In terms of price, the Galaxy Fold is not yet a popular mobile phone that everyone can buy. Therefore, in this trial, I want to see if the design of the Galaxy Fold meets the needs of the situation. Maybe you can take a look at it. , What design and conditions should a good folding screen mobile phone have?

The first experience is the grip

From the appearance, it can be seen that the Galaxy Fold feels like two thin mobile phones are stacked together. The single-sided thickness of the Fold is already thin (6.9mm), but when stacked together, it will be thicker (15.7~17.1mm). ), the weight also came to 276g . However, because the Fold is very narrow (62.8mm) after the lid is closed, even if it is thick, the grip is firm. , and the fingerprint recognition is placed on the side, which is a well-coordinated design.

The width after opening (117.9mm) is also just right for the BR64 to be operated with both hands (instead of sliding with one hand and the other), and the feel, security and weight are very moderate. The inner screen has obvious borders, which is unsightly at the disadvantage, and the advantage is that there is a place to lean on the fingers, which is comfortable for gestures.

I think at this stage, because of the need to fix the soft screen, it is inevitable that there will be such a circle of borders, and the width of the Fold border is well controlled. The real unsightly thing should be the front camera group in the upper right corner. It's not clear why the hole-punch screen was not made at the time, but we saw the Infinity-O full screen in the outgoing photos of the second-generation folding machine. If it is true, it should be even better.

The narrow body makes the grip feel good, which is a good design, especially for a slightly heavy folding screen phone. Even if the mobile phone that folds up and down is launched in the future, I selfishly hope to fold a narrow screen such as 21:9 in half. It is good to maintain a narrow body and a good grip.

Gayoung: UAG Case Trial

Due to the high price of the Fold and the fact that it cannot be dropped, it is not recommended to use it with bare metal. In addition, because the Fold is not waterproof, who knows whether it will encounter raindrops one day, if possible, a protective case that even wraps the hinge will be better.

This time, it is also used with a UAG military-standard protective case. This is a very protective case, but it is also a protective case that makes the whole unit very thick. After using it for a few days, I will share some advantages and disadvantages with you.

advantage:

Complete coverage, anti-impact mixed with elastic material, high protection.

With anti-slip pattern, feel more secure.

The hinge is wrapped, which is more protective. After opening, it can also let your fingers lean against it like the back of a book.

An entire hole is made at the button, which will not affect the operation of the button and fingerprint recognition.

shortcoming:

There are raised pads around the camera and screen, but the edges are also prone to dust.

Although the raised edge of the screen will not affect typing with the front screen, those with fat fingers may feel disturbed and uncomfortable.

After putting it on, the whole weight came to 320g, which is a lot heavier, and the feeling of putting it in the trouser pocket is more obvious.

This is a protective case that can not have both weight, thickness and protection. Because of the hinges and hinges, the folding screen machine is more resistant to falling than ordinary mobile phones. It is estimated that this problem will still exist in the second and third generations. It is quite challenging to design a protective case that takes into account light weight, protection, and does not affect the operation.

2. The touch of the screen

After opening the box, you will see a usage prompt, which reads "Do not press the screen with sharp objects such as pen tips or fingernails." Because the Fold screen is not covered with glass, but made of high-transmittance plastic material, the hardness is not as high as that of glass, and a dent may be dented if the nail is poked hard.

But this does not mean that the screen of the Fold is soft. In fact, the touch feeling of sliding and clicking on the screen is no different from that of ordinary mobile phones. This should be related to the strengthening of a metal layer inside the screen (with iFixit link), As long as you use it normally, don't use a pen to draw. But I really hope that the Fold can support the S Pen (this screen size is very good with the pen~). Seeing that the pen tip is specially raised in the warning, I can't help but think that it should be difficult to see the folding before the commercial use of the foldable glass. The monitor supports S Pen...

Also, when unfolded, you'll definitely see a crease in the middle of the screen, and you'll feel a dent when your fingers slide over it.

The current material has no way to achieve seamless folding, so it is difficult to avoid it. Fortunately, the crease does not have much impact on the use. The crease can only be seen when you look at it obliquely. Not obvious.

3. Gesture operation

Both the internal and external screens can be operated with full-screen gestures. The Fold still has OneUI 1.5 built-in, and the gestures are concentrated on sliding from bottom to top.

It's not a big problem when sliding off the screen, but when you spread your hands to hold it, the most accessible places are the sides and the middle and lower parts of the screen. It's the most convenient to focus gestures on this part. Unfortunately, One UI 1.5 does not support side sliding. Gestures, hopefully it will be updated soon too.

But the typing keyboard is doing a good job. The built-in Samsung keyboard has three styles: traditional one-column, split and floating keyboard, so you can choose to use it. I found that when using split screen, I would like to use the smallest area. The floating keyboard is used to avoid blocking more than half of the screen, but the method of switching keyboard styles is still a bit trivial. It would be more convenient if you could switch in sequence with one key.

4. Interface Design

The external screen of the Fold is 4.6 inches and 21:9. The internal screen is 7.3 inches, which is close to 4:3.

I’ve said it quite a few times before, but now the external size is really small, and the text is relatively small, so if both hands are free, reading, browsing, typing and chatting, etc., I almost always use the internal screen to see, The external screen has become a bit like a smart watch, used for short functions, such as making calls, watching notifications, messages, choosing music...etc.

Samsung has mentioned in a press release that the screen size for folded/unfolded is designed to be the optimal size to carry around when folded, and the size and proportions of the device have been optimized for one-handed or two-handed use. Therefore, it can be known that the Fold determines the screen ratio with reference to portability and ease of operation.

It can be understood that the external screen is made 21:9 for grip, and 4:3 is suitable for displaying web pages and documents.

In addition, there are two sets of desktops for the outer screen and the inner screen. Different widgets and common programs can be placed on the inner and outer desktops. This is a careful consideration of the different use requirements of large and small screens.

However, the device settings such as font size and dark mode are not divided into inside and outside. If you think the outside screen is small and the font is enlarged, then when you expand it and look at the inside screen, you will find that the words also become larger.

5. What it looks like

The 21:9 external screen is similar in proportion to the 20:9 full screen we are familiar with now, and there is no big problem with the APP display.

The internal screen that is close to 4:3 is also mostly no problem. I have seen web pages, documents, games, news, e-books, comics, shopping, etc., and most of them can be displayed on the full screen, allowing us to enjoy the comfort of the big screen. . In fact, many Galaxy Tabs already have 4:3 screens. I don't think you need to worry too much about whether they can display this properly.

The film is not good enough.

It is the most suitable ratio to watch the video on the external screen, but it is small, so it will still be viewed on the 7.3-inch screen (the screen will automatically turn horizontally when playing the video), so there will be slightly larger black borders up and down, but the screen is It's big, and it's certainly comfortable to look at when unfolded. And it can be paired with dual speakers to enjoy a more three-dimensional sound effect.

The game display that I would have been worried about seems to be no problem. It can be displayed on the full screen. The open screen is very good to play (plus there are dual speakers). If there is a disadvantage, it can't display more maps on the left and right, but 4 :3 That's it.

After expansion, it will change to 16:9 or the current full-screen mobile phone ratio, or close to 4:3. Which one do you think is better?

6. Multiplexing

In fact, Fold still has a side swipe gesture. Swipe in from the right, and you can call out the "multi-window tool" and open many programs at the same time. Fold can put up to three divided screens at a time, but on top of the three divisions, you can also put many apps presented in floating windows, and there are quite a few programs that can be placed on the screen at the same time.

I don't know if you will use this kind of multitasking on Galaxy Tab or iPad. Although you need program support to put into split screen, but after trying it, many programs have support, such as LINE, FB, Google programs, Samsung internal The programs built...etc.

So we can use split screen in more occasions, such as opening two web pages at the same time; or opening LINE chat while surfing the Internet...etc. If you can't afford the Fold, it's also supported in the newer Galaxy Tabs.

You can also use the split screen horizontally, and the horizontal screen is wider, which is more suitable for dual split screen. If the screen of the next-generation folding machine is longer, I believe it will be more suitable for horizontal split screen. The picture shows two pages opened horizontally.

Some programs, such as Gmail, LINE, Keep or Notebook App... etc., also support dragging photos, document files or selecting text from the side to paste in. For example, you can directly drag the photo file into Gamil to become an attachment, or select the webpage text and drag it. Send typing-free to LINE.

But there is one segmentation method, Fold, which is not perfect, that is, the interface of the columns. I tried it. Only Samsung's built-in email APP and calendar can support the display of columns. Others, even the setting menu and Google programs, If you click it, it will change the page and go to the next layer. You have to enter, return, enter, and return frequently. It's a pity that the big screen space is lost. The picture shows Samsung's built-in calendar that supports the display of columns.

6. Continuous display

Another thing that a foldable screen machine has to do is to connect the inner and outer screens. Use a program on the outer screen of the Fold halfway through. After unfolding, you can continue to use it on the inner screen. The progress switches back to the external screen.

Can every program be continued inside-out-inside-outside?

Hmm... It's a bit complicated. In terms of settings, you can always switch from outside to inside, and continue to use it after expansion, but you can decide for yourself whether you can switch from inside to outside.

In the settings, Samsung allows you to choose which programs can continue after closing the lid.

After looking at it, there are generally no problems with third-party apps. For example, when I take the MRT, I often listen to/watch the app for learning English. When I get off the bus at the station, after closing the Fold, the program will not be closed, and I can continue to practice listening.

After using the Galaxy Fold for a few days, I think I'll look at the future folding screen by a few metrics.

The first is portability and grip.

In the short term, the folding screen machine will still be stacked with two equally thick bodies.

If the tablet expands to a larger screen, then a larger battery is required, and it is more difficult to avoid becoming thick and heavy when closed.

If it is unavoidable to be heavy, a good grip like the Fold can still reduce the burden of holding it in your hand.

But it is heavy in the pocket, and it really has to be solved by weight loss. I wonder if it is possible to make the two folded pieces thinner at the top and thicker at the bottom, and still be a long phone when closed, and open to a larger screen?

Second, I would like to know what protective measures the manufacturer has taken, especially the waterproof and dustproof on the shaft, and whether the seam is fine. What can the second-generation foldable improve.

The third is whether the gestures are done well

With long screen, wide screen, and square screen, the best gesture area should be different. If you can operate without leaving the phone, it will be the best. I think the current Fold still has room for updating.

The fourth is the multi-tasking interface, which Fold has done quite well at present. It supports a lot of apps, it is easy to drag and drop, and it can also work with floating windows for more tasks.

However, if you have used the iPad OS, you will feel that the Fold's large-screen interface (or Android tablet interface) still has room for adjustment. For example, there should be more programs that support drag and drop between apps, and more can be displayed in separate columns. APP... etc., but it depends more on how well supported the Android program is.

Although the first generation of Fold is not perfect, it still makes people feel amazing, and with the efforts of each manufacturer, there will be folding machines with various folding methods. If the folding screen machine is easy to buy in the future, the price is moderate (maintenance The fee is also cheaper), the appearance is also a little thinner,

I think this will become a kind of machine that can't be returned after using it.