Apple’s rumoured foldable iPhone (possibly iPhone Flip) might launch in 2026, but display crease, and design are roadblocks.
God yes.
I was looking at phones yesterday and thinking: do they make an actual, premium flip phone with keyboard a la the old Motorola Razr? It appears nobody does. All I could find were cheap shitty Chinese plasticky trash or phones made for the elderly.
I want something with a nice metal/titanium case, premium keyboard, decent oled screen, 10+ megapixel camera on it… and something that I can snap shut like it owes me money. Don’t make it too small; I want a week’s battery life at least and swappable battery.
And I would - and I’m not joking here - pay 600-800 euros for that, depending on how premium the experience is.
I think there’s absolutely a market for that.
Back in the ‘sweet spot’ of cellphone use, the late ‘90’s, you could get several days of use out of a battery. Some only needed a weekly charge. I also don’t need or want a flip phone to do everything that a smartphone does.
I’m a big proponent of making phones bigger with bigger batteries. I’ve got huge hands and most phones feel dainty and fragile. Give me a house brick with a week long battery and I’d be perfectly happy. Making phones slimmer is just silly.
Look at Kyocera Digno 903KC, Sharp Aquos K3 or Freetel Mode 1 Retro II. Their idea is retro design with somewhat modern OS. It’s still Android but very old one. None the less you can run WhatsApp, Signal and the like.
I’ll look into those. That Sharp looks ancient though? I’m seeing videos on it from 6 years ago, assuming it’s the correct one.
It’s likely my memory is out of date, but at least you have a starting point for search. They make those kinds of phones. I know Samsung has Galaxy Folder. Not to be mistaken with Fold. Only thing am aware of that was released recently is Cat S22 Flip, in 2021.
