The Era of the Folding Phone

How the Samsung Galaxy Z-Flip became my favorite folding phone of 2020.

Tech is in a weird place right now. For tech companies, they’re all trying to develop that “next big thing.” As in 1995, it was the boom of the internet, which it seems that Google and Amazon clearly won that battle. In 2008 it was smartphones and touchscreens. Apple won that battle.

In 2020, it’s a lot of things.

From artificial intelligence only getting more intelligent to virtual reality and self-driving cars, there’s a lot that’s gaining traction in tech and every company is trying to dig its feet in.

The one area that’s been bugging me for a few years is new form factors in phones. Basically, phones that fold.

I’m trying really hard to not sound like a grandpa in writing this article, but it’s hard not to. And I’m open to the idea of new possibilities in tech. If not for the iPhone or first Samsung and Blackberry phones, smartphones wouldn’t exist the way they do today. But, in the words of Joe Biden, come on, man.

Samsung first announced their flagship folding phone as what became the Samsung Galaxy Fold. Although, the Royole FlexPai became the world’s first consumer folding phone on Halloween in 2018. Unfortunately, the phone was a disaster.