Samsung Attempts to Allure iPhone Users with Deceptive Foldable Simulation
With Apple pouring its marketing efforts into the upcoming iPhone 15, Samsung is attempting to lure potential iPhone customers by showcasing the amusement and quirks of using its latest foldable phones, provided they have an extra iPhone and aren't too focused on other distractions, like playing a slow-paced game of virtual air hockey.
On Monday, Samsung revised its Try Galaxy browser-based app to incorporate a new “Foldable Experience.” The app now provides video demonstrations of its “FlexCam Experience” to highlight the $1,000 Galaxy Z Flip 5’s selfie capabilities with its new external screen. An additional feature called “Fold Experience” allows users to connect multiple iPhones for a pseudomulti-screen experience, which barely scrapes the surface of the actual capabilities of the $1,800 Galaxy Z Fold 5.
To access it, iPhone users need to visit the Try Galaxy site on Safari, then hit the “Add to home screen” button to access the app. Unfortunately, this doesn’t offer much appeal to potential Samsung customers. There are only three “apps” available in the Fold Experience mode, including “Multi-tasking,” “Immersive View,” and “Game.”
The Game section takes users to a single game of air hockey, which can be played either solo or against a friend as the puck moves with a lethargic pace on every hit. Immersive View plays a video that’s supposed to span both screens, but in our tests, images only appeared on one screen.
Finally, the Multi-tasking panel is supposed to offer a sneak peek at various ways to access apps on a Z Fold 5. You can play a video on one screen, but place two apps on top of the other on the other screen as if friends are texting you innocuous messages in a watered-down imitation of the real foldable experience. Although it’s an attempt to mimic the Z Fold 5’s tablet mode, the app’s true flexibility isn’t fully showcased in practice. The Try Galaxy app’s limited functionality fails to convey this point.
As for the Z Flip 5’s camera features, you can take selfies in a more confined aspect ratio, but you can also place the Flip on a table and use the exterior screen to preview your appearance in frame. As of now, the only way to determine if these additional camera features are beneficial is by trying them out yourself. Samsung had its own pop-up event space in New York City, but it has been shut down since Aug. 20.
Samsung holds the lead in the foldable phone market, but it remains a niche within the vast smartphone industry. DSCC industry analyst Ross Young shared figures on Monday, indicating that foldable phone shipments increased by 42% year-over-year, and this growth is expected to continue throughout the second half of the year, reaching a total of 6.9 million shipments by the third quarter. Samsung reigns supreme in foldable shipments even compared to Google with its Pixel Fold. However, despite this growth, foldables still only account for a small fraction of the 1.21 billion smartphone units shipped in 2022, according to analyst firm IDC.
The Try Galaxy app only serves to highlight the challenges of showcasing the latest foldables. Both the Flip 5 and Fold 5 are high-quality devices with only minor flaws, but one of the main obstacles hindering market penetration is the price. With the iPhone 15 release imminent, Apple users in the market for an upgrade will likely need to spend around $800 more for a Z Fold 5 than any of Apple’s “Pro” or “Ultra” models. Even if the next premium version of Apple’s flagship phone costs more than previous iterations—as some rumors suggest—few will be willing to spend several hundred dollars more on a device they’ve not had the opportunity to thoroughly test.
The Try Galaxy app aims to demonstrate the foldable capabilities of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5, but its limited functionality does not fully represent the devices' potential. The future of foldable technology, as shown by Samsung's lead in shipments and continued growth, could pose a significant challenge to Apple with the upcoming iPhone 15 release, as the high cost of foldables might deter potential customers.
