I’m using a Z Fold 5 and a Surface Duo; Is there a place for folding and dual-screen phones in 2024, with Vision Pro on the way?

Watching video on an iPhone versus an open Z Fold

But it is here that the two Galaxy Z fold 5 and Surface Duo crushes it – web browsing and multitasking.

If you're like me, you're used to browsing the web on a laptop or PC – you want those full-featured desktop sites. Well, both Galaxy Z fold 5 and Surface Duo offer a large enough screen to accommodate full desktop versions of websites quite well, just like a modern tablet would.

Plus, reading e-books is absolutely phenomenal, both in terms of Galaxy Z fold 5, and especially the Surface Duo, because holding it, with its two screens held together by a thin hinge, is literally like holding a book. And because the Duo's screens are wide, you get plenty of text on each page.

Multitasking on the foldable Galaxy Z Fold

THE Z fold 5 is narrower, but still fantastic for reading Stephen King novels to your nephew, who asked for a scary story but clearly isn't up for The Shining.

Multitasking? It's a dream, and Samsung and Microsoft designed their respective foldable dual-screen phones with this in mind. Their hardware and software allow two apps to open seamlessly on each screen, and the Z fold 5being newer and running the much more advanced OneUI, even supports three apps at once, or even four, or five, or – you won’t believe it – six!

But are these few advantages and bragging rights enough to ignore the disadvantages you have to face when choosing the unusual form factor of a smartphone?

Foldable vs dual screen, what's better in 2024?

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 (shown here) has a single flexible display inside, while the Surface Duo sports two standard displays connected by a hinge.

Let's imagine that the Surface Duo has 2024 hardware and software like the Galaxy Z fold 5. From a strictly design point of view – which form factor is better – it or the Z fold 5?

Well… for me it’s the Surface Duo, and here’s why.

We've already established that none of these phones are as good for watching videos as you might think. They have other advantages, namely multitasking: having two applications open at the same time, one on each side of the phone.

The Surface Duo has a hinge between its two screens, which separates them, but this is not a disadvantage for using two applications. In fact, this dual-screen design, as opposed to using a single foldable screen like the Z Fold, is what allows the Surface Duo to be much thinner, lighter, and most importantly, more durable.

Its two screens don't need to flex, so they're covered in traditional glass. Its hinge doesn't need to be very complex for this to work, so the result is extra finesse. If a Surface Duo 3 were to come out, sporting the same design as the original Duo, but without the bezels (and again – with a modern processor and software) – this would be the phone I would rather buy, rather than the Z fold 5. Sue me.

But we don't live in this hypothetical land of la la, do we? Therefore the Galaxy Z fold 5 It is.

After all, we didn't get rollable phones, and dual-screen phones like the Surface Duo didn't last. THE Galaxy Z fold 5 It's an incredible feat of engineering, but because it's packed with cutting-edge technology, it has to be thicker, heavier and less durable.

Its foldable screen obviously couldn't fold if it were covered in glass. Although its ambitious design (especially the hinge) is getting thinner and thinner with each generation, it's still nowhere near as incredibly thin as the Surface Duo.

THE Z fold 5 just has to be chonky, with its flexible screen, under-screen camera, much larger rear cameras and, of course, a significantly bigger battery (around 1,000 mAh larger, to be precise).

So what could be better in 2024? Once again, obviously the Galaxy Z fold 5. If this hypothetical Surface Duo 3 were to be released this year, which will certainly not be the case, it would be better in my opinion, but alas.

But is a foldable phone better than a standard panel phone? This is a much more reasonable question to ask, and the answer is – no. I use a foldable phone and I wish I did, but I'd be lying to you and myself if I claimed that.

Which brings me to another question that's been gnawing at me: will foldable phones still last? Because…

Apple Vision Pro sets a new precedent – ​​maybe foldable, dual-screen, rollable phones were never meant to be a thing

The Apple Vision Pro headset

Apple won't say it anytime soon, but it's VisionPro The headset is intended to replace your iPhone one day. Of course, that day is quite far in the future, as technology needs to become considerably thinner, lighter, and more socially acceptable between now and then.

But it seems like that's where we're heading: toward a world where everything your phone does for you becomes augmented in your reality. You won't need to look at a panel phone, or even hold one. You won't need to buy foldable ones if you want more screen real estate.

Because your apps, messages, videos will be broadcast and broadcast all around you, superimposed in your vision. Hence the Apple “Vision” Pro, I suppose. Apple considers it “Pro” when your vision includes 5 Tik Tok instances; who knows?

In all cases – foldable phones and dual-screen phones probably weren't meant to last, and that becomes even clearer to me in 2024.

They emerged as a solution to a niche problem that will become obsolete when we all start using more and more AR/VR headsets, gradually forgetting the need for phones.

Is it bad or good? In this distant future, will you miss the panel phone form factor or the unique designs we occasionally see, like these foldable and dual-screen phones? Or are you looking forward to not using a phone at all?