Launched in 2020 as a spin-off, foldable model for the Galaxy series, the Flip is one of Samsung's most interesting and most expensive phones.
Now, Samsung teamed up with fashion designer Maison Margiela for a phone that looks even better.
I used to work in the mobile phone industry and for a few years, but right after leaving that industry, I switched from Android to iPhone and honestly I can never see myself going back.
I do own a cheap Android, mostly for crypto stuff and as a backup, but the main phone is an iPhone and that ain't gonna change.
However, the Maison Margiela Samsung is compelling. I think it looks great.
But it has one potential issue, and it's a major one.
By definition, a smartphone is designed to provide the best possible user experience as long as the technology it carries stay relevant.
Some people change phones once a year, others only do it once every four or five years.
But, again, by definition, nothing deteriorates faster than portable technology. Expect for milk, perhaps.
This is the Maison Margiela x Samsung Achille's heel.
It makes sense to spend money, if you can afford it and if you're willing to do that, on a smartphone but only if it provides superior technology.
Because we have to aware that the phone will depreciate extremely quickly.
This, and I'm sorry but it's true, is especially valid for Android devices, which depreciate much quicker than equivalent iPhones.
So to spend more money on a tech item just because is co-branded isn't financially smart.
Remember Vertu? Vertu teaches an important lesson.
is a manufacturer of luxury smartphones for the rich. The company is still technically active but it is de-facto dead.
And it is dead because quality materials (Vertu used to use gold and carbon etc) and brilliant co-branded design (such as the Porsche Design x BlackBerry or the Maison Margiela you see here) are pointless if the smartphone is outdated, which literally any phone is after a while.
So the Maison Margiela collab adds nothing in terms of value. And that's because if you buy a smartphone, its entire point is that it has to provide technological value.
One year or two years from now, the Maison Margiela FOLD will be slightly outdated, just like the 'normal' one.
And it'll get worse, quickly, every year after.
