Yup. It's priced way out of what it does / commands. I'd probably pay 200 max for this and that too only if I'm in a good mood. Better phones than this going for 250 to 300.
I really think Samsung's rumored Galaxy Z looks much better, and has much better specs being in the same price range, and that's before considering the possibility that it comes with a flexible glass screen, not this plastic.
Yeah but imagine your walking down the street and you get a call, you flip up your phone. People around you look at the cool looking device. And then a really cute girl asks :Oh wow, what kind of phone is that?" And then you reply:"Oh this phone, oh it's nothing, just the new razor foldable OLED phone, it's no big deal".
It is a technology showcase. Like the Galaxy Fold or even the Tesla S, let the early adopters with disposable income fund this tech for the bragging rights, so we can have it down the road for pennies on the dollar.
Yeah, I like 'em. I hate all these high end phones with battery sapping CPUs and fifty thousand cores and a screen that's so high res you'd need to be an ant sat on the screen to see the difference. All adds cost and drains battery.
Don't forget enough memory to run a server. My daughter has a sub $100 phone and it is amazing how little difference there is between it and one 10 times the price. The only thing I would like to see is more storage as 128GB is adequate but far from ideal.
I really don't get these claims, my S6E would ask for around $100 these days and it lagged like hell when I had to use it as backup in the past few weeks. I'm finally back on a somewhat modern Note8 that would cost $300 and it's at least twice as fast.
Ahem stupid no edit..quad core A53 I think, and it does not "lag" or feel slow. I do a fair bit of gaming on it as phones are now my primary platform for games without any issues beyond being reasonable about the titles I grab off the Play Store so conversely, I don't get why you don't get that claim. Nothing beats $10 bucks for your phone and under $10 a month for cell service. The rest I would have spent, that goes into a variety of investments where it makes interest for me instead of giving me a cellular dick extension I can wave around at a bunch of people that don't give a flying f*ck what sort of phone is in pocket.
Last month I tried to send a package, using S6E to get a delivery guy to come over, it was a web based interface that never gave me any trouble on Note8, but with S6E I spent 20min. making that one order. Step 1: Loading the homepage, took over 20s. Step 2: Tapping on "send a package", took over a minute, took repeated tries because I thought it was stuck and restarted the app multiple times, but turns out the page would load with a huge amount of patience. Step 3: Tapping on "input address", filling it in and submitting, took over 5min because it would not submit, finally I realized that the address was in fact submitted, every time for the about a dozen times I tapped submit, just that the interface was stuck there for some reason whereas it would usually automatically return to the previous page. Step 4: Filling in the estimated weight. (This may sound weird but that app asks for the estimate and charges in advance accordingly, unless the delivery company reports that you've underestimated and that they've undercharged. This platform gives 30-40% off the regular delivery rates for individual consumers so it's a minor inconvenience compared to the savings.) Again the page went blank for over a minute and I thought it froze, but after repeated tries I realized again that it would finally load if you leave it alone for long enough. Step 5: Submitting all the information and choosing a delivery company according to quotes. A final 10s. It was so slow I almost missed the delivery company's business hours.
if you've never visited a page, it'll need time to be cached first. most likely that was what you experienced.... if you try again it now it should be ok.
For reference it takes less than a minute on Note8 to make that order on the same platform. It's also not a network issue as my router is a fabulous performer from Ubnt that never gave me any problems.
It's pretty impressive that you have relatively precise timings from a mundane task that happened in December. I don't know of too many people that would be able to accurately recall even an approximate number of elapsed seconds for a web-based activity even the following day if they were not explicitly taking timing measurements. If you were preparing for a future discussion about that exact thing here in Anandtech's comments section and were indeed documenting performance to that degree then I applaud your ability to see so clearly into the future. If not, then I think we might have a bit of an embellishment for the sake of argument.
Because, as I said, I almost missed the business hours because it was so slow, so I was very frustrated and kept an eye on the time. At the time as I was waiting for the damned page to load I also ranted about how slow it was to others in the room, and recital helps memory retention as you should know.
Moot points, even SD855 lags, these phones are designed badly. Windows can alt-tab in basically around 1 frame (16ms??) even high end phones eventually lag and take forever to switch apps.
I'm now back on my Note8(I swapped the SK variant motherboard for an HK variant which means SD835), and setting animations to x0.5 speeds up operations by about 100%. I only occasionally observe frame drops. TBH I already set turned off system animations on my S6E but the improvement was marginal as each operation still had significant lag.
So long as there are no other crippling problems like slow flash memory or RAM too low, the biggest difference is the CPU. We're in a strange time where low-end phones are $100, snapdragon 600 phones are $200-500 and Snapdragon 800 phones are $300-1000.
Whatever you do, don't buy a "new" Snapdragon 600 phone for $500 on a 2-year contract or something. They found a way to trick people into paying more for less performance. Reminds me a bit of the netbook craze about 10 years ago.
I found Realme X (all-screen, S710/4gb/64gb) for $180 USD on aliexpress.
Unless you need the latest and greatest, second-handed flagships always. Models slightly niche in your market helps as this means that the second-handed units that look new tend to be actually lightly used, while Apple in good condition for example has a high chance of being a 3rd-party refurbished as the resale value is most stable over time rendering private refurbishing lucrative.
Because of the prices skyrocketing, second-hand flagships from last year are still really expensive from Apple/Samsung. LG G7 is a great price, it's also 2 years old, but for $200 USD I won't complain too much.
No Jack, No SD slot, No removable battery despite same design, a notch. Just because it's a proof of concept doesn't mean they can skimp on everything from specs to feature set.
I don't understand the purpose. The ZTE Axon M and the Galaxy Fold both fold *sideways* so that you get a phone that is the size of a small tablet - great for watching movies and reading articles.
But this phone unfolds vertically so that it's longer but thin. Not only is that not very useful for reading articles and watching movies - where you want width, not length - but in the end, the phone is the same size as a normal, non-folding phone. So why not just buy a normal, non-folding phone?
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
46 Comments
Back to Article
Papaspud - Wednesday, January 22, 2020 - link
I like the design a lot, but the price.........ouch.milkywayer - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
Yup. It's priced way out of what it does / commands. I'd probably pay 200 max for this and that too only if I'm in a good mood. Better phones than this going for 250 to 300.olde94 - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
yes specs are low but the screen is dope and battery placement is most likely both reason for cost and specssonny73n - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
“screen is dope” lolAnd you’re doped.
Korguz - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
and sonny73n is on dopes.yu - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
I really think Samsung's rumored Galaxy Z looks much better, and has much better specs being in the same price range, and that's before considering the possibility that it comes with a flexible glass screen, not this plastic.alphasquadron - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
Yeah but imagine your walking down the street and you get a call, you flip up your phone. People around you look at the cool looking device. And then a really cute girl asks :Oh wow, what kind of phone is that?" And then you reply:"Oh this phone, oh it's nothing, just the new razor foldable OLED phone, it's no big deal".Samus - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
It is a technology showcase. Like the Galaxy Fold or even the Tesla S, let the early adopters with disposable income fund this tech for the bragging rights, so we can have it down the road for pennies on the dollar.bji - Monday, January 27, 2020 - link
"for the bragging rights"? Needlessly dismissive. Some people may value the feature more than you and are willing to pay more than you for it.RaistlinZ - Wednesday, January 22, 2020 - link
Those specs...lol.Makaveli - Wednesday, January 22, 2020 - link
Yup price and specs are laughable.yetanotherhuman - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
Yeah, I like 'em. I hate all these high end phones with battery sapping CPUs and fifty thousand cores and a screen that's so high res you'd need to be an ant sat on the screen to see the difference. All adds cost and drains battery.BedfordTim - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
Don't forget enough memory to run a server. My daughter has a sub $100 phone and it is amazing how little difference there is between it and one 10 times the price. The only thing I would like to see is more storage as 128GB is adequate but far from ideal.s.yu - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
I really don't get these claims, my S6E would ask for around $100 these days and it lagged like hell when I had to use it as backup in the past few weeks. I'm finally back on a somewhat modern Note8 that would cost $300 and it's at least twice as fast.PeachNCream - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
I have an LG Rebel 4 I got for $10 as a refurb from my crappy carrier (Tracfone) like 3 months ago. 16GB storage onboard, 2GB RAM,PeachNCream - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
Ahem stupid no edit..quad core A53 I think, and it does not "lag" or feel slow. I do a fair bit of gaming on it as phones are now my primary platform for games without any issues beyond being reasonable about the titles I grab off the Play Store so conversely, I don't get why you don't get that claim. Nothing beats $10 bucks for your phone and under $10 a month for cell service. The rest I would have spent, that goes into a variety of investments where it makes interest for me instead of giving me a cellular dick extension I can wave around at a bunch of people that don't give a flying f*ck what sort of phone is in pocket.s.yu - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
Last month I tried to send a package, using S6E to get a delivery guy to come over, it was a web based interface that never gave me any trouble on Note8, but with S6E I spent 20min. making that one order.Step 1: Loading the homepage, took over 20s.
Step 2: Tapping on "send a package", took over a minute, took repeated tries because I thought it was stuck and restarted the app multiple times, but turns out the page would load with a huge amount of patience.
Step 3: Tapping on "input address", filling it in and submitting, took over 5min because it would not submit, finally I realized that the address was in fact submitted, every time for the about a dozen times I tapped submit, just that the interface was stuck there for some reason whereas it would usually automatically return to the previous page.
Step 4: Filling in the estimated weight. (This may sound weird but that app asks for the estimate and charges in advance accordingly, unless the delivery company reports that you've underestimated and that they've undercharged. This platform gives 30-40% off the regular delivery rates for individual consumers so it's a minor inconvenience compared to the savings.) Again the page went blank for over a minute and I thought it froze, but after repeated tries I realized again that it would finally load if you leave it alone for long enough.
Step 5: Submitting all the information and choosing a delivery company according to quotes. A final 10s.
It was so slow I almost missed the delivery company's business hours.
[email protected] - Monday, January 27, 2020 - link
if you've never visited a page, it'll need time to be cached first. most likely that was what you experienced.... if you try again it now it should be ok.s.yu - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
For reference it takes less than a minute on Note8 to make that order on the same platform. It's also not a network issue as my router is a fabulous performer from Ubnt that never gave me any problems.PeachNCream - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
It's pretty impressive that you have relatively precise timings from a mundane task that happened in December. I don't know of too many people that would be able to accurately recall even an approximate number of elapsed seconds for a web-based activity even the following day if they were not explicitly taking timing measurements. If you were preparing for a future discussion about that exact thing here in Anandtech's comments section and were indeed documenting performance to that degree then I applaud your ability to see so clearly into the future. If not, then I think we might have a bit of an embellishment for the sake of argument.s.yu - Friday, January 24, 2020 - link
Because, as I said, I almost missed the business hours because it was so slow, so I was very frustrated and kept an eye on the time. At the time as I was waiting for the damned page to load I also ranted about how slow it was to others in the room, and recital helps memory retention as you should know.flyingpants265 - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
Moot points, even SD855 lags, these phones are designed badly. Windows can alt-tab in basically around 1 frame (16ms??) even high end phones eventually lag and take forever to switch apps.s.yu - Friday, January 24, 2020 - link
I'm now back on my Note8(I swapped the SK variant motherboard for an HK variant which means SD835), and setting animations to x0.5 speeds up operations by about 100%. I only occasionally observe frame drops. TBH I already set turned off system animations on my S6E but the improvement was marginal as each operation still had significant lag.flyingpants265 - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
So long as there are no other crippling problems like slow flash memory or RAM too low, the biggest difference is the CPU.We're in a strange time where low-end phones are $100, snapdragon 600 phones are $200-500 and Snapdragon 800 phones are $300-1000.
Whatever you do, don't buy a "new" Snapdragon 600 phone for $500 on a 2-year contract or something. They found a way to trick people into paying more for less performance. Reminds me a bit of the netbook craze about 10 years ago.
I found Realme X (all-screen, S710/4gb/64gb) for $180 USD on aliexpress.
s.yu - Friday, January 24, 2020 - link
Unless you need the latest and greatest, second-handed flagships always.Models slightly niche in your market helps as this means that the second-handed units that look new tend to be actually lightly used, while Apple in good condition for example has a high chance of being a 3rd-party refurbished as the resale value is most stable over time rendering private refurbishing lucrative.
flyingpants265 - Friday, January 24, 2020 - link
Because of the prices skyrocketing, second-hand flagships from last year are still really expensive from Apple/Samsung. LG G7 is a great price, it's also 2 years old, but for $200 USD I won't complain too much.Still, I think I'd rather have the Realme X.
sonny73n - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
So you like low specs phones with high price tags.flyingpants265 - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
It's a folding phone, are you missing a brain stem?sonny73n - Friday, January 24, 2020 - link
Folding phone? Big deal. Get a life!flyingpants265 - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
Looks fine to me.. It's a folding phone, not really sure what you expected.dstarr3 - Wednesday, January 22, 2020 - link
First gen is the worst gen. Wait for the next round of folding phones. They'll be a lot better and a lot cheaper.wrkingclass_hero - Wednesday, January 22, 2020 - link
Who is excited about this?shabby - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
[Gary Oldman]EVERYONE![/Gary Oldman]Ironchef3500 - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
+1Quantumz0d - Wednesday, January 22, 2020 - link
No Jack, No SD slot, No removable battery despite same design, a notch. Just because it's a proof of concept doesn't mean they can skimp on everything from specs to feature set.This belongs to dumpster.
sonny73n - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
+1s.yu - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
Not just a notch, a notch flanked by slanted cuts, both ugly and impractical, possibly unprecedented.yetanotherhuman - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
I'm hoping this design catches on..deepblue08 - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
Your are clearly paying for the R&D that went into the design. Otherwise the specs are very very meh.sonny73n - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
”the demand for the foldable flip smartphone was so high“Hahaha... Yeah right.
FunBunny2 - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
"Hahaha... Yeah right. "actually, could be... if all of the 1% lust for one. they's dumb enough
06GTOSC - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
I can't wait to see people who complain about not having any money walking around with this phone.Korguz - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
you already can do that... just look for those with the iphone 9 and 10.... :-) :-) :-)FreckledTrout - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
I like the concept. I hope this catches on. With that said its to lacking in features for anything near the price they are asking.peevee - Thursday, January 23, 2020 - link
"As it turns out, the demand for the foldable flip smartphone was so high that the company had to delay its launch to build more units. "What a crock.
Mikewind Dale - Tuesday, January 28, 2020 - link
I don't understand the purpose. The ZTE Axon M and the Galaxy Fold both fold *sideways* so that you get a phone that is the size of a small tablet - great for watching movies and reading articles.But this phone unfolds vertically so that it's longer but thin. Not only is that not very useful for reading articles and watching movies - where you want width, not length - but in the end, the phone is the same size as a normal, non-folding phone. So why not just buy a normal, non-folding phone?