New Samsung Flip and Fold Phones Leave Me Feeling Meh!
💬 In this week's issue:
- Flip and Fold 5 and Nothing Phone (2). 3 new phones and not much to be excited about!
- Favourite Stuff. Advanced preview of what I've been using/reviewing
- Latest Videos. Catch up on the latest videos on the channel
🤦🏼♂️ Introduction
Welcome to this week's newsletter where, this time, I thoroughly bash the new releases from Samsung and Nothing!
Let's start off with the underdogs: Nothing. What do you guys think? Innovative, or a total gimmick?
Essentially, you've got an Android phone with an iPhone design, with the exception of the wacky glyphs on the back of the phone. Now, I really DO like the glyph interface idea BUT being on the back of the Nothing Phone (2), to really get the most out of them, you need to have your phone face down.
But when do you really have your phone face down? For me, my phone's either in my pocket (glyphs can't be seen because... well... pockets!); or on a wireless charging dock (glyphs facing away!); or on my desk face up (glyphs face down!) because I don't want to risk scratching the screen.
I feel like the glyphs just encourage users to place the phone face down, which is really not a great habit to get into if you want your screen to last longer than a month!
Now, as innovative as the glyph interface is, I'm just not feeling any kind of innovation beyond that. The company itself, headed up by founder and CEO, Carl Pei, seem to have the right attitude when it comes to progress and advancements in the company itself but the second generation Nothing Phone really doesn't convey the same kind of forward-thinking that the company embodies.
There was a video doing the rounds recently where Pei actually reacts to a bunch of tech-YouTubers reviewing the Nothing Phone (2) and he says that they can't actually take big risks with their Phone because it risks overwhelming the users. Which is a fair point as people seem to like familiarity when it comes to their devices. This makes sense when you consider people's refusal to leave the Apple ecosystem (guilty!).
Hopefully Pei won't see my review (out now, link below) and then slaate it publicly! haha!
On to Samsung now and, again, massively underwhelmed by these releases: the Flip and Fold 5. They do both have the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip so performance won't be an issue. However, there's not much new in these latest devices from last year's Flip and Fold releases, which is sad. I kinda feel like now is the time for some real progress with new releases as the last few years have felt... well, phones have only made small, incremental updates. And these next two phones do just that. And only that.
I will be getting the Fold, Flip and the new Galaxy Watch though and, of course, reviewing them thoroughly. Those videos will be out in the next couple of weeks, hopefully ahead of public release so I can give you guys an informed decision, if you're thinking of buying one.
They did miss an opportunity, I think, by not putting their S23 Ultra cameras in at least the Fold 5! I think that would've really upped the game for folding phones and made Samsung's latest really stand out from the crowd.
For now though, I'll be sticking to the Pixel Fold.
🗞 Favourite Things
- I've returned to PITAKA cases on all of my phones now. I LOVE the thin feel and design of all their cases, with built in MagSafe compatibilty. You can get the cases here: Pixel Fold, iPhone 14 Range, S23 Range.
- I'm really interested to hear if my audience want to see me review the new Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds. Apparently, they're pitched to be the best in-ear ANC earbuds EVER. We'll see about that!
🎥 This week's video
Highlights of the latest videos published on the channel
Nothing Phone (2) is Objectively BAD. Here's Why…
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