It’s been seen as the Holy Grail of smartphone technology ever since the launch of the first tablets. Tons of people, both in the phone manufacturing business and regular smartphone users, dreamt of combining the larger screens of tablets with the compact size of today’s smartphones. It seemed like such a no-brainer of an idea, but the foldable smartphone has been an elusive goal to reach for phone manufacturers.
2019 saw the announcements of three foldable smartphones. Every other manufacturer is struggling to bring their own versions of foldable smartphones to the market, and a few others have filed patents and introduced prototypes of their models. But, for now, only Samsung, Motorola and Huawei have launched a foldable smartphone to be sold to the public.
Different Designs – Which One Will Win?
The entries from Samsung and Huawei seem to be what most people visualized the folding smartphone to be. Unfolded, these are the two that most closely resembles a tablet in function and size.
The Motorola Razr, as they’re once again calling it, has more of an elongated screen that cuts down on the functionality of using it to watch videos. The aspect ratio of 21:9 is much wider than the usual aspect ratio of 16:9. Of course, the 16:9 aspect ratio can fit within the aspect ratio of the Razr, but the narrowness of the phone means the image will be small. It’s still a long, thin screen.
Our bet is the Razr won’t be a hit with demanding consumers. The reason for the folding concept is to increase the all-around viewing area, not just lengthen it.
The Race Is On
The Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Huawei Mate X are looking good as our bets for the market leaders right from the starting line. The big issue is how the folding materials of these smartphones will hold up over time. These two are expensive phones, upwards of a whopping 60,000 Baht for each.
If they fail at this price, it might send the other manufacturers back to the drawing board. If you’re just a regular working person, you should probably hold off from purchasing them for a while, and let the rich people be the guinea pigs as to the durability of these phones.
It will be interesting to see if Samsung, Huawei, and Motorola are taking too big of a gamble, or if they become the market leaders for a new generation of smartphones to lead off a new decade.
