I think at this point in folding development we aren’t really worried about the hinges or folding display tech itself, it’s the soft scratchable films and risk of foreign objects or dirt getting under the screen at the hinge that are the actual thing to watch out for, so if you treat it carefully and keep it clean it will last just fine.
The only real annoyance I have with them is the screen protectors still peel off very fast right at the folding point and need to be replaced fairly often, the genuine ones last longer than the DIY aftermarket replacements, but I just wish it weren’t necessary and the screen could stand up to a fingernail scrape. That said, i’ve had my Fold3 since launch and I’m on my 4th screen protector, which is a pretty good run all things considered, and I use the inner screen multiple times a day.
My fold3 still lasts me until 10pm every day, with the charging limited to 85% at the start of the day, 5 minutes of in car charging to and from work (very short drive) and I end the day with between 40% and 20% depending on how heavily i used it, I don’t know what people do to run them from 100 to 0 in a day
That’d be a downgrade for me; my A52s lasts until 10pm the NEXT day, using the same 85% charge limit. If I work from home continuously and stay on Wifi, it can even go to a 3rd day.
That’s with 5G turned on, and I use 5G at work rather than wifi so that’s a big differentiator, if I turn it to 4g and use work wifi ends the day with 60% remaining guaranteed.
But yea and A52 is going to have better battery life than most, big battery, lower power chipset, lower power display, lower power cameras etc, it’s all a tradeoff.
I cant understand why more people dont use those mid range options like the A50 and A70 series Samsungs, they’re great and cover 90% of peoples use cases perfectly.
Try SuperShieldz film protectors for the fold3. I’m working mine with just tpu film and no case. Works great. Have never had to replace the inside tpu protector and have had it for almost 2 years.
Edit: I had the wrong brand. Its called SuperShieldz
I’ll try a better one when this cheap amazon Chinese brand finally fails, it’s slightly lifting at the top and bottom but doesn’t seem to be getting any worse after 6 weeks so it might be stable.
The kit came with a front screen protector but it’s made from the same elastomer film, which is definitely crappy cost cutting cause the front protector could be glass or a better non-elastic film.
I ran a fold1 without any screen protectors for over a year and it was fine, mainly cause I was very careful about fingernails and dirt, but I cant live with that level of anxiety on the fold 3 as I bought this one outright and want to take care of it.
I think at this point in folding development we aren’t really worried about the hinges or folding display tech itself, it’s the soft scratchable films and risk of foreign objects or dirt getting under the screen at the hinge that are the actual thing to watch out for, so if you treat it carefully and keep it clean it will last just fine.
The only real annoyance I have with them is the screen protectors still peel off very fast right at the folding point and need to be replaced fairly often, the genuine ones last longer than the DIY aftermarket replacements, but I just wish it weren’t necessary and the screen could stand up to a fingernail scrape. That said, i’ve had my Fold3 since launch and I’m on my 4th screen protector, which is a pretty good run all things considered, and I use the inner screen multiple times a day.
Man, just when I finally warmed up to glass screen protectors…
Though my real concern is still battery life, the Fold 5 review on GSMArena shows slightly worse battery life than the Fold 4? o_O
My fold3 still lasts me until 10pm every day, with the charging limited to 85% at the start of the day, 5 minutes of in car charging to and from work (very short drive) and I end the day with between 40% and 20% depending on how heavily i used it, I don’t know what people do to run them from 100 to 0 in a day
That’d be a downgrade for me; my A52s lasts until 10pm the NEXT day, using the same 85% charge limit. If I work from home continuously and stay on Wifi, it can even go to a 3rd day.
That’s with 5G turned on, and I use 5G at work rather than wifi so that’s a big differentiator, if I turn it to 4g and use work wifi ends the day with 60% remaining guaranteed. But yea and A52 is going to have better battery life than most, big battery, lower power chipset, lower power display, lower power cameras etc, it’s all a tradeoff.
I cant understand why more people dont use those mid range options like the A50 and A70 series Samsungs, they’re great and cover 90% of peoples use cases perfectly.
Try SuperShieldz film protectors for the fold3. I’m working mine with just tpu film and no case. Works great. Have never had to replace the inside tpu protector and have had it for almost 2 years.
Edit: I had the wrong brand. Its called SuperShieldz
I’ll try a better one when this cheap amazon Chinese brand finally fails, it’s slightly lifting at the top and bottom but doesn’t seem to be getting any worse after 6 weeks so it might be stable. The kit came with a front screen protector but it’s made from the same elastomer film, which is definitely crappy cost cutting cause the front protector could be glass or a better non-elastic film.
I ran a fold1 without any screen protectors for over a year and it was fine, mainly cause I was very careful about fingernails and dirt, but I cant live with that level of anxiety on the fold 3 as I bought this one outright and want to take care of it.