Item — HN Reader

I have a feeling that making durable fold in half cell phones is just not something we can do cheaply, so they have to be billed as premium to justify it.

Also isn't that terminology settled? Fold for passport, flip for flip phone. I'm sure Apple will invent a new word but everyone doing foldables seems to use those consistently.

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I'm sure that's why there aren't cheap ones yet, but technology marches forward, and I'm sure we'll get there eventually.

And in many contexts yes, but I still see plenty of articles listing best/cheapest foldable phones that conflate the two. I can't even fully fault them either, because the "flip" ones do "fold".

Are they durable?

If I can ruin the screen with my fingernail, I'm completely uninterested.

I've had three different galaxy fold zs and each one has had a broken interior screen. My current fold has a broken internal screen and I'm on vacation.

The inner screen is definitely not as durable as the outer one. I've not tried it, but it does feel like a hard press with a fingernail will leave a mark.

My dad is in construction and has gone through at least 4 flips that I know of in the time that I've had my S25, probably more.

By durable I guess I mean they don't destroy themselves just by existing.