring my iPad. It's also a nice form factor for running two apps side by side, with each app taking on a very normal aspect ratio. So far I've only used it for my auth app and whatever I'm logging into and a bit of twitch streaming while reading news, but so far I really like the screen layout

 

My issues thus far revolve around unlocking and auth, particularly when it's unfolded. I don't love the fingerprint sensor on the power button, but if I'm using the outer display then I can already usually unlock it by the time I have ready to use. I know it's less secure, but it also supports face unlock for that outer display, which helps as well. When unfolded though, either face ID or an under-screen fingerprint reader would have been much more convenient. My thumb is just in the wrong place, and face unlock doesn't work for biometrics (also, it doesn't work from the inside screen), so I have to fiddle a tiny bit to hit the button. It's far from a deal breaker, but it makes me miss face ID from my iPad.

 

Overall I'm initially quite happy with the Pixel Fold. It's the first phone in a while that has me kind of excited, and already I find it much nicer to use if I'm spending time with just my phone. I have a Google case coming today, so we'll see how bulky that makes it, and I have no clue what the battery life is. We'll see how I feel after using it for a while, but so far so good.