Android & Chill
One of the web’s longest-running tech columns, Android & Chill is your Saturday discussion of Android, Google, and all things tech.
A lot of engineering has gone into making phones that fold in half. If you think about it, it’s one of those things that doesn’t seem possible — something made of metal and glass can flip open and closed as you like.
But you sure do see that crease.
It’s in your face
A slight indent in the screen along the line where a foldable actually folds doesn’t interfere with anything. It’s always been there, and everything still worked as designed.
If you’ve used a foldable phone, you know the deal, but the fact is that most people haven’t. I’m not talking about looking at one for three minutes at Best Buy, I mean buying one and using it every day.
The crease becomes sort of unnoticeable. It’s still there, and you still see and feel it, but you stop caring about it because the display still looks good in that spot, and it’s just as touch-sensitive as anywhere else on the screen.
None of that matters. The first time you see a foldable phone in the flesh, one of the first things you might notice is a big, ugly line smack dab in the center of the display where you want to look at everything. It’s enough to make you decide not to buy it.
I know this because it’s one of the reasons I thought I’d never want one. A flip phone really fits my lifestyle; I don’t need a gargantuan display, so a “normal” sized phone that folds into something much smaller really works for me, but I didn’t want one because of the line down the center of the screen.
I eventually noticed a Motorola Razr at a price so good I did it anyway. I found that it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought and really not a reason to look away when it’s time to buy. Yet, if I hadn’t been able to get a brand new folding phone for like $300, I never would have bought it because of that crease.
I know I’m not the only person who thinks this way because I’ve heard plenty of other folks talk about that ugly, distracting fold line like it is some sort of phone leprosy. Guess what? Those people are right. If the crease is a reason not to buy a foldable, that’s not a problem for you; it’s a problem for the people making them.
While I haven’t seen it in person, Samsung has shown off a foldable that doesn’t have one. This is a big deal! Not because it will affect the performance or usability of the phone, but because it makes it look appealing to more people. A better hinge is a lot more important, but a hinge assembly will never matter as much as a line down the screen will to most of us.
I’m not sure how they did it, and nobody from Samsung is ready to talk much about that yet; they’re sort of busy right now. It’s surely part trade secret and part common sense, done in a way that won’t make anything weaker or more fragile. That’s good enough for right now, but I still want to know everything I can about how they pulled it off. I understand how glass can bend and why the crease was there, and my curious side demands to be fed.
I’m also pretty certain this is why Apple has waited so long to build a foldable. Yes, it will have a crazy-high price tag, and the company will try to make it sound like they invented the technology, but one thing an Apple foldable would never have is a display with a crease down the middle. Since Apple buys its best displays from Samsung, and Samsung has figured out how to fold them up without a crease line, all the dominoes for an Apple iFold are in place.
Most importantly, this is the sort of “new feature” that all foldables need. It’s easy to show off, seems like a big deal, and will make more people interested in the product.
Nice job, Samsung!
