Why Foldable Phones will Fail...Then Succeed ft. MKBHD

The Future of Foldable Phones: A Closer Look at the Challenges Ahead

As we take a closer look at the renders and prototypes of foldable phones, it's clear that technology is nowhere near where we think it will be just yet. The foldable phones of today are still in their infancy, but that doesn't mean we should give up on them entirely. In fact, they could end up being really cool in the future, making perfect sense to continue talking about this promising technology.

One of the key factors that will establish a company like Samsung as a market leader in foldable phones is releasing their mainline flagship phones alongside whatever foldable device is on the way. By doing so, Samsung will not only establish themselves as a pioneer in this field but also gather valuable consumer data to inform future product development. It's clear that Samsung knows that foldable phones aren't going to be an instant hit, and they're taking a measured approach to get things right.

However, one of the biggest challenges facing foldable phones is the aspect ratio problem. Smartphones are getting taller year by year, accommodating our increasing time spent scrolling on feeds. Imagine a foldable device with a tall 18:9 aspect ratio, folded out to reveal an 18:18 or 1:1 square shape – it's not exactly the most ideal configuration for consuming content. Most solutions so far have been massively inefficient, like having two separate screens on either side of a single screen.

A potential solution is to create a large bezel on the front, like the Royal Flexi Pad, which would ensure that the screen remains taller than it is wide. This design also provides a place to grip the device, allowing for easier handling and potentially reducing the weight of the phone. Additionally, this design could enable a manufacturer to build in a high-grade camera and front-firing speakers.

However, there are still many challenges ahead, particularly when it comes to thickness. Having two layers that fall on top of each other is inefficient, requiring more battery power to power the larger display. As a result, flexible phones will likely be heavier and more costly than traditional smartphones. Furthermore, viewing angles on bending displays are currently a problem, with low peak brightness that could erode over time as display materials develop.

Another major hurdle is software support. The entire value proposition of a foldable device relies on how well it can integrate with our existing ecosystem. Right now, we're seeing the early stages of this development, with limited software support and compatibility issues. The next version of Android Q will bring screen continuity or native support for flexible screens, but even then, it'll take time before most third-party apps and games are built to accommodate these new features.

Lastly, there's the issue of pricing. Flexible phones are currently prohibitively expensive, with estimates suggesting that Samsung's foldable phone could be $1700 – a price that's likely to deter many consumers. However, as display manufacturers start producing flexible screens in large quantities, costs will plummet, and we can expect to see more affordable options from companies like OnePlus.

Despite these challenges, it's clear that the future of smartphones is heading towards foldable devices. With potential benefits like increased screen real estate, improved multitasking, and enhanced user experience, there's no doubt that flexible phones have the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with our devices. As the tech industry continues to push the boundaries of innovation, it'll be exciting to see how these early iterations evolve into something truly groundbreaking.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enbefore I can talk about the imminent problems with a flexible device this is why I think the future is eventually flexible think about it the power and the storage capacity of smartphones is already starting to surpass that of basic notebooks and computers and in the last few years you might have noticed company's hard at work are creating desktop experiences that are powered by your mobile phone a flexible phone could be a bridge a device that fuses this increasing horsepower with this mode suited for larger displays to essentially have full computer capability wherever you go and here's the thing people side with simplicity and so a flexible device with the capability to morph between a phone productivity device and maybe even a watch is naturally what people would tend towards if the option presented itself the way that I see it the best way to implement a foldable phone would be to have two software modes the traditional mobile software would work when the phone is folded up and the second you unfold it could switch to desktop mode which would still be Android but an adjusted version that always displays web pages in their desktop format and gives you more options when you're using an application think of it as the equivalent of folding out an iPhone and instantly the software becomes iPad software more capable of multitasking and taking advantage of the extra screen is staked but that's not even the good bit in this future world that we're heading towards where the smartphone is becoming so capable that for a lot of people it could replace the laptop at some stage the benefits of having one device for everything become very apparent cameras a foldable smartphone means that companies can ditch the front camera if you want to take selfies use the front of the phone and if you want to take a landscape shot just flip it around and then because you're no longer gonna have a front camera firms can focus all their efforts on making one amazing camera setup also the smart phone is by far the best camera that most people own and let's face it your laptop webcam sucks in comparison with a foldable phone that replaces your laptop you could be having Skype calls with the primary camera on your next-generation smartphone it would be better by an order of magnitude then current laptop setup you'd also only need to pay one data plan to always have internet everywhere on your main computer your files are always together and probably always backed up - there is also a profound business reason why flexible phones are important companies want you to buy them with the current crop of mid-range flagships it's becoming pretty tough for even people who can afford spending $1000 on a phone to actually justify it foldable phones give companies two tools the ability to differentiate high-end from mid-range and the option for an instant jump in prices because of how bleeding-edge the tech is people will be much less offended by a price hike here so we've established the flexible devices are not without purpose but also there are some serious barriers right now and before we can fully dig into this topic I've called in Marquez from mkbhd who's gonna set the scene on the current stage of foldable phones so in my opinion foldable smartphones aren't ready yet but that's never stopped any tech from eventually becoming amazing I think there's a lot of potential in it but as of right now in 2019 foldable smartphones not ready to buy I think a lot of it in this beginning will be a lot of companies just sort of throwing stuff at the wall like what if we fold it this way what if we do a dual fold what if we go that way a lot of questions but one of my favorites that I've seen is the concept of Motorola bringing back the flip phone so I think we all remember the Motorola RAZR one of the most iconic phones of all time in that whole clamshell form factor days bringing that back but as a foldable screen smartphone but if you see those renders you realize the tech is nowhere near that point so the foldable phones of today are nowhere near ready yet but that doesn't mean we should give up on them because they could end up being really cool in the future so this makes perfect sense and the question then becomes we keep talking about this great future we're heading towards but where is it and why isn't it here already you'll notice how Samsung is releasing their mainline flagship phones alongside whatever foldable device is on the way by being one of the first they'll establish themselves as a market Lee they'll gather valuable consumer data but it's also clear that they know themselves that this isn't going to be an instant hit this is why the aspect ratio problem you've probably noticed that smartphones are getting taller year by year and this is to accommodate the amount of time we spend scrolling on feeds because having a taller screen means you can see more at any one time well imagine a foldable device where one screen has a tall 18 to 9 aspect ratio if this was then folded out you'd end up doubling the width making it 18 to 18 or 1 to 1 essentially a square which is the worst possible shape for consuming content on most solutions so far are all massively inefficient like having one small screen on the front and then a separate tablet screen on the inside so instead of there being one continuous display that can fold out you've got two separate ones which increases both the cost and the thickness what could work is to create a large bezel on the front like we've seen with the Royal flexi pad this solves a whole number of problems in one go it ensures that the screen remains taller than it is wide it gives you a place to grip what could ultimately be a weighty phone and would enable a manufacturer to build in a high grade camera and front firing speakers and while the flexi pad itself looks kind of clunky I do think the single side bezel could look cool so long as the rest of the device remains bezel and the other solution is a trifold and a potential device like this has been shown off by show me the benefit of this being that with three tall displays instead of just two you've got enough width to then have a wide display when you're folding outwards but again this is a way off and notice how with this particular formation there'd be no way of using the camera without folding out the device each time and unfortunately this is just the start of the problems for foldable phones not least because of thickness having two layers that fall on top of each other is kind of inefficient you've essentially got duplication of the backs of each half a larger display needs more battery to power it and as a result a flexible phone is gonna have to be much heavier and more costly viewing angles on bending displays are currently a problem and their peak brightness is low but these are again that would erode over time as display materials develop new battery technologies like graphene become commercial and wireless charging in public places becomes mainstream but maybe the most important thing here is the fact that the software is only just starting to arrive the entire value proposition of a foldable device is what else you can do with it inevitably to start with it's just gonna be whichever company builds it creating a whole bunch of first party tricks but the real value comes in when YouTube Photoshop and pop G start to leverage them to create new functionality and it is coming the next version of Android Q is gonna support screen continuity or native support for flexible screens but this means we're talking years before most third-party apps and games will be built to accommodate them and the icing on the cake we can't ignore the fact that the pricing of flexible phones is going to be initially inhibited for almost every consumer some estimates are suggesting that Samsung's foldable phone could be $1700 but the cost of making a fallible phone will fall rapidly as soon as display manufacturers start producing flexible screens in large quantities they'll get cheaper and once companies like Samsung have done the R&D and figured out what works were likely to see much more affordable foldable phones from companies that haven't had to do the R&D who can free right off the knowledge that has become public like oneplus so all of this these pricing the larger batteries the display issues the aspect ratio problems are going to make the transition to flexible devices a jarring long it is just as clear though that there is light at the end of the tunnel because flexible devices have the potential to make your life easier with time I think the future is flexible all right guys massive thanks to marques for taking time out of his ridiculous schedule for a feature in this video and if we get this timing right he is just about to launch a similar video on his own channel so that'll be linked somewhere thanks for watching and catch you and the next onebefore I can talk about the imminent problems with a flexible device this is why I think the future is eventually flexible think about it the power and the storage capacity of smartphones is already starting to surpass that of basic notebooks and computers and in the last few years you might have noticed company's hard at work are creating desktop experiences that are powered by your mobile phone a flexible phone could be a bridge a device that fuses this increasing horsepower with this mode suited for larger displays to essentially have full computer capability wherever you go and here's the thing people side with simplicity and so a flexible device with the capability to morph between a phone productivity device and maybe even a watch is naturally what people would tend towards if the option presented itself the way that I see it the best way to implement a foldable phone would be to have two software modes the traditional mobile software would work when the phone is folded up and the second you unfold it could switch to desktop mode which would still be Android but an adjusted version that always displays web pages in their desktop format and gives you more options when you're using an application think of it as the equivalent of folding out an iPhone and instantly the software becomes iPad software more capable of multitasking and taking advantage of the extra screen is staked but that's not even the good bit in this future world that we're heading towards where the smartphone is becoming so capable that for a lot of people it could replace the laptop at some stage the benefits of having one device for everything become very apparent cameras a foldable smartphone means that companies can ditch the front camera if you want to take selfies use the front of the phone and if you want to take a landscape shot just flip it around and then because you're no longer gonna have a front camera firms can focus all their efforts on making one amazing camera setup also the smart phone is by far the best camera that most people own and let's face it your laptop webcam sucks in comparison with a foldable phone that replaces your laptop you could be having Skype calls with the primary camera on your next-generation smartphone it would be better by an order of magnitude then current laptop setup you'd also only need to pay one data plan to always have internet everywhere on your main computer your files are always together and probably always backed up - there is also a profound business reason why flexible phones are important companies want you to buy them with the current crop of mid-range flagships it's becoming pretty tough for even people who can afford spending $1000 on a phone to actually justify it foldable phones give companies two tools the ability to differentiate high-end from mid-range and the option for an instant jump in prices because of how bleeding-edge the tech is people will be much less offended by a price hike here so we've established the flexible devices are not without purpose but also there are some serious barriers right now and before we can fully dig into this topic I've called in Marquez from mkbhd who's gonna set the scene on the current stage of foldable phones so in my opinion foldable smartphones aren't ready yet but that's never stopped any tech from eventually becoming amazing I think there's a lot of potential in it but as of right now in 2019 foldable smartphones not ready to buy I think a lot of it in this beginning will be a lot of companies just sort of throwing stuff at the wall like what if we fold it this way what if we do a dual fold what if we go that way a lot of questions but one of my favorites that I've seen is the concept of Motorola bringing back the flip phone so I think we all remember the Motorola RAZR one of the most iconic phones of all time in that whole clamshell form factor days bringing that back but as a foldable screen smartphone but if you see those renders you realize the tech is nowhere near that point so the foldable phones of today are nowhere near ready yet but that doesn't mean we should give up on them because they could end up being really cool in the future so this makes perfect sense and the question then becomes we keep talking about this great future we're heading towards but where is it and why isn't it here already you'll notice how Samsung is releasing their mainline flagship phones alongside whatever foldable device is on the way by being one of the first they'll establish themselves as a market Lee they'll gather valuable consumer data but it's also clear that they know themselves that this isn't going to be an instant hit this is why the aspect ratio problem you've probably noticed that smartphones are getting taller year by year and this is to accommodate the amount of time we spend scrolling on feeds because having a taller screen means you can see more at any one time well imagine a foldable device where one screen has a tall 18 to 9 aspect ratio if this was then folded out you'd end up doubling the width making it 18 to 18 or 1 to 1 essentially a square which is the worst possible shape for consuming content on most solutions so far are all massively inefficient like having one small screen on the front and then a separate tablet screen on the inside so instead of there being one continuous display that can fold out you've got two separate ones which increases both the cost and the thickness what could work is to create a large bezel on the front like we've seen with the Royal flexi pad this solves a whole number of problems in one go it ensures that the screen remains taller than it is wide it gives you a place to grip what could ultimately be a weighty phone and would enable a manufacturer to build in a high grade camera and front firing speakers and while the flexi pad itself looks kind of clunky I do think the single side bezel could look cool so long as the rest of the device remains bezel and the other solution is a trifold and a potential device like this has been shown off by show me the benefit of this being that with three tall displays instead of just two you've got enough width to then have a wide display when you're folding outwards but again this is a way off and notice how with this particular formation there'd be no way of using the camera without folding out the device each time and unfortunately this is just the start of the problems for foldable phones not least because of thickness having two layers that fall on top of each other is kind of inefficient you've essentially got duplication of the backs of each half a larger display needs more battery to power it and as a result a flexible phone is gonna have to be much heavier and more costly viewing angles on bending displays are currently a problem and their peak brightness is low but these are again that would erode over time as display materials develop new battery technologies like graphene become commercial and wireless charging in public places becomes mainstream but maybe the most important thing here is the fact that the software is only just starting to arrive the entire value proposition of a foldable device is what else you can do with it inevitably to start with it's just gonna be whichever company builds it creating a whole bunch of first party tricks but the real value comes in when YouTube Photoshop and pop G start to leverage them to create new functionality and it is coming the next version of Android Q is gonna support screen continuity or native support for flexible screens but this means we're talking years before most third-party apps and games will be built to accommodate them and the icing on the cake we can't ignore the fact that the pricing of flexible phones is going to be initially inhibited for almost every consumer some estimates are suggesting that Samsung's foldable phone could be $1700 but the cost of making a fallible phone will fall rapidly as soon as display manufacturers start producing flexible screens in large quantities they'll get cheaper and once companies like Samsung have done the R&D and figured out what works were likely to see much more affordable foldable phones from companies that haven't had to do the R&D who can free right off the knowledge that has become public like oneplus so all of this these pricing the larger batteries the display issues the aspect ratio problems are going to make the transition to flexible devices a jarring long it is just as clear though that there is light at the end of the tunnel because flexible devices have the potential to make your life easier with time I think the future is flexible all right guys massive thanks to marques for taking time out of his ridiculous schedule for a feature in this video and if we get this timing right he is just about to launch a similar video on his own channel so that'll be linked somewhere thanks for watching and catch you and the next one\n"