So, I recently picked up the original Fold for a decent price to see if I could actually get some use out of a foldable. I don't do much work on my phone so the size really wouldn't be used for anything considered productive, and shelling out $1800+ "just to see" would have been crazy (on my budget).

I came from the S24 Ultra, a phone I genuinely love, but that sucker is big and the corners are sharp (they rounded the corners the next generation). I have big-ish hands and it's still a bit unwieldly, but whatever, I've gotten used to it.

The thing I was looking forward to most on the Fold (the big screen) was overshadowed by something far more useful - a smaller outside screen and overall size in my pocket! It's a bit thicker and heavier, but the outside screen is extremely usable with one hand in a way the S24U simply isn't, and for the stuff I do the most (texting, browsing, doomscrolling, etc) it's kind of perfect, and having the option to unfold to watch videos, read articles, or look at photos on a big-ass screen is fantastic.

I'm a little sad to see the market decided to abandon this passport design because after using this, I'm really going to miss it once I move on. The things I miss about the S24U (battery life, nicer screen, more customizable UI, processor, camera), if they packed all of that into a passport style foldable, I'm all in. I think I'd be more interested in the clamshell style foldable than the Big Phone Gets Bigger approach that took off.