News Samsung must think foldables are for suckers

[AC News]

The base-spec Galaxy Z Fold 6 costs $1900, and Samsung thinks that's just fine. You shouldn't.

Samsung must think foldables are for suckers : Read more

 

[notforhire]

the pricing on the Fold appears to be akin to the Apple Tax everyone knows and loves. as for the cam shaft you purchased, I'd like to see the car it's going in

 

[Mooncatt]

You're just now figuring that out?

 

[BerryBubbles]

(Quoted from Jerry's article)

Everything is more expensive, and the 5% bump should have been expected. It just happens to be 5% on a price that was too high to begin with.

That pretty well sums it up to me.

 

[Shawn Hensley]

I love folding phones and have used one for a few years, it has completely replaced my tablet, but while other companies have been making better folding phones and innovating, Samsung has been coasting and yes suckering their best customers. If OnePlus, Honor, Huawei, Vivo, etc can put high end cameras and make their phones cheaper why can't Samsung? Why have they put the same low end cameras on the Fold for 3 years? I tried a OnePlus Open earlier this year, which was over $500 cheaper (on sale) than my Z Fold 5 and realized I was suckered, it blew away the Z Fold 5 in every way. Faster, lighter, longer battery, and crazy better cameras, almost no crease. Then the Z Fold 6 comes out, same cameras, same battery, slightly better screens. No thank you.

 

[corvette72778]

Most people don't pay full price. They pay the subscription trade in price.

 

[Village_Idiot]

I love folding phones and have used one for a few years, it has completely replaced my tablet, but while other companies have been making better folding phones and innovating, Samsung has been coasting and yes suckering their best customers. If OnePlus, Honor, Huawei, Vivo, etc can put high end cameras and make their phones cheaper why can't Samsung? Why have they put the same low end cameras on the Fold for 3 years? I tried a OnePlus Open earlier this year, which was over $500 cheaper (on sale) than my Z Fold 5 and realized I was suckered, it blew away the Z Fold 5 in every way. Faster, lighter, longer battery, and crazy better cameras, almost no crease. Then the Z Fold 6 comes out, same cameras, same battery, slightly better screens. No thank you.

The Fold phones were initially designed more for productivity in mind; therefore, the camera was a bit of an afterthought. At the time the first Fold was released, it was niche and the only other real competitors in the foldable market were OnePlus (or was it Huawei?) and Microsoft (which seems to have bowed out...again). Samsung hasn't gotten out of that niche mentality.

The other biggest downside to Samsung's foldables is the lack of cross device S Pen compatibility. Which I think has more to do with the display type than anything else. You can't use the S Pen from a Note or S Ultra series device on a Fold device. However, the S Pens are compatible between Samsung Tab S and Note/S Ultra lines. I can use the S Pen from my Tab S9 on both my S24 Ultra and Galaxy Book2 360 Pro and vice versa. Which comes in real handy. In fact, that was one of the primary reasons why I switched from Surface Pro (which I had been using for around 10 years).

The people I know with Fold phones are more productivity oriented and not picture/video taking oriented; and they are quite happy with them.

The primary reason I haven't gotten a Fold is the lack of S Pen compatibility with non-Fold S Pen capable devices. I think if Samsung were to make the Fold completely cross compatible with its other S Pen capable devices (e.g. Tab S tablets, S Ultra phones, and Galaxy Book 360 and 360 Pro laptops), added an S Pen silo, and beefed up the camera, more people would be willing to pay the higher price.

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

the pricing on the Fold appears to be akin to the Apple Tax everyone knows and loves. as for the cam shaft you purchased, I'd like to see the car it's going in

Just an engine on a stand right now. Hopefully it's going into a 72 chevelle wagon one day

 

[notforhire]

Just an engine on a stand right now. Hopefully it's going into a 72 chevelle wagon one day

very nice. that should be a separate article or thread on its own! good luck.

 

[mustang7757]

Just an engine on a stand right now. Hopefully it's going into a 72 chevelle wagon one day

Project car

 

[kingtigre]

You're right, they're overpriced. Should they be this expensive? Nope, not even a little.

If I had paid full price for my Fold 5, I wouldn't have gotten it. Luckily they have very generous trade-in values on old devices.

Here's the thing: you know that "Buyer's remorse" feeling? I've had that for just about every electronic I've ever bought. I have yet to have that for this phone. Almost a year in and the Fold 5 continues to impress me. It has, in my opinion, been worth every penny. The software is excellent.

 

[kiniku]

The base-spec Galaxy Z Fold 6 costs $1900, and Samsung thinks that's just fine. You shouldn't.

Samsung must think foldables are for suckers : Read more

 

[kiniku]

I bought a Samsung flip about 2 years ago. I thought it was going to be amazing. It wasn't. Sure, you can fold/flip it. But folded, it's thicker than the average slab phone. And to really use it you have to open it anyway. Then add the compromises to it, and the flip is a novelty. It's like that guy in the 80s walking around with the mobile phone in an overnight bag. The fold is somewhat better but for $1900.00? And it's even larger in your pocket. I'll take a slab phone any day over both of them. They are thinner, easier to use, and without the compromises.

 

[drkrleitch]

The base-spec Galaxy Z Fold 6 costs $1900, and Samsung thinks that's just fine. You shouldn't.

Samsung must think foldables are for suckers : Read more

Um, no. Many of us want a device that can do multiple things. The Fold Z is a smartphone, tablet, and laptop via Dex. Plus, many of us also use Samsung's great trade in values to buy unlocked as well. Why would you buy the One Plus Open when it has no wireless charging, no water resistance, and does not have 7 years of OS and security updates? Chinese OEMs are not officially sold in the USA. The only other device available that comes close is the Pixel Fold. I was skeptical too until I got the Galaxy Z Fold 5. The camera is equivalent to the baseline S23 or S24. Do you really need the 100X zoom of the Ultra S23 or S24 which is hard to use anyway. 30X zoom is fine. Foldables are not a gimmick and are here to stay. We'll see if they becoming mainstream but they do serve as an alternative to the smartphone slab style and to push the boundaries of technology.

 

[zloturtle]

Journalists used to write un-opionated articles. Now they are entitled and insultive. Samsung can charge whatever. And if demands drops they'll lower their price or have offers. Initial customers will be the ones paying whatever. Foldable screens have a high rate of failure. The author is purely entitled. Some smart watches are over $1,000, large TVs in the $10k range. One could argue an iPhone selling for higher than an iPad pro is dumb too. An Apple thunderbolt cable is selling for $130 and their VisionPro for $3,500. It is not the cost of the materials. There ares a lot of development and research expenses and manufacturing costs customers don't get to see.

 

[notforhire]

Journalists used to write un-opionated articles. Now they are entitled and insultive. Samsung can charge whatever. And if demands drops they'll lower their price or have offers. Initial customers will be the ones paying whatever. Foldable screens have a high rate of failure. The author is purely entitled. Some smart watches are over $1,000, large TVs in the $10k range. One could argue an iPhone selling for higher than an iPad pro is dumb too. An Apple thunderbolt cable is selling for $130 and their VisionPro for $3,500. It is not the cost of the materials. There ares a lot of development and research expenses and manufacturing costs customers don't get to see.

it was obviously an opinion piece. and now we know your opinion, too.

 

[kskills]

I got my Flip 5 for like $500 on Black Friday. I think it was worth it. I like it, anyway.

Of course it's silly to pay full price, unless you have way too much money and need to get it on release day so you can flex on your friends or something

 

[PepperMan98]

I was almost one of the "I'm going to get it no matter what" folks. I have the 5, and also had the 4 and 3. The main reasons I upgraded were the trade in offers and the fact that the screen protectors weren't lasting a full year. So, I opted to trade "up". Not this year, no true changes that, as Jerry said, warranted the previous price. Maybe they will listen when they make the 7. Maybe...