Technologies

Samsung’s New Flip Phone Highlights the Clamshell’s Comeback

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 shows that the flip phone has revived its main-character energy from yesteryear.

Before smartphones turned ubiquitous, flip phones were the consumer-tech status symbol. They had compact and cool designs and user-friendly features. And let’s be honest: It’s tough to beat the thrill of ending a call by snapping a phone shut.

Nowadays, the flip phone is back in vogue, albeit the «smart» kind, as old becomes new again.Just ask Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney, whom Samsung has tapped to drive that point home. In an ad for the company’s latest flip phone, the actress proclaims that her Galaxy Z Flip 5 is the «best accessory» for «how she looks and feels.»

In July, Samsung unveiled its latest wave of foldable phones at its Unpacked event, where the Galaxy Z Flip 5 was arguably the tech star of the show. Compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 5, it received major upgrades, including a redesigned hinge and a much larger cover screen. The addition of that larger external display, along with software upgrades, means you can do things like record audio, peruse your calendar or track the stock market without ever unfolding the Z Flip 5. Its predecessor, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 had a comparatively small cover screen that wasn’t nearly as versatile.

«Larger cover screens make these clamshells both more useful and more deliberate — sometimes you just want a piece of information without falling into a rabbit hole of app content, » Avi Greengart, analyst at Techsponential, told CNET over email.

Sydney Sweeney and Wonyoung at the Samsung event

Back in the spotlight, en route to the mainstream

But it isn’t just Samsung. In general, flip phones are undergoing a drastic transformation in comparison to their book-style counterparts like Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Google’s Pixel Fold. And much of that change is happening on the front screen.

Weeks before Unpacked, Motorola launched its Razr Plus, outfitted with a larger cover screen that raised the bar for flip phones everywhere. In late 2022, Oppo, a top Chinese phone maker, shook up the cover design of flip phones first by introducing a vertically oriented cover screen to its first-ever flip phone, the Find N2 Flip.

These new flippable cover screens seem to have hit a sweet spot: larger and more useful than a smartwatch, but smaller and less distracting than a normal phone screen. The previous generation of flip phones felt like a regular phone with a smartwatch on the front — convenient for cursory checks, but not much else.

«It’s the ‘be first or be better’ moment for the smartphone vendors,» said Will Wong, senior research manager at the International Data Corporation, a telecom market intelligence firm. «To win the foldable competition, the smartphone vendors will need to either be the first or create a more significant differentiation.»

Armed with bigger cover screens, flippables are poised to come back into the mainstream provided hurdles like durability are overcome. Either way, this latest wave of redesigns underscores how the flip phone is reclaiming its main-character energy more than ever before.

Take this anecdotal example: Oppo chose the Find N2 Flip as the product for its global foldable phone push, even though it had previously launched two book-style foldable phones in China. In fact, the Find N2 Flip is the crown jewel of Oppo’s global marketing blitz for its smartphone division, which involves sponsorships of elite sporting events including Wimbledon and the UEFA Champions League, which together attract a worldwide audience estimated in the hundreds of millions.

The phone in half flip Oppo Find N2 Flip.

Read more: Oppo Is Using Elite Sports Events to Convince People to Buy Phones

It’s very possible that Oppo’s decision hinged on past sales performance of flip phones. Clamshell-style phones have accounted for more than 50% of foldable shipments from 2020 through to the first quarter of 2023, IDC told CNET in an email. This trend is unlikely to change, the research firm said, since the average selling price, or ASP, of a flip phone is generally lower than that of a book-style phone.

«By the first quarter of 2023, clamshell’s ASP was below US$1,000 and was around 60% of the book-style’s ASP,» Wong told CNET in July.

Though foldable phones still make up a small sliver of the broader smartphone market, sales of both book-style and flip phones are expected to balloon. IDC expects worldwide shipments of foldable phones to reach 21.4 million units in 2023. This represents an increase of more than 50% over the 14.2 million units shipped in 2022. By 2027, IDC expects foldable phones to capture 3.5% of overall market share, which translates to more than 48 million shipments.

Refined, not redefined

Samsung announced the Galaxy Z Fold 5, its larger and more expensive foldable phone, alongside the Z Flip 5 at Unpacked. The book-style device is an improved version of last year’s Z Fold 4, with a different hinge. CNET’s Patrick Holland, who reviewed it, described the Z Fold 5 as a refinement rather than a redefinition. However, that essentially sums up the trend across the entire book-style foldable subcategory right now.

Though more players are entering the space, and with a range of designs, the transformation days for book-style foldables seem to be behind us. Sure, new entrants such as Google’s Pixel Fold and Honor’s Magic V2 are exciting and — in the case of the latter — impossibly thin. Book-style foldables may also be seen as being more technologically innovative than flip phones.

But they aren’t dramatically different from their predecessors right now, and that’s OK. In general, most phone makers have settled on the book-style design pioneered by Samsung in 2019 with its Galaxy Z Fold, meaning that device laid the foundation for the book-style foldable subcategory as we know it today. No small feat. A couple of years later, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 debuted with stylus support, which was also another major milestone in foldable phone innovation, but that was two years ago.

«In the short term, a significant transformation for book-style foldables in terms of hardware is not expected.» Wong told CNET in an email. «Nevertheless, we do see favorable use cases like navigation for this form factor. Thus, software optimization will still be one of the good directions for this particular product.»

Flipping into the future

Clamshell-style phones have come a long way since the trendy gadgets first broke onto the scene in the late 1990s. Today large cover screens seem to be a design hallmark for fancy flip phones, with Samsung, Oppo, and Motorola all slapping a bigger display onto the front of their respective flippables. With that change this year, it’s hard to imagine a dramatic evolution of the flip phone design going forward — it seems to have reached a stable point.

«The hardware design and the focus on the larger cover screen is not expected to have a huge change at this stage, as there is a limitation from the hardware aspect, especially when considering that the phone battery’s shape is unlikely to have a significant breakthrough in the short term.» Wong said.

The flip phone has certainly regained its cool factor, but it still has hurdles to clear before becoming mainstream. Device makers will likely focus on bringing improvements to the software and durability of their products, key areas of concern for foldables. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5, for instance, has no official IP rating for dust, meaning it can’t withstand dust ingress apart from the hinge dusters brushing particles away. That’s a lot to overlook for a $1,000 phone. Flip phones will also have to compete with established smartphones in terms of performance, price and features (better cameras, for example).

«And that is why we saw Motorola launched both Moto Razr 40 (Motorola Razr 2023 in the US) and Moto Razr 40 Ultra (Motorola Razr Plus), which is a dual-track strategy to attract consumers with lower budget,» Wong added.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and its flippable rivals can enjoy their moment in the spotlight. They may not fully replace regular candy bar-shaped phones anytime soon, but they certainly offer a unique and nostalgic experience for those who appreciate their charm.

Flip phones are back, and it’s their time to shine.

Technologies

3 Switch Games That Would Benefit the Most From Switch 2 Upgrades

Nintendo’s best franchises pushed the Switch to its limits. Here are games that could use better graphics and frame rates on the Switch 2.

There are a lot of questions about what the Nintendo Switch 2’s game lineup is going to look like upon the console’s launch, and there aren’t many answers just yet. Odds are good that we’ll see several massive first-party titles coming out very quickly followed by a staggered game release schedule after that. This will probably include popular AAA games from publishers like Microsoft that are already confirmed to be coming to the Switch 2.

However, we do know is that the Switch 2 is going to be backward compatible with the original Switch’s game cartridges, letting you keep your library intact. Nintendo’s official webpage explained the new virtual game card sharing system for the Switch also confirmed that «Switch 2 editions» of existing games are in development.

We don’t know how many Switch 2 edition games are in development, how many of them are first-party developer games nor which games are receiving the upgraded versions. But we do know that there are many older games that pushed the original Switch’s hardware to the limit.

These are some of the first-party games that could benefit the most from versions fully utilizing the Switch 2’s more powerful hardware.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Game Freak has struggled to make mainline Pokemon games work on the Switch. Sword and Shield’s toxic «Dexit» controversy largely overshadowed the fact that the game had some of the most mediocre graphics on the console, and Pokemon and NPC models frequently suffered from sudden pop-ins as players explored the game’s Wild Area.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet caught even more flak for its performance issues. The pop-in issue returned, but this time around faraway models you could see frequently skipped frames in their animation cycles.

While the game was larger and more ambitious with a grander open world, the game’s performance suffered as a result. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have both had a hard time reaching 30 frames per second (FPS) outside of most towns, and certain areas like Kitakami and Tagtree Thicket absolutely tank the frame rate.

The Switch 2’s presumably stronger hardware would likely support Game Freak’s more ambitious open world designs, and grant the developer a chance to give Pokemon the 3D graphical fidelity the franchise deserves.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

There’s no doubt that Tears of the Kingdom is beautiful game, thanks in large part to its strong art direction and cel-shaded models that make the world feel vibrant and alive. Despite that, the game doesn’t do much to improve on Breath of the Wild’s visual fidelity, and it suffers from blurry, low-texture terrain that muddies up the experience.

ButTears of the Kingdom’s true sin lies with its performance. While thegame fairly consistently reaches its 30 FPS cap, there aresections of the game that drop the performance to 15 to 20 FPS, whichmakes Tears of the Kingdom feel choppy and outdated. Areas like TheGreat Sky Island and the Depths, rainy days and even the core Ultrahand abilityall push the Switch to its limit and the game is drastically slowerwhen you’re in these areas or just trying to glue two items together.

Tears of the Kingdom is an iconic Switch game in one of Nintendo’s flagship franchises. It’s a perfect candidate for a Switch 2 upgrade with beefed up graphics and performance optimization to help it consistently hit 60 FPS on the stronger console.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land

Plucked out of Dream Land and plopped down into an eerily real world, the titular pink power puff stands in stark contrast from his environment in this 3D Kirby game. Kirby and the Forgotten Landcreates a world that in many ways visually clashes with the protagonistand his enemies, which makes it more interesting to explore. The new Forgotten Land is an analog to the real world, and it’s modeled very differently from the usual cartoony landscapes and character designs that players have come to expect from the franchise.

The issue with this new, realistic world is that the game is graphically inconsistent. Stages like Everbay Coast’s Scale the Cement Summit stand out as winners benefiting from the new artstyle, combining fantastic water lighting events with impressive graphics for the level’s waterlogged buildings. However, other areas like the Natural Plains and Winter Horns end up looking disappointing in comparison, with grass and snow textures that don’t hold up to the rest of the game.

The environment is incredibly important to the story of Kirby and the Forgotten Land, so it makes sense that an upgraded version of this game would buff out some of the weaker textures and deliver even more strongly on developer HAL Laboratory’s intended vision.

Technologies

What’s the Deal With Schedule I, the Drug-Dealing Game at the Top of Steam Charts?

This surprisingly deep game is far more than just spliffs and giggles.

Picture this: You’ve just rolled into a dusty desert town and you’re living at your uncle’s ranch. After he’s busted by the cops for selling, shall we say, illicit substances, you’re forced to flee. You hit the road in your RV, heading to a town called Hyland Point to lay low and start over, but the local cartel has other plans. After your RV is blown up in a hit, you end up stuck in a sleazy motel room, broke and on the run. Welcome to Schedule I. It might become your new favorite video game.

According to SteamDB, the game pulled in 116,408 concurrent players within 24 hours of its release on March 24. The next day? 142,000. By March 30, it hit a peak of 414,166. That puts Schedule I in the top five most-played games on Steam, right up there with the usual heavyweights like Dota 2. It even hit number one on the global top-sellers list. Not bad for a debut title.

What is Schedule I about?

Schedule I is a new indie game about building a drug empire from the ground up, and it’s exploded in popularity since hitting Steam’s Early Access on March 24. It throws players into the seedy underbelly of the drug trade as seen through a wacky cartoon lens. It’s easy to write it off as just another zany «meme» game, but play it for a bit and you’ll see Schedule I offers something truly special beneath the grime of the illegal drug trade.

You start small, dealing out of that dingy motel room in Hyland Point. Over time, you scale up-more drugs, more customers, more heat. You can grow cannabis, cook meth and manage your entire operation from production to street sales. You’ll need to hide your stash, watch out for cops and eventually build a full-blown empire.

But it’s not just about making a drop behind a building or meeting your client after a series of shady texts. You can mix your wares, too. What do you get when you mix a can of «Cuke» and marijuana? Well, it might get your customers into trouble, but it’ll carry a cool name or one that you decide to give it. And some crazy traits that can get people hooked and coming back.

The cartoony visuals go a long way toward making the game feel seedy and shady and more like a lark. Characters look like they came out of an adult animated series — big eyes, weird proportions, goofy expressions. That aesthetic softens the edge of what’s otherwise a pretty dark theme. Still, there’s plenty of details: setting up lighting rigs for plant growth, tweaking formulas in makeshift drug labs and even laundering your profits.

Schedule I really shines in co-op mode. Up to four players can jump in together, each handling a part of the business — maybe one’s cooking while another sells and a third keeps lookout. It’s chaotic, messy and hilarious, especially when a deal goes south or the cops show up midbatch. You never quite know what’s going to happen next, and that’s part of the charm.

What makes Schedule I stand out?

Schedule I has lots of little absurd touches, too. You can knock out a rival dealer and stuff them in a recycling bin for pocket change, or get chased five blocks for carrying an extra gram. These interactions give the world personality and make it fun to explore, not just optimize. From Peggy, who wants to score something to take the edge off, to Peter, who’s hankering for something «toxic,» you’ll grow to love serving your weird customer base and risking arrest by not returning home ahead of police curfew.

Streamers have latched on quickly to Schedule I. The co-op chaos and unpredictable street encounters make it perfect for Twitch and YouTube, and once the first few big creators went live, word spread fast. Steam reviews from customers hit 99% «Overwhelmingly Positive» on launch day.

The developer, TVGS (short for Tyler’s Video Game Studio), is a solo dev based in Sydney. This is its first major release, but despite all the long hours and late nights, the developers have been active with players, promising monthly updates and tweaks based on community feedback. The game roadmap even includes new drug types, expanded systems and more tools for empire-building.

For a game with no publisher, no real marketing push, and a questionable premise for some gamers, Schedule I has pulled off one of the most impressive indie launches in years. It’s fun, it’s different, and if the updates keep rolling (get it?), it’s probably just getting started.

Technologies

Visible’s New $45 Plan Brings 4K Streaming, More Global Pass Days

The Verizon-owned service adds a new mid-tier plan that might save you money too.

Visible is making its prepaid wireless service more attractive by adding a new higher-tier plan and reducing the price of its previous top offering. The $45 Visible Plus Pro plan adds 4K video streaming, a bank of up to 24 Global Pass days for international travel and includes smartwatch service for the same price as the prior Visible Plus plan, which is now $35 per month with a few tweaks of its own.

The Pro plan offers unlimited data on the Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband network — the same access (on compatible devices) that the Visible Plus plan uses. The base $25 Visible plan is still limited to Verizon’s 5G and 4G LTE networks, but as with all plans, there are no caps on the amount of data you use.

To set the Pro plan apart, Visible has added faster 15Mbps mobile hotspot speeds for sharing the data connection with nearby devices, compared with 10Mbps speeds for the Visible Plus plan. Since people are viewing more content on phones, the video quality on the new plan is now up to 4K UHD versus 1080p on Visible Plus and just 480p quality on the Visible plan.

The Visible Plus plan used to include a smartwatch service, but that benefit did not transition into the new $35 plan. Since adding that service will cost $10 a month, anyone using Visible Plus with a smartwatch may as well switch to the $45 Pro plan and pay the same cost. The $10 charge applies when using the base Visible plan with a smartwatch.

Visible Plus still has unlimited talk and text to Mexico and Canada, plus data while roaming in those countries. The Pro plan adds up to 500 minutes per month of calls to more than 85 countries and unlimited calls to Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam and Saipan.

For traveling, the Pro plan includes two days of Global Pass access per month for using your phone in regions like Europe. The Plus plan includes one Global Pass day per month. Up to 12 unused days can be banked at a time. If you pay the annual rate of $450 instead of monthly, you get 24 free Global Pass days per year.

If you’ve been on the Visible Plus plan, it’s working well, and you aren’t using the plan with a smartwatch, you’ll see a price cut and a boost in services. The cost has been knocked down to $35 per month, with many of the same features that were previously offered for $10 more. Premium data, which was capped at 50GB per month, is now unlimited. Video streaming quality is now increased to to 1080p HD resolution, up from 720p HD.