C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
While plenty of great phones are out there, manufacturers aren’t above a bit of spin, truth stretching, or outright lying about their products to make them stand out. Don’t believe me? We covered some sketchy smartphone marketing tricks many moons ago, and we’ve seen plenty more questionable tactics employed since.
With that in mind, I’m taking another look at a few smartphone marketing tricks you shouldn’t fall for.
Which marketing tactic do you hate the most? 29 votes Shady foldable phone measurements 10 % Misleading camera zoom claims 3 % Speeding up AI features 14 % Misleading protective glass claims 7 % Bragging about peak brightness 7 % Shady charging measurements 3 % Promoting features before they're ready 55 % No warranty for water damage 0 %
1. Foldable phone thickness and weight measurements
Paul Jones / Android Authority
This is the most recent tactic on the list, as foldable phone makers are now using two ways of measuring device thickness. The first method sees the folded device measured from cover screen to rear cover without considering the camera bump. This method isn’t perfect, but it’s generally accepted on conventional phones.
However, HONOR measures its foldables without considering the inner screen’s protective film. This came to light after a leaker on Twitter discovered that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 was thinner than the supposed world’s thinnest foldable phone (the HONOR Magic V5). Furthermore, it turns out OPPO also measures its foldables using this method. That’s extremely questionable, as this inner film isn’t meant to be removed by consumers. As far as we can tell, Google and Samsung use the first measurement method.
Either way, you can’t fully trust when a manufacturer says its device is the world’s thinnest foldable phone. Furthermore, HONOR, OPPO, and vivo measure the weight of their foldables without including the inner screen’s protective film. Again, this is a questionable way to make your device look better to consumers. It’s also disappointing because today’s foldable phones are slim and light anyway.
2. Fudging optical zoom
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