Hey, if we're doing quirky pones only 1% of users will ever consider buying again can you bring back hardware keyboards please?
this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2025
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"nah, you cunts had your chance" -Blackberry.
This was an interesting video / project I quite enjoyed.
For those with ADHD or just don't have the time to watch:
He bought a Samsung Flip with a broken inner screen, removed the screen and split the phone in half, and turned it into a modern take on a slide phone.
To do so, he 3D printed a custom mold to replace the bottom half of the phone, and then shoved a Blackberry keyboard into it. Designed a custom hinge so that instead of flipping the phone open, you slide the keyboard out from behind and it drops below the cover screen—which is now the main screen—because he used a 3rd party launcher to make it behave as such. That way the phone is fully functional without the inner screen.
The only thing he didn't do (nor did he attempt to), is figure out a way to move one or both of the cameras. Since the phone no longer flips open, the two main cameras are now both selfie cameras and there is no main camera(s).
Tl;Dr: he cut a phone in half and gave it a keyboard.
Yes, please and thank you.
Honestly, if I could get a phone that unfolds to a tablet size like that + Desktop Mode, I’d combine it with a portable keyboard and trackpad combo and be perfectly happy using that as my laptop solution. One cellular plan, large screen, and super portable too, not to mention phone controllers like the GameSir and Backbone for when I want something more gaming handheld-esque, Linux ARM64 virtual machines, and more!
It would be nice if one of the folds could be left folded at the bottom to give you a keyboard.
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I personally am waiting for the OLED handkerchief.
bonus:
My siblings, there are stockpiles of refurbs to last us until the end of capitalism or life on earth.
I'm using a 9 year old phone rn now and I've got zoomers oooing over its "minimal" design (lol it's just old).
I had the perfect phone. Sony XZ2 Compact. released in 2018 so not even that old
5" screen. No headphone jack, but I was honestly just glad to have a screen that small. Ran LineageOS like a dream.
Then came the 3G tower shutdown. Now, the XZ2c is capable of 4G LTE calling. Lineage even had the settings option for it unlocked (as opposed to stock). So I call up my carrier and ask them to please enable 4G LTE calling for my phone so that it'll receive calls again.
Turns out, the major carriers in the US decided not to support 4G LTE calling for the XZ2c. There's a line of code sitting somewhere that could be flipped to "true" and my perfect phone would work again. But no, fuck me for wanting to resist CONSOOM NOO FONE EVERY SIX MONTH.
Fuck capitalism I'll never forget what they took from me
That's a beautiful phone. I'm sorry to hear of your tale of woe. Sadly, there are many like it
Why is the fact that it's before the iPhone 17s reveal important it's not like the iPhone 17 is a folding phone all that Apple have a folding iPhone at all.
It is because Apple has been dominant in the premium smartphone market for years, including in China. Huawei have started to make a big dent in that tier in China after eating Apple's lunch in the lower price categories.
This is a feature that Huawei brought to market before Apple, which was kind of a first. Until recently, they were just following Apple's innovations. It's early and I wouldn't want one now, but I wouldn't be surprised if smartphones-that-fold-out-into-tablets was the standard by the end of the decade.
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It'd be good for comic ebooks, PDFs, documents. Pretty much stuff you'd use with a tablet. I see the appeal of a one device covers it all. Phone, tablet, if it had a solid desktop mode, office productivity. Don't have faith in these mobile first OSs to do it all well though
Employer: “Why are you late again?”
Employee: “Sorry, I had to unfold my phone a few times this morning. It will happen again.”
Please pack a keyboard on the back of the lowest third, so you have a smartphone-with-keyboard if ⅓ folded up.
This guy did just that:
Thought it was a really cool idea / project. Essentially a modified Z Flip.
I admit i had to stop watching after 5 minutes. Do kids like videos cut confusingly and ...hyperactive like this one nowadays?
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I saw an 85" Samsung TV for $1000 at walmart today.
Kinda crazy (stupid) how people spend that much on a fucking phone.
The cost of that TV is heavily subsidized on the expectation that you connect it to the internet and it feeds Samsung data on you.
Just don't do that? The same argument could be made for their phones.
I think you're talking out of your ass.
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Whole that may be somewhat true, I don't think the magnitude of that expectation is that huge.
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That looks really hard to hold.
Edit: also, it’s less than half the speed of a year old iPhone according to geekbench scores… so wooo I guess.
Powered by Huawei’s self-developed Kirin 9020 chipset and running on the company’s proprietary HarmonyOS ecosystem, the Mate XTs boasted a 36 per cent performance improvement, Richard Yu Chengdong, chairman of Huawei’s consumer business group, said during the launch event in Shenzhen on Thursday.
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Yuk
Who needs or wants this. The use is quite limited. One fold, alright, but 3??
i'm the opposite way. i see no use for a phone that folds in half. i like my phones to be usable one-handed, and having a clamshell shape that folds out into something i can't reach my thumb over is just dumb. but if i can have a normalish candybar phone that unfolds into a whole-ass tablet in my pocket? absolutely.
...but not for $2500. maybe for like... $1000. that's twice what i paid for my last phone.
Eventually they‘ll go full circle (literally) and come back to scrolls.
the only advantage i can think of is to maintain more traditional tablet aspect ratios. single fold phones tend to have a very square screen when opened.
I'll be releasing 15 fold shortly, hold on to yo butts!
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Looks stupid, I'd much prefer a more powerful tablet that's cheaper. Gimmick.
While I get the sentiment, you can’t really fit a tablet in most pockets. While a tri fold phone would fit just fine.
This isn’t for situations where a more powerful device is needed. Power doesn’t matter when watching a video, or reading a book, or scrolling the internet. Sometimes you just need more screen.
I may be an outlier on Lemmy, but I explicitly want a decent trifold device. Specifically for the situations I listed. I’m not looking to use the tablet “mode” for performance hungry tasks, I just want more screen sometimes.
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Year 2026, Huawei unveils 4 folds smartphone! You can now watch 4 gooner videos at the SAME TIME! BUT wait there is more if you RESERVE NOW you get a Huawei's smart watch f2 now has TWO FOLDS! Imagine the possibilities!
Weird idea to put part of the foldable screen on the outside of the phone. Classic foldables at least protect their sensitive screen when closed.
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