Have we reached peak foldable?
Incremental gains from Samsung's latest foldable phones
Foldable smartphones have arguably been the shining beacon of smartphone innovation in recent years. While your standard smartphone have flip-flopped between minor tweaks like curved screens and flat screens, foldables have gotten significantly slimmer, lighter, and more durable since their debut in 2018.
But to be honest, the pace has noticeably slowed in the past year or two. And it seems we won’t be seeing any drastic changes with Samsung’s latest Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6. The former gets a better 50MP main camera, up from 18MP on the Galaxy Z Flip 5. Meanwhile, the latter has a more squarish design that feels more in line with Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S24 Ultra. But the other upgrades for these foldables are your usual marginal improvements to screen, processor, and battery life, etc.
Instead, Samsung seems to be relying on its Galaxy AI software to do the heavy-lifting again. For example, you can use the cover screen on these foldables for Samsung’s real-time Interpreter language translation app such that both parties can view the conversation in their own native language. Other Galaxy AI features include Google’s Circle to Search, and using AI to transcribe audio recordings or create summaries.
We’ll be getting the actual review units soon, but from our brief hands-on with these new devices, Samsung appears to be fine-tuning existing designs rather than making big innovative bets. That’s a pity, but given the relative lack of competition (in Singapore, it’s basically just Samsung and Oppo) in this space, I’m not entirely surprised. Hopefully, another smartphone brands can pick up the slack, and introduce something fresh.
In our reviews this week, we tested an interesting new budget phone from Nothing’s sub-brand CMF, looked at a relatively pricey but capable retro game console, and gave Oppo’s new inexpensive earbuds a proper listen.
Spicing up the budget smartphone category is the new CMF Phone 1 by Nothing, which offers removable, swoppable back covers, as well as accessories such as a stand and a card holder. All for just S$369. And the performance is decent, too. You also get the Nothing OS experience, which looks clean, and more interesting than the average Android interface.
Fans of retro games should check out the Anbernic RG Cube. While it’s more pricey than most retro consoles in the market, the Anbernic RG Cube can play a wide variety of older games, including Nintendo GameCube, and even PS2 games. It also has an uncommon 1:1 square display that’s ideal for SNES and vertical shooter emulation.
If you’re shopping for an inexpensive pair of earbuds for your daily commute, the Oppo Enco Air4 Pro is quite decent at noise cancellation. The sound quality and battery life are also good for its S$129 price tag. Useful features like wear detection and Bluetooth Multipoint are included.