as others said , it will be slightly indented. As for a case , the metal frame is the casing. Perhaps a soft case on either side to protect against some shock when dropped ? However I keep a case on my note 9 to protect the screen not the back of the phone . My case is slightly higher than the screen so if it falls it will hopefully stop a crack. If the phone is closed then it should be fine.hinges should be fine, likely and extension of the muscle wire tech they already use in surface.
as for cracked screens, well all smartphones are screens out at all times, so I don't expect there to be a difference in that regard.
Case will be challenging though. That's something they need to sort out soon.
Some employees already have prototypes to use around the campus. So I am sure they have already figured out most of this stuff. They have apparently had prototypes of this specific design for over a year and have another year to release. This wont be a galaxy fold.
Otterboxes came about to protect the back glass of the iphones. A metal frame should be fine from drops. As I say above perhaps a soft bumper case to protect the edges from any drops.Glass on glass could be an issue.
I am sure a soft case will be easy enough, but I do wonder what an otterbox would look like.
right didn't even think of that. hard surface rubbing up against hard surface, may not lead to cracks but realize a lot of scratching instead.
The casing should be fine. I have a surface book at work and there are hardly any scratches on the back side of it even though a lot of times I have the screen flipped and folded back. Even then the average user has a phone for about 2 years. It should hold up well and a soft bumper case or even soft leather would work also. In fact with such a case it could be thinner than most phones in their bulky cases
Can't fair worse than the apple bend gate. I keep my note 9 in my back pocket and after over a year of use I don't see any bending in it.That might be fine most of the time, but unless it's made of unobtanium that metal is going to flex under pressure (pocket). There's also the probability of debris contaminating the inside of the clamshell.
In what scenario do you need productivity on a phone?
One that wouldn't allow at least a tablet, nevermind a 2-in-1 like Surface Pro.
I have my phone on me all the time , I don't always have another device. I can use this on a trip or project to a monitor / tv and get work done with a blue tooth keyboard. Word and one note work really well like this on my note 9. For me a keyboard on a 5.6 or 5.8 (forget the size) would allow me to type much more efficiently than the quarter screen size keyboard on the note