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The battery life of the phone, the potential longevity and repairability of the phone could be amazing. The last two are why they don't mabe them so much, and there's no demand when there's no product to meet that demand.
Me? I want a phone that floats, out of the box. Bonus points if it can survive a fall into a barge wing-tank, including hitting the ladder on its way down, but really, taking my phone off the boat is a habbit I never got into.
Flappy bird syndrome.
You get more phone per phone
There are android phones that are even thicker, with amazing battery life and fall protection. Check out DOOGEE for example.
It's all about marketability. A thin slab phone is more marketable than a thick slab phone. A (thick) tri fold is more marketable than a thin slab phone. I'm sure if they find a way to make the trifold even thinner they would though at that point idk where they would put the USB port.
The tradeoff for a really big screen is a thicker device. That's more valuable to more people than the longer lasting battery. At least in the eyes of the manufacturers. I'm sure if bigger batteries sold better there would be more (any) options. The issue is not enough people care.
I’m sure if bigger batteries sold better there would be more (any) options. The issue is not enough people care.
This in my opinion is only true to some degree. The real world doesn't reflect the idealistic demand->supply concept, and instead there are many other factors that play a role. There's the reverse supply->demand effect aswell, where companies especially through marketing steer consumer demand into the direction that suits them.
The issue is not enough people care.
Here the big issue is that not all qualities are equally easy to experience.
When you go into a store you can immediately see and feel the effect a larger, brighter screen or a thinner device has, the difference in real world battery life for your own specific use case is impossible to quantify. Even more so when asked to extrapolate it into the future and factor in degrading capacities. You can't even directly translate a concrete number like the mAh size of the battery into it, since hardware/software efficiency and useage patterns can distort it substantially.
I can't find a phone without a phone...
Yeah, that seems like it would be tricky. Maybe an iPod touch? 😝
Woops 🤣
Why are we OK with thick folding phones, but not with thick no-folds?
i think by "we" you mean the manufacturers? AFAICT they just gave away the game: the push for thin phones was more from the supply side than the demand side. not saying people don't generally prefer thin phones -- just that the preference is probably weaker than has been made out to be.
that said, i think it's more fair to compare things like cubic volume and weight than just the thinness. a 1/2" thick full-size phone would be uncomfortable in my pocket, whereas a 1/2" thick wallet-sized phone might actually be more comfortable than a traditional smartphone.
I would prefer a thicker phone, especially if it has a larger battery. Apple's obsession with slim is ridiculous, especially because they're impossible to hold onto. Thankfully they seem to have finally figured that out with their newer phones which have flat sides.
thick phone, big battery, rootable, headphone jack, no curve screen
The trend part suck. You know if Apple decided thicker phones were cool again, then all of Android would copy it instead of thinking for themselves & meeting user demands (niche or otherwise)
check out the magsafe battery pack, or search for battery case.