Weekly poll: how should our Phone Finder deal with foldables and their different dimensions?

We recently had a discussion at the office and wanted to get your input too – which dimensions should the Phone Finder use for foldable phones when you are searching for specific dimensions (thickness, width, height)?

First, let’s examine the issue. We list two thickness dimensions for foldables – one for when the phone is opened and one for when it is closed. The closed thickness is around double the open thickness, but that is not quite accurate because hinges add a bit extra and that differs from phone to phone.

Similarly, there are two numbers for the width on book-style foldables and the height on flip foldables, depending on whether the phone is folded or not. Again, one number is close to double the other number, but hinges complicate things.

Foldable phones change size, which complicates things

Here is how the Phone Finder works right now. When you use the sliders for thickness, width and height, you get results based on the phone’s unfolded state. Is this the best way or should we switch things around?

For example, the first sub-10mm foldable was a major milestone. But as it stands, there is no easy way to find foldables that are under 10mm when folded – if you set the slider at 10mm, all of them show up because the filter looks at the unfolded thickness, which might not be what you expect.

You can’t just drag the slider to 5mm (half the desired thickness) either. “Folded thickness is roughly double the unfolded thickness” is an okay rule of thumb, but in practice it doesn’t work very well for filtering search results.

Book-style foldables now rival bar phones

What about width and height, for book-style and flip foldables, respectively? The unfolded dimensions are important because they give you an idea of how the phone will fit in your hand. Folded dimensions are important because they give you an idea of how the phone will fit in your pocket.

So, should Phone Finder look at folded or unfolded dimensions when searching? Or maybe the folded thickness and unfolded width/height, depending on the style of foldable? This could get quite confusing, though, as the dimension used in the search will vary from phone to phone – especially when you get a mix of foldables and regular phones. What do you think? Vote below and share your thoughts in the comments.