I feel like this is one of those articles that won’t have many surprises. I think the world is pretty much awaiting the inevitable. We have seen this story play out many times, haven’t we? Apple comes out after new technology has existed for a while, only to have that technology represented in such a unique way on their platform that it seems new and even better. This is an old story. We have all heard this story before, and it always has the same ending, right?
So how could this be any different? Well, the Samsung Fold 8 has attempted to answer that question. They have come out first with their passport design, even at the cost of their own designs like the Fold 7 and Fold 8 Ultra. The design is literally just an aspect ratio change. There is nothing more that it does or has that is different from their already established lineup. So for people like my wife, she is underwhelmed by the design; for her, it serves no purpose just having a smaller design. In fact, as my wife so elegantly quoted:
“Even I had no phone at this time and it was time to buy a phone right now, not having any cost limits, I would still buy the Fold 7 over the Duo and Fold 8″
Because of this, there are people for whom the newest passport phone design just doesn’t work, and in America, this is a common thought that exists in more people than we really understand, as the majority of foldable phone sales come from Korea, surprisingly not the U.K. or U.S., as many would assume.
The Passport design struck me as soon as I picked up the phone. Picking it up felt so familiar, as if I had owned this phone before. I never found anything wrong with my Fold 7, but I do find this screen more usable and useful. Getting accessories that already benefit the ecosystem helps a great deal, rather than considering the more gimmick-rich iPhone Duo. But again, perhaps not for others. The majority of people in the world will go with the iPhone Duo, so much so that it will spark more attention to the Passport design and the Fold world than ever before in the UK and the U.S.
It could be the thing that replaces the need for tablets like the iPad and others. In fact, I truly believe the tablet world is in danger; they will be the first to feel the effect of this shift. The tablet market has already been suffering, but I think this will be the final nail in the coffin. Now we have both the phone and the tablet in our pockets. Even the Apple Duo will soon have the ability to use the Apple Pencil. This is something Samsung should have taken advantage of, but they also have DeX, which turns their devices into mini computers. The bottom line, though, is that this ability will make tablets irrelevant and will be the ultimate nail in their existence.
For me, however, my wife does make me consider my direction. I mean, I have the Fold 7 and it is perfectly fine. I do not have the same battery life, but other than that and the smaller aspect ratio, I have no real advantage in jumping to the Fold 8. I am doing the same things I did with the Fold 7; I have no real advantage here. If I went with the iPhone Duo, at least that would present a completely different format and overall core usage difference, but this would come at the cost of losing things like Samsung Pay, Samsung AI features, the smaller and lighter design, and the sound features and codec advantages of my Samsung phones for my music, which is the most important thing in tech for me. So that brings back to my Samsung fold 7 or Fold 8. I will have determine where this makes sense in the next couple of weeks. But at the end of day, we the consumers win with options:).
Tech-N-Things 