I'm on the fold 3 for about 1.5 years I guess. The crease is no issue. I always compare it to reading a magazine; the page doesn't need to be flat to be good, and the screen of the food is nearly flat. You don't notice it.
I’m fine with the visual aspect for 90% use cases (reading text, browsing pages), but it feels like it could be annoying for large content (e.g. drawing, photo editing).
The sensory aspect is another thing, it seems distracting to me to be getting this kind of physical feedback; I don’t like the durability risk either (I suspect this is an especially delicate area of the screen and it is raised too).
In any case I appreciate the response, it’s exciting to hear that folding phones already work well for others.
A saw one at a contractor recently. It had these disgusting "bubbles" in the central flexible area. Like a screen protector that has bubbles, but it was part of the screen; there was no screen protector on. Like this: https://r1.community.samsung.com/t5/galaxy-z/samsung-z-fold3...
I'm pretty confident that it's the screen protector peeling off around the crease area. The Z Flip / Fold comes with pre-installed screen protectors, and they kinda sucks - always peeling off after a few months. After replacing it once just to see it bubbling again, I decided to take it off entirely. I haven't seen any problems except that the screen now attracts scratches like crazy.
> 1. Is the unfolded screen a continuous flat surface? (I.e. is the vertical bulge in the center gone?)
Nope, no manufacturer has solved this. There is a "crease" in the middle the pixel fold here which is in the middle between the Z fold4 and some of the newer Chinese phone companies that do a "tear drop" folder to limit the creasing effect. So it's noticeable but eventually you'll get over it.
> 2. Are there gaps around the hinge or screen edge? Is the phone weatherproof?
Two questions, yes there is a gap top and bottom in the middle when unfolded. A lot of the newer phones are weatherproof yes but I wouldn't take any phone out in a tornado or leave it lying in the sand at a beach.
> 3. Are there gaps when the phone is in the folded state?
Gaps? Where ? When folded you can think of it as two phone sitting directly on top of each other and attached at one side.
1. Is the unfolded screen a continuous flat surface? (I.e. is the vertical bulge in the center gone?)
2. Are there gaps around the hinge or screen edge? Is the phone weatherproof?
3. Are there gaps when the phone is in the folded state?