A bifold wallet has 2 sides, 1 fold. A bifold door has 2 sides, 1 fold. See where this is going? Tri-fold means… wait for it…. 3 panels separated by folds. It doesn’t insinuate the number of folds as that doesn’t matter.
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Samsung is Working on a Tri-Fold Smartphone
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I agree those would be a better forms factor for viewing. My guess is that, as they moved to larger diagonals, they realized if they kept the same aspect ratios the phones would become too wide to hold comfortably in one hand.
I just read their little product exceptions on the Huawei site (auto-translated) and the phone is neither dust, nor water, nor anything-proof! I do love the idea of this form-factor, but it looks exceedingly fragile with two fold points rather than one. And the screen actually opens to a USEFUL standard 16:11 rectangular 10.2 screen. Unlike the Samsung and Google large foldables that seem to open up as nearly square shapes. Odd, awkward, and unsuited to video media.
Just because there is a market and a desire for said product doesn’t automatically mean it’s a good idea. What exactly can Apple do that Samsung and co haven’t already to fix the issues that all Foldables have?
Hi there,
I came across this article in my news feed earlier today and after reading everyone's comments I wanted to chime in and give a different opinion than what's been discussed so far.
(yes, I created an account just for this one thread lol you can beat me up for it later)
I've been a fold owner for 5 years now and I'll offer my take since none of you actually seem to own a folding phone.
Durability
Samsung Z fold 2 was my first. I was gifted a used Z Fold 4 which had lots of problems (however, It was used so I don't know the device care or history) When I received it, it had dead pixels in the corner, then eventually stopped working/responding and became a brick at some point. I replaced it with a Fold 5, then got a free upgrade to a 6 about a month later. I still have my fold 2 and switch off with my fold 6 as a daily driver. The fold 4 was known to have lots of issues as my wife's stopped unfolding due to what I could only assume is "purse debris" The fold 2 and 6 have been the most durable phones I've ever owned since the LG days.
When I went to Miami, I dropped my fold 6 in the sand and assumed it would end up like my wife's fold 4. When I opened it up you could feel each grain of sand EJECT itself from the rear hinge where the 2 panels meet. Truly a marvel in technology. I even brave using my fold 6 without a case and it's been fine for nearly a year now. The Fold 1 was the one with all the problems and defects, and society just decided that it's the fate of all foldables which simply isn't true. I'm VERY rough on my phones and my fold 2 is still alive even after 5 years. Just because the fold 1 was terrible, doesn't mean that the others deserve the same hate.
Usability
For those saying that there's no use case scenario for a folding phone, you couldn't be more mistaken. You have a regular phone with a regular aspect ratio (albeit slightly thinner) on the outside for one handed use, send a quick text, scroll social media, hell even watch a video if you want. It'll play just fine and on the Z fold 6 you wouldn't notice a difference. (The fold 2's outer screen is much more narrow and I wouldn't recommend it for videos)
When unfolded, watching a video is a completely different experience. The picture is larger than any phone on the market at this time. When playing games you simply get more real estate and touch control overlays aren't in the way of the actual content. you can read full articles without scrolling, it's literally a mini tablet in your hands. Productivity and multitasking are a dream...you can open up to 3 apps at a time in split-screen and even have a floating 4th if you want. Where this feature excels is when you open 2 apps at once you get 2 FULL SIZE apps. It's like having 2 smartphones next to each other side by side. I love how I can take selfies with the outer, higher quality camera instead of using the pinhole cameras.
Annoyances
The bad parts of owning a foldable is aspect ratios. When folded it's simply too narrow, when unfolded it's almost a perfect square so things are just...off....The fold 2's outer screen was much too narrow but the inner was nearly perfect as it was more rectangular. The fold 6's outer screen is nearly perfect but the inner screen is basically a square. This isn't something that can be remedied because 2 rectangles will always make a square. The coming trifold will solve the issue and create a perfect aspect ratio in all of it's forms. (Perfect rectangle on the outside, perfect rectangle when fully open on the inside)
Another annoyance is when apps don't support the aspect ratio and you get black bars. Thats where samsung's "goodlock" tweaks come in. It's basically an app to try beta features. Once set up properly, you hardly run into the app aspect ratio issues as each app's aspect ratio is changed to match the screen's. Alternatively, you can switch to tablet mode and apps will run the tablet version of themselves to make better use of the screen space. I don't like this mode because of the square aspect ratio (Which...again...wont be a problem on a trifold.) Other manufacturers may have their own remedy for this.
Misconceptions
I've noticed you all complaining about the crease, but none of you actually OWN the phone, so I wouldn't expect you to know that you don't see the crease when looking at the phone in any regular use situation. you simply never notice it. The only way I ever see the crease is if I stare at my phone from a steep angle in BRIGHT sunlight playing extremely DARK content and even then it's not so bad. No one would ever stare at their phone from the angles needed to make the crease noticeable. People assume that they aren't water resistant. They have been since the fold 3, and even still, the fold 2 has been put through many tests by various youtubers and was proven to be waterproof as well.
My advice is: instead of bashing the tech and assuming the worst, try it out. You need to daily drive one to get the full experience and see why the trifold will ABSOLUTELY be a game changer and hopefully shake up the tech world and stand out in a sea of similar, boring, old, dated banana phone designs. Once Apple does release a foldable, everyone will rave about how amazing they are. My argument is, they're already amazing. Just get the right one.
Summary
With that being said, the folding phones have been the most innovative tech to come from the mobile world since physical keyboards were a thing. I recommend you all actually go to a store and play with one for a while and see for yourself. As much as I HATE Huawei's outward folding tri-fold design (the inner screen IS the outer screen and it'll always be exposed), I admire it because you essentially get 3 form factors in one. Single pane (boring phones that we've been using for nearly 2 decades), Double pane (the square that I hate), and triple pane (the future). Samsung's "G" folding design will protect the inner screen from drops, but will limit you to Single and Triple pane only, which will force users to fully unfold twice to get to a larger display. They could fix this by making one of the panes fold forward and backward.
now the flip styles...yeah, those are not nearly as good or innovative in my opinion. it's more of a gimmick. The folds, They are a true marvel and even after 5 years I'm still wowed by the fact that such a large screen can fit in my pocket so easily. I get complements and people truly marvel at it when I unfold it in public... most people use iphone and are oblivious to any other ecosystem and don't even know that such phones exist so it's like a magic trick to them. I switched from apple back when LG phones were popular. LG released the first ever 4K display on a phone if i'm not mistaken. That's what wow'd me over back in 2014.
TL;DR:
Folding tech is amazing and has come a long way, stop hating on it especially if you've never even owned one.
Thanks for coming to my TedTalk
-Foldy
I came across this article in my news feed earlier today and after reading everyone's comments I wanted to chime in and give a different opinion than what's been discussed so far.
(yes, I created an account just for this one thread lol you can beat me up for it later)
I've been a fold owner for 5 years now and I'll offer my take since none of you actually seem to own a folding phone.
Durability
Samsung Z fold 2 was my first. I was gifted a used Z Fold 4 which had lots of problems (however, It was used so I don't know the device care or history) When I received it, it had dead pixels in the corner, then eventually stopped working/responding and became a brick at some point. I replaced it with a Fold 5, then got a free upgrade to a 6 about a month later. I still have my fold 2 and switch off with my fold 6 as a daily driver. The fold 4 was known to have lots of issues as my wife's stopped unfolding due to what I could only assume is "purse debris" The fold 2 and 6 have been the most durable phones I've ever owned since the LG days.
When I went to Miami, I dropped my fold 6 in the sand and assumed it would end up like my wife's fold 4. When I opened it up you could feel each grain of sand EJECT itself from the rear hinge where the 2 panels meet. Truly a marvel in technology. I even brave using my fold 6 without a case and it's been fine for nearly a year now. The Fold 1 was the one with all the problems and defects, and society just decided that it's the fate of all foldables which simply isn't true. I'm VERY rough on my phones and my fold 2 is still alive even after 5 years. Just because the fold 1 was terrible, doesn't mean that the others deserve the same hate.
Usability
For those saying that there's no use case scenario for a folding phone, you couldn't be more mistaken. You have a regular phone with a regular aspect ratio (albeit slightly thinner) on the outside for one handed use, send a quick text, scroll social media, hell even watch a video if you want. It'll play just fine and on the Z fold 6 you wouldn't notice a difference. (The fold 2's outer screen is much more narrow and I wouldn't recommend it for videos)
When unfolded, watching a video is a completely different experience. The picture is larger than any phone on the market at this time. When playing games you simply get more real estate and touch control overlays aren't in the way of the actual content. you can read full articles without scrolling, it's literally a mini tablet in your hands. Productivity and multitasking are a dream...you can open up to 3 apps at a time in split-screen and even have a floating 4th if you want. Where this feature excels is when you open 2 apps at once you get 2 FULL SIZE apps. It's like having 2 smartphones next to each other side by side. I love how I can take selfies with the outer, higher quality camera instead of using the pinhole cameras.
Annoyances
The bad parts of owning a foldable is aspect ratios. When folded it's simply too narrow, when unfolded it's almost a perfect square so things are just...off....The fold 2's outer screen was much too narrow but the inner was nearly perfect as it was more rectangular. The fold 6's outer screen is nearly perfect but the inner screen is basically a square. This isn't something that can be remedied because 2 rectangles will always make a square. The coming trifold will solve the issue and create a perfect aspect ratio in all of it's forms. (Perfect rectangle on the outside, perfect rectangle when fully open on the inside)
Another annoyance is when apps don't support the aspect ratio and you get black bars. Thats where samsung's "goodlock" tweaks come in. It's basically an app to try beta features. Once set up properly, you hardly run into the app aspect ratio issues as each app's aspect ratio is changed to match the screen's. Alternatively, you can switch to tablet mode and apps will run the tablet version of themselves to make better use of the screen space. I don't like this mode because of the square aspect ratio (Which...again...wont be a problem on a trifold.) Other manufacturers may have their own remedy for this.
Misconceptions
I've noticed you all complaining about the crease, but none of you actually OWN the phone, so I wouldn't expect you to know that you don't see the crease when looking at the phone in any regular use situation. you simply never notice it. The only way I ever see the crease is if I stare at my phone from a steep angle in BRIGHT sunlight playing extremely DARK content and even then it's not so bad. No one would ever stare at their phone from the angles needed to make the crease noticeable. People assume that they aren't water resistant. They have been since the fold 3, and even still, the fold 2 has been put through many tests by various youtubers and was proven to be waterproof as well.
My advice is: instead of bashing the tech and assuming the worst, try it out. You need to daily drive one to get the full experience and see why the trifold will ABSOLUTELY be a game changer and hopefully shake up the tech world and stand out in a sea of similar, boring, old, dated banana phone designs. Once Apple does release a foldable, everyone will rave about how amazing they are. My argument is, they're already amazing. Just get the right one.
Summary
With that being said, the folding phones have been the most innovative tech to come from the mobile world since physical keyboards were a thing. I recommend you all actually go to a store and play with one for a while and see for yourself. As much as I HATE Huawei's outward folding tri-fold design (the inner screen IS the outer screen and it'll always be exposed), I admire it because you essentially get 3 form factors in one. Single pane (boring phones that we've been using for nearly 2 decades), Double pane (the square that I hate), and triple pane (the future). Samsung's "G" folding design will protect the inner screen from drops, but will limit you to Single and Triple pane only, which will force users to fully unfold twice to get to a larger display. They could fix this by making one of the panes fold forward and backward.
now the flip styles...yeah, those are not nearly as good or innovative in my opinion. it's more of a gimmick. The folds, They are a true marvel and even after 5 years I'm still wowed by the fact that such a large screen can fit in my pocket so easily. I get complements and people truly marvel at it when I unfold it in public... most people use iphone and are oblivious to any other ecosystem and don't even know that such phones exist so it's like a magic trick to them. I switched from apple back when LG phones were popular. LG released the first ever 4K display on a phone if i'm not mistaken. That's what wow'd me over back in 2014.
TL;DR:
Folding tech is amazing and has come a long way, stop hating on it especially if you've never even owned one.
Thanks for coming to my TedTalk
-Foldy
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Apple doesn’t make their own screens, they won’t have the ip to invent a soft material that’s creaseless. It’s like they buy glass panels from Corning theyre not gonna be able to invent a better glass panel.
Samsung, please add multiple users to your OS. secure folder is nice, but multiple users is even more secure, especially with *both* multiple times users *and* secure folder aka private space.
I grew up with a love of seaplanes. My father was an engineer in the UK's RAF Coastal Command and flew on Sunderlands (as well as Shackeltons) after the war. He also got a seat on the test flight of the Princess, which never saw service. Then there was "Tales of the Golden Monkey", when I was a kid, not a great show, but the Gruman Goose made the show unmissable for me.
I never got a pilots license, but I used to use most flight sim programs, from the ZX81, through the Amiga to the PC. I loved flying the Cessna Caravan float plane on MS Flight Sim and recreating the routes flown in the book I mentioned.
Curved tvs... you gotta have a curved TV... and for a year they sat there in showrooms.
Then a few moved downwards to monitors which mean the curve was really only good for one user to start with.
And even now, cheap and available, most monitors sold are still flat...
Fair enough, every day is a school day.As another poster explained, this is the standard nomenclature for these form factors. You see it used in, for instance, wallets (bifold and trifold). If you want to break it down, "trifold" doesn't mean it has three folds. It means it folds into three sections.
The nomenclature refers to the result, not the mechanism.
While bipanel and tripanel would be more precise, this is just the way the word use fell out. If Samsung tried to assign a different meaning to the terms from what's currently used, that would have led to confusion.
See, for instance, the entry for "trifold" in the OED, which shows it's consistently used to mean three sections, not three folds:
View attachment 2479345
trifold, adj.² & n. meanings, etymology and more | Oxford English Dictionary
trifold, adj.² & n. meanings, etymology, pronunciation and more in the Oxford English Dictionarywww.oed.com
View attachment 2479350
Thanks for taking the time out of your day to post this response.
(Still don’t like the term 😂😂)