Paying to be guinea pigs
Hold off on buying foldable phones – for now
Foldables are the most exciting devices to come out of the mobile technology sector in years. But they just aren't ready for market
Samsung’s Galaxy Fold device was meant to go on sale in SA last week, but that didn’t happen. Last month the company announced it was delaying the commercial release of the folding phone-cum-tablet after US reporters experienced problems with their review units. Samsung is to be lauded for addressing the problem promptly, but it shouldn’t have needed to do so. The appeal of phonelets, tabphones or whatever the nascent category of device is eventually nicknamed, is obvious: phone-like portability with tablet-like productivity when one needs it, all in a single device. But that all-in-one device needs to provide as good a user experience as one could get from a standalone version of each, or something very closely approximating it. On that front, the Galaxy Fold was compromised from the outset. I got a little hands-on time with the Fold at the SA launch event for the S10 range and found the outer, 4.3in display not just small by today’s standards, but the bezels surrounding it comical...
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