Foldable Smartphones – 5 Reasons To Get Excited

Foldable smartphones were once the exclusive domain of science fiction with Star Trek and Westworld conjuring alternative worlds, where people could fold up their phones like a piece of paper. Science fiction is now a reality thanks to the Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Huawei Mate X. Naturally, the biggest concern for most is the price point. The Galaxy Fold is priced at over $1000 making it prohibitively expensive to most of us.

But let’s look past that for a moment. Let’s focus on the potential of these new smartphone designs and what they can do for us, as consumers.

Here are 5 reasons to get excited about foldable smartphones

Bigger screens

The first feature of note is the bigger screen on a smaller body. For the past few years, smartphone manufacturers have been devising ways to give us more real estate without making the smartphone itself bigger. But there is only so much screen we can get from bezel-less, edge to edge displays. Foldable smartphones, on the other hand, offer more screen size, much more than what current smartphone designs can. The Axon M has slim dimensions of 5.94in x 2.82in x 0.48in but can unfold to deliver screen size of almost seven inches. Users will have twice as much as screen thanks to the foldable design of these new smartphones.

Multitasking is a reality

Multitasking is a benefit many smartphones have been pushing for a while. Foldable smartphones, however, will finally see us properly multitasking. Most smartphones have the capacity to run two apps simultaneously, but the limited screen sizes make proper multitasking a struggle. Thanks to the additional screen of the foldable smartphone, we can finally do more than one thing seamlessly, without being hindered by over-reliance on a single screen.

With foldable smartphones, we can type a message on one screen, while watching a video on another, talk to one colleague on one screen while reviewing a document on another, and so much more. Multitasking will be way more comfortable with foldable smartphones. After all, dual monitors represent a significant quality of life improvement for people, perhaps dual displays can do the same for us?

Less is more

Have you ever had to carry a laptop, smartphone and tablet at the same time? Well, now you won’t have to with foldable smartphones. When you get a foldable phone, you will get the benefits of a smartphone and tablet merged into one. The Samsung Galaxy Fold is small enough to fit in your pocket but unfolds to deliver a display size to rival most tablet while the Huawei Mate X delivers a whopping 8-inch screen despite its slim design.

One camera same result

The most recent smartphones have at least five cameras, but with foldable smartphones, you only need one high-quality camera. The main reason popular smartphones have several cameras is the need for a separate system for the front and rear cameras. The end result is that front cameras tend to have higher resolution than rear cameras.

However, due to the design of phones like the Galaxy X Fold and the Huawei Mate X you only need one high-quality camera. The new smartphones can be folded or expanded to take all kinds of images including front view images and selfies. Hence, you can get the same results from just one camera as opposed to several cameras.

Untapped potential

There is a lot of untapped potential in foldable smartphones. The dual screen feature has the potential to open up new avenues for apps and functionality. For example, one screen no longer has to be cramped with the ‘back’, ‘forward’ and other functions – it can be on a separate screen altogether. Similarly, gaming can take on innovative concepts that were not possible on mobiles, like split-screen function. Dual screens can pave the path forward for some new ideas that can reignite the smartphone industry.