It took Samsung's slab-type smartphones roughly 13 years to reach design maturity. And I, for one, am looking forward to foldable phones finishing the same process regular phones already went through.
In recent years, I've reached the conclusion that drastic smartphone redesigns are a dead giveaway that a company's (or the industry's) design vision hasn't yet reached full maturity. Designs that strive to combine form and function to perfection have to go through a development process to achieve their final incarnation.
Galaxy foldable phones have room to evolve
I would argue that product designs have a starting point, a vastly different conclusion than where they started, and a lot of in-between experimentation. Think of the first bicycle frame versus the homogenous bicycle design of the current era. Or the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, with its three-wheel configuration and no steering wheel, versus the current-era motor vehicles.
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Whether limited by current hardware or manufacturing capabilities, designs don't reach maturity overnight. The process happens in evolutionary steps, and the first years of a lengthy design journey are usually the most experimental. The later years are far tamer and build upon well-established rules and principles proven by trial and error to be the best. I'd argue that slab-type phones have reached that end phase, whereas foldable phones have not.
Keeping that in mind, I wouldn't want the design of Samsung's Galaxy S flagships to change drastically (except for the Ultra model, which I believe still has some growing up to do before it completely abandons the curved display and reaches full maturity). Trying to redefine the formula would only upset the fine-tuned balance Galaxy smartphones have achieved after a journey of more than a decade.
Galaxy foldables, on the other hand, might be halfway through the journey toward design maturity. As attractive as they may be, I feel like Samsung's foldable phones are still going through the motions and progressive steps that would eventually lead them to a stagnant but perfected design formula.
Current foldable models are not unattractive, but they don't yet exude the confidence the Galaxy S lineup (sans the Ultra model) does. And even if the Galaxy Z Fold 5 looks very similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 4, it somehow feels like that stagnation didn't come naturally, or at the very least, that the book-type foldable hasn't reached the end of its design journey.
This experimental phase foldable phones are going through is not inherently bad. It's merely a sign that there's more room to grow and evolve. And that's only natural, seeing how foldables are a much newer invention than slab-type smartphones. Nevertheless, I'm really looking forward to the moment when Samsung foldable phones no longer have to prove anything about their form factors or how they look. Just like the Galaxy S series (sans Ultra) doesn't. I'll be waiting patiently and celebrating every step that brings them closer to that end goal.
