Foldy Phone: Phones Are Fun Again

Okay, the internet influenced me.

I kept seeing people with foldy phones, watching videos of how they customized them, seeing their cases and wallpapers, and eventually I was like… fine. I want one.

I’ve always been a Samsung girly. Not because I have some deep hatred for iPhones—I’ve just never really wanted one. I’ve always been slightly techy-adjacent. I like editing things. I like changing things. I like making my technology feel like mine. Samsung has always given me that.

So I got a Galaxy Z Fold.

And I’m not gonna lie: I really like this damn phone.

The Fold Just Makes Sense

First of all, I love the size. It fits nicely in my little hand when it’s closed, but then I open it and suddenly I have this huge screen for watching videos, reading, multitasking, scrolling, whatever.

It’s basically a phone that can become a mini tablet whenever I want it to.

There are also little things Samsung did that are genuinely smart. One of my favorites is taking pictures with the back camera while using the front screen as a preview. The back cameras are obviously better for taking photos, but normally if you’re taking a picture of yourself with them, you can’t see what the hell you’re doing.

With the Fold, you can.

You basically get the selfie experience while using the better cameras.

Genius.

My biggest complaint? Give me a stylus.

I already know what’s going to happen. Samsung is eventually going to release a Fold with the stylus experience I want, and I’m going to be pissed because I will absolutely buy it.

That—and the camera—is why I’m keeping my Galaxy S24 around for now. The Fold camera isn't bad at all, but I originally bought my S24 because I wanted a really good camera. There is still a noticeable difference, especially when photography is the priority.

So apparently I’m a two-phone household now.

Apple Making a Foldy Phone Is Actually Good for Android

Of course, once Apple entered the foldable conversation, the Samsung-versus-iPhone wars started all over again.

And I genuinely don't understand why we still do this.

A phone is a phone. People like what they like. People switch from Apple to Samsung every day, and people switch from Samsung to Apple every day.

If you want something streamlined, polished and basically ready to go right out of the box, Apple is very good at that.

If you want to spend three hours changing your icons, animations, widgets, charging screen, ringtone and God knows what else, Samsung is sitting right there waiting for you.

I'm actually happy Apple is getting into foldables because competition makes everybody step it up.

Samsung raising the bar means Apple has to respond. Apple raising the bar means Samsung has to respond.

And selfishly, as an Android user, I want Apple involved because apps need to catch up with foldable screens.

Android developers have a complicated job. Android isn't one single phone. Apps have to work across Samsung Galaxy devices, Google Pixels and tons of other manufacturers, screen sizes and hardware configurations.

Foldables add another layer to that.

Apple entering the foldable market gives developers another very big reason to start designing apps around folding screens and larger mobile layouts. And if the major foldables have relatively similar screen formats, some of that work should ultimately make the experience better across devices.

So thank you, Apple.

Signed,

A Samsung user who would like her apps properly formatted.

Is a $2,000 Phone Worth It?

Here's the thing.

Two thousand dollars is a lot of money for a phone.

Do I think a foldable phone is worth $2,000?

If you can comfortably afford a $2,000 phone? Honestly, yeah.

If you cannot comfortably afford a $2,000 phone?

Absolutely not.

It's still a phone. Please don't go into financial distress because your screen bends.

But what I didn't expect was how much the Fold would make me interested in phones again.

I spend entirely too much time online looking at how other people customize theirs. Their cases. Their home screens. Their widgets. Their wallpapers. Their charging animations.

People are so creative with these things.

And weirdly, it reminds me of when phones used to have personality.

Remember when everybody had different phones? Different shapes? Different colors? Different ringtones? You could put five phones on a table and immediately know whose was whose.

Eventually smartphones became increasingly similar-looking rectangles.

Foldables have brought some of that fun back.

I feel like I'm part of a little foldy-phone club.

Actually, I might need to make that literal.

All My Friends Are Dope presents: The Foldy Phone Meetup.

Everybody pulls up with their folding phones, shows off their setups and cases, exchanges customization tricks, and nerds out about technology for a couple hours.

Tell me that wouldn't be fun.

I Think Foldy Phones Are the Future

I'm still keeping my regular Galaxy. I still want a better camera on the Fold. I desperately want stylus support. And I'm sure the next few generations are going to make the phone I just bought look ancient.

That's technology.

But I'm glad I got one.

More than anything, I like that foldable phones feel different. They're making companies experiment with what a phone can actually look like and how we use it.

And they're making phones feel personal again.

So yes, the internet influenced me.

This time, I'm okay with it.

I'm officially a foldy-phone person now.