Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold hands-on(mashable.com)
mashable.com
Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold hands-on
https://mashable.com/article/samsung-galaxy-z-trifold-hands-on-ces-2026
6 comments
unless you have money to burn
All these flagship devices are aimed at people who do have money to burn. The ordinary models based on 5 year old tech are absolutely amazing at all the things people do with their devices. No one really needs any of the newer features.
This is the problem that any mature product industry faces - once the basic product is good enough for 99% of the users it becomes a boring commodity. Innovation stops selling devices because it only adds things most people don't want. The result is either cost driven price reduction as manufacturing processes get cheaper, or silly features (like fragile folding mechanisms) that the company can advertise to keep the perception of being high-edge expensive cutting-edge tech despite most buyers opting for a product that doesn't have any of that stuff but are still willing to pay for the status of having the brand.
All these flagship devices are aimed at people who do have money to burn. The ordinary models based on 5 year old tech are absolutely amazing at all the things people do with their devices. No one really needs any of the newer features.
This is the problem that any mature product industry faces - once the basic product is good enough for 99% of the users it becomes a boring commodity. Innovation stops selling devices because it only adds things most people don't want. The result is either cost driven price reduction as manufacturing processes get cheaper, or silly features (like fragile folding mechanisms) that the company can advertise to keep the perception of being high-edge expensive cutting-edge tech despite most buyers opting for a product that doesn't have any of that stuff but are still willing to pay for the status of having the brand.
Even the newest ZFold is a "money to burn" item due to its high cost and relatively high failure rate. Pay for warranty, and even then they might not fix it, or it might die right after your warranty expires.
I enjoyed my fold4 very much and I genuinely enjoyed the functionality of having a tablet everywhere with me. But I won't buy it again until it's utterly boring and standardized.
I enjoyed my fold4 very much and I genuinely enjoyed the functionality of having a tablet everywhere with me. But I won't buy it again until it's utterly boring and standardized.
I had the same experience (Z Fold 4, screen protector at hinge broke at the five month mark - I replaced it with a third-party one to avoid a long repair period and another such breakage - the screen itself is now faulty at just beyond the two year mark).
If anyone were to buy a modern Samsung folding phone, I'd suggest you make sure you get the two-year coverage for the screen and assume it will break soon after that, so treat it like you're going to buy one every 2-3 years. But remember that warranty repairs sometimes involve sending the phone away for weeks, and Android's phone transfer story is still incomplete. That's merely my experience, of course.
If anyone were to buy a modern Samsung folding phone, I'd suggest you make sure you get the two-year coverage for the screen and assume it will break soon after that, so treat it like you're going to buy one every 2-3 years. But remember that warranty repairs sometimes involve sending the phone away for weeks, and Android's phone transfer story is still incomplete. That's merely my experience, of course.
Years ago I got a Surface Book. By the end of its three year warranty, I was on my fourth unit: the first was replaced after almost two years due to a couple of broken keycaps (left Ctrl, and S or D was most of the way to split), minor battery bulging, some screen discolouration at the bottom edge, and there had also been slowly increasing connectivity issues between keyboard part and top part; the second was BSODing from the start, basically DOA; and the third stopped recognising the top part’s battery after nine months. The fourth unit was in poor shape by the time it was two years old (similar issues to the first unit), I replaced it before it was three, and a couple of years later when I tried to start it it wouldn’t finish booting. The power brick had developed issues over time too.
For what I wanted at the time, all that was acceptable. But as a first-generation product of a new category, I wouldn’t have tried it without that three year warranty. There were bound to be issues.
For what I wanted at the time, all that was acceptable. But as a first-generation product of a new category, I wouldn’t have tried it without that three year warranty. There were bound to be issues.
This is only second device in such form factor (first one from Huawei was long time Chinese exclusive) so, for now, there is WoW-factor baked in. Something to impress billion-dollar CEOs and the like. Give it a few generations to reach general public
The Huawei Mate XT for that matter has become infamous for its unreliability and Huawei are apparently refusing repairs blaming user error, or charging the cost of an iPhone to repair them. Not a great choice unless you have money to burn.