Have foldable phones finally matured? Four years of use answer the question

I have used foldables as my main phone for four years, from a generation whose screen cracked if you looked at it too hard to the current one, which I sometimes forget can fold at all. This is not a review of one device but an attempt to answer the question readers keep asking: is it time?

What improved

Three things changed fundamentally. First, the crease has become invisible in normal use and can only be felt if you deliberately run a finger over it. Second, the hinge on my current device has survived more than a hundred thousand folds without loosening. Third, water and dust resistance now match conventional phones.

What did not

The battery remains weaker than a slab phone of the same size because the hinge eats space, the cameras usually trail what the same company puts in its flat flagships, and the price — although lower — still equals a flagship phone and a tablet combined.

"A foldable is not a better phone; it is a different phone. Buy it for 'better' and you will be disappointed; buy it for 'different' and you will be happy," is the conclusion of four years.

Who it suits

• People who read a lot on their phone: the inner screen turns reading into a book-like experience.
• People who work in two apps at once: mail and a document, or a chat and a spreadsheet.
• People who travel without a tablet and want a bigger screen on the plane.

The answer

Yes, the technology has matured enough to be your only phone without worry. But technical maturity does not mean you need one. If you do not see yourself in the list above, a flat flagship gives you a better camera and longer battery for half the price.