Edit | Yu Bin
Produced by | Chaoqi Network "Yu see column"
In recent years, while the growth of mobile Internet users is approaching the ceiling, the incremental market for smartphones has almost peaked. As a result, the 4G mobile phones that were the main players in the market in the past gradually withdrew from the historical stage, and 5G mobile phones have also become new alternatives.
However, is it just an upgrade of the network-related configuration that is the end of the smartphone? The answer is clearly no. Through the iterative process of mobile phone products, we can see the development law of this industry.
In the early years, before the Internet was popularized, mobile phones were only a communication tool, and with the promotion of various new demands, smart phones even gradually replaced the "universal tools" of consumer electronics such as tape recorders, DVDs, MP3 players, and televisions.
At the same time, the appearance structure of mobile phones has also moved from the early clamshell and sliding mobile phones to the situation of flat panel touch screen unification. After several iterations of the structure and functions of the mobile phone, its upgrade space seems to be somewhat exhausted. However, in recent years, folding screen mobile phones are becoming a new concept in the industry, which is expected to make the industry shine brightly, so it is also highly expected by many smart phone manufacturers.
Recently, Green Factory Vivo released the first folding screen mobile phone vivo X Fold, which triggered a hot discussion in the industry. In fact, the previous discussion about folding screen mobile phones has not diminished. However, most people in the industry are pessimistic about folding screen mobile phones, and even think that the demand behind them is also a pseudo demand. So, the advent of vivo X Fold, can it refresh cognition in the folding screen market? The answer may not be that simple.
The price is too high is a hard wound, and the price for folding is too high
Countless smart phone manufacturers are eager to try in the research and development of folding screens, the fundamental reason is that folding screen mobile phones can be turned over, so that the mobile phone screen size is larger, whether it is users watching TV, or playing games, they can be like tablets, more enjoyable.
However, the sacrifice made by the folding screen mobile phone for this purpose makes the advantage of the folding screen not prominent, and even some of the costs are too high, and the vivo X Fold is no exception.
First of all, the price is too high is a hard wound faced by the promotion of vivo X Fold. As we all know, even the most high-end Apple mobile phone, the price is only between thousands of yuan, the price of more than 10,000 can be described as rare, and many folding screen mobile phones are more than 10,000 yuan.
For example, the Price of magic V, which went on sale in January this year, was also 9999 yuan at the lowest. As a brand power is not as good as the glory of vivo, the launch of the X Fold folding screen mobile phone, but also quoted a high price of 8999 yuan, it is obviously difficult for ordinary users to accept.
Secondly, the folding screen technology is not yet mature, affecting the user experience. You know, the current mainstream smart phones, most of them are glass screens, slightly advanced is the curved screen.
However, the difficulty of the folding screen is that it is replaced from glass material to flexible material, after the user uses, it is easy to leave scratches on the screen, and, because of repeated folding, it also seriously affects the flatness of the screen, and it is easy to produce creases.
What is even more fatal is that because the screen folding uses a mechanical activity design, the reliability is far less than that of ordinary smart phones. This is also a problem that many bloggers who have already tasted have found through personal evaluation. This also brings about the problem that the service life of the folding screen mobile phone is not long enough and the failure rate is high.
For the vivo X Fold, although the official claim that the folding screen mobile phone is very resistant to folding, it can be folded 80 times a day, which can be used for about 10 years. But to know, smart phone accessories, full of functions, any one function may be affected, even if the folding life is very long, but the other functions of the entire mobile phone, whether it can withstand the "toss", or an unknown.
Third, due to the problem of the size of the display screen after the folding screen is expanded, how to be compatible with the current mainstream software applications will also bring challenges to the folding screen mobile phone.
Taking the current mainstream video content as an example, it is understood that most video platforms are displayed in 16:9 or 9:16 specifications.
However, many folding screen mobile phones, the size of the unfolded is square, and in order to adapt to these display effects, even if the software supports compatibility, but let the huge mobile phone screen, the use of space is also very limited. Then, the only large-screen advantage of folding screen mobile phones is meaningless.
Finally, because the folding mobile phone is quite two mobile phones superimposed, while the screen size increases, the weight of the fuselage is far more than the current mainstream smart phone, which is not convenient for people to travel and carry.
Therefore, some people even believe that folding screen mobile phones, like the slide and flip phones of the past, are actually "retrogressions of history".
For example, taking the vivo X70 as a reference, its main screen is 6.56 inches, the fuselage width is 73.21mm, and the width of the vivo X Fold reaches 144.87mm after unfolding, and the area can almost accommodate the next two vivo X70s, which means that it is really a small tablet in hand.
However, it should be known that in order to meet the new features of the folding screen, the stacking material has become inevitable, so it has also led to the weight of the vivo X Fold reaching about 311g, close to the weight of the two iPhone 12. Even compared to the last three generations of iPad mini, the number of servings is much more.
Compared with several folding screens of other friends, vivo X Fold is heavier than that of Honor Magic V, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3, Huawei Mate X2, oppo Find N, which are less than 300g. In contrast, it is self-evident what choice consumers will make.
As we all know, the implicit need of mobile electronic products is to be easy to carry and can be used at any time in a mobile state. However, the folding screen mobile phone sacrifices the portable advantage that should have been due because of the pursuit of a large screen. In contrast, folding screen mobile phones even have no advantages compared with traditional tablets in addition to the shrinkage of the volume after folding.
In addition, the folding screen mobile phone is still in the conceptual stage, and it will take time for the related technology to mature.
This also means that users who taste crabs early in the early stage will also face the problem of difficult repair. Whether it is the spare parts required for the repair of folding screen mobile phones, or once the product reliability is insufficient, or the display is damaged during use, it may be difficult to find the corresponding supporting services if you want to repair or replace, and even because the cost of changing the screen is high, it is hurtful.
"High-end" is not enough, pile up materials to make up
The vivo X Fold is much heavier than the average model, which is obviously the result of stacking. However, there are comments from netizens that the blind stacking of vivo X Fold is somewhat the opposite of the original intention of the entire industry to upgrade smartphones.
For example, the most complained about is that its size and weight have been "upgraded", but the battery capacity has not kept up. Its battery capacity is 150mAh less than that of the Honor Magic V. It should be known that vivo X Fold and Honor Magic V are also equipped with Snapdragon 8 chips, and their power consumption is not lower than that of Honor Magic V.
Moreover, even if it is relaxed to the entire folding screen market, its battery capacity is far from the battery capacity of other brand manufacturers with more than 5000mAh.
Therefore, some netizens joked that in contrast, perhaps the 50W wireless charging supporting this folding screen mobile phone is a psychological comfort. However, in terms of the battery life that most netizens care more about, there are some concerns about one or the other.
According to netizen reviews, in terms of user experience, vivo X Fold folding screen mobile phone also has some chicken rib design. For example, some netizens pointed out that X Fold and X Note pursue large and complete, and even some take-ism, the iPhone's characteristic mute key is also piled on this phone.
It is understood that such a design has many drawbacks. For example, although it is said to be one-click global mute, it also requires an OTA to achieve it. Moreover, because this function is easy to miss incoming call information because the mobile phone is muted when it is misoperated in the pocket, it has also been criticized on the iPhone and OnePlus mobile phones. Because of this, many Android manufacturers are somewhat dismissive of this feature.
Moreover, this mute key design brings convenience, but it can also be done by pressing and holding the volume key, and the applicable scenes are also very limited. The result of setting the keys alone is to damage the user experience at the cost, not only some of the end of the line, but more like a snake.
It can be seen that after the vivo X Fold has achieved a big leap forward in the folding screen, it is also seeking full blame in various details and functions, and has been farther and farther away from the "small and beautiful" pursued by users.
In addition to the function buttons of some special scenes, the vivo X Fold has also made sufficient efforts in terms of imagery. For example, the long-awaited periscope telephoto lens of folding screen players also appeared on this phone as desired.
However, compared with its image parameters, the 8-megapixel periscope lens is indeed a bit difficult to say. The picture quality and the effect of the night shot are also very worrying.
It is worth noting that in the anti-shake function that users pay great attention to, the vivo X Fold does not carry the micro-PTZ stabilization featured by the blue factory, and the main camera is also replaced by the Samsung GN5 with a smaller bottom. However, these configurations are exactly what many users are very concerned about, perhaps vivo is to overpack, but it has been castrated and discounted. As a result, it also loses its competitiveness in these functions.
According to professional reviews, the level of optimization and debugging of Samsung's GN5 sensor may not be as good as the mature Sony IMX 766. The vivo X Fold is also difficult to highlight its advantages in terms of imagery. The anti-glare and ultra-telephoto coatings of ZEISS T* coatings alone are not enough to form a competitive position in the market.
Given that the vivo X Fold takes a large and complete route, some insiders said that its positioning may also be related to the high-end market it has been obsessed with. Some people even speculate that vivo X Fold may not only carry the goal of vivo to open up the situation in the folding screen market, but also shoulder the mission of vivo to once again impact the high-end.
However, the vivo X Fold takes the folding screen mobile phone route, after all, it is only a new test of the water. If it loses again, it may not only miss the opportunity of the high-end market, but also the huge market that the folding screen mobile phone may bring.
As we all know, the rules of business success are usually specialized and sophisticated. However, the lack of vivo brand power and product strength is also a cliché. It is foreseeable that at the moment when the brand foundation is not stable, vivo did not do proper subtraction, but through blind stacking, just entered the folding screen market, launched a "super cup" vivo X Fold.
Therefore, the process of vivo impacting the high-end or entering a new field will inevitably face the challenge of repeated trial and error. The hidden worries and potential crises hidden by this will not be ignored.
epilogue
After the advent of vivo X Fold, whether it is accepted by consumers or not, it may not change vivo's confidence in expanding its territory in the folding screen market, and even its determination to impact the high-end market.
However, the decision to buy or not to buy vivo X Fold is always in the hands of consumers.
What vivo needs to solve may not be to vigorously develop the folding screen market, but what kind of mobile phone to make, in order to make consumers satisfied with its brand and products, even if it is not a folding screen mobile phone that is still a new concept.