Other Folding Phones to Consider
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra for $2,100: The Z Fold8 Ultra is a refined release with a 6.5-inch cover display that opens to an expansive 8-inch screen that feels like two 6.5-inch displays side by side. It's fast and smooth, with a 5,000-mAh battery, but it's the camera that earns it the “Ultra” title. It's an impressive combo, including a 200-megapixel main shooter, 50-megapixel ultrawide, and a 10-megapixel telephoto lens that supports 3X optical zoom. Sadly, it lacks Qi2 support for magnetic wireless charging, and the camera module makes it rock when lying flat on a surface. But the main reason it misses out on a place above is that the smaller Fold8 is so much easier to handle.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 for $1,200: If you want something compact, the Galaxy Z Flip8 is the lightest and thinnest flip phone in the world with a redesigned chassis, and it comes a close second to Motorola's Razr Ultra. It has a 4.1-inch cover screen, and it flips open to become a 6.9-inch candy bar. It's also more durable than ever and boasts the same excellent chipset and performance as Samsung's larger Fold models. The 4,300-mAh battery is solid, but the camera system is relatively basic, comprising a 50-megapixel main shooter backed by a 12-megapixel ultrawide.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Motorola Razr Fold for $1,900: The first book-style foldable from Motorola is good, but not great. The front screen feels very much like a normal phone, and you can open it to enjoy the vast 8.1-inch display inside. Sadly, the Razr Fold lacks the top-end processor of the year, which is disappointing at this price. The highlight is the massive 6,000-mAh battery, which can stretch to nearly three days of use. Thankfully, it does come with seven years of software updates (unlike Motorola's Flip family). Motorola has also added a telephoto lens to the capable, triple 50-MP camera. But, overall, we prefer Google's Pixel 11 Pro Fold.
Motorola Razr+ 2026 for $1,100: The awkward middle child in the Razr lineup lacks the bells and whistles or top-notch specs of the Ultra, but still costs more than $1,000. You can get very close to the same experience from the cheaper Razr and save hundreds. Even battery life is unimpressive, because it has the smallest capacity of the Razr family. The cover glass isn’t the ceramic glass mixture as on the Razr Ultra. I found out the hard way after dropping the phone once, roughly a 4-foot drop onto asphalt, and the front screen shattered. Get a screen protector!
Oppo Find N6
Photograph: Simon HillOppo Find N6 for $1,929: With an 8.12-inch internal display, the Find N6 is a beautifully engineered folding phone that’s impossibly slim and light. Despite its promise of being creaseless, the fold is still discernible. You’ll hardly notice it when the screen is on, though you’ll feel it if you use the optional stylus. Performance is impressively slick, with enough stamina to see you through a busy day, and the camera system is excellent. It’s a big step up from last year’s N5, with a 200-MP main shooter, 50-MP telephoto, and 50-MP ultrawide. The global model can use familiar Google apps, but you’ll have to import it, as this phone won’t officially be released in the West.
Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold for $1,799: The only reason to consider the Pixel 10 Pro Fold right now is if you see it on sale. Google's Pixel 11 Pro Fold is superior, but the 10 Pro Fold isn't far behind this year's release. It's still a reasonably slim device with a large front screen that feels like a normal phone, an excellent 8-inch inner screen, and a triple-camera system that delivers great results, though not as great as the Pixel 10 Pro series. Read our Best Pixel Phones guide for more.
Xiaomi Mix Flip for $899: Xiaomi’s first flip phone has a lovely design with excellent displays inside and out, long battery life with fast charging, and flagship-level performance. It also boasts a solid dual-lens camera, opting for telephoto instead of ultrawide alongside the capable main shooter, which is more useful for most folks. The software lets the party down a little; there’s no IP rating, and it is pricey, but I had fun with this flip phone.
Things to Know Before Buying
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Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Folding phones are more fragile than normal phones. Folding phones have more parts than a traditional smartphone, not to mention a hinge. Companies advertise how many folds these devices have been tested for—usually around 200,000 or 500,000 folds—but a single drop can be incredibly damaging. They are not as dust-resistant, and some aren't as water-resistant (only the Pixel 11 Pro Fold and iPhone Duo are IP68-rated in the US), so you'll want to be especially careful. Use a case, and it may be worth investing in the manufacturer's device care policy.
Don't remove the built-in screen protector. Most of these folding phones have a film over the inner screen. You might be tempted to remove it, but don't—it can damage the display. The packaging usually includes instructions not to remove it and how to care for your device.
There's a small learning curve to the software. Flip-style folding phones are fairly straightforward, but book-like folding phones that double as tablets have new multitasking tricks that will take some getting used to if you want to make the most of them. I recommend taking some time to run through these features so you understand how they work.
They're expensive. Do you need one? Nobody needs a folding phone. If you think you'll benefit from one, know they're frequently discounted during big sale events like Black Friday, and you can also knock a few hundred dollars off if you trade in an eligible device.
Which Type of Folding Phone Is for You?
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Folding flip phones are for people who want a compact device. Think of a normal phone you can fold in half. That's pretty much what you get, plus a screen on the front to monitor widgets and texts. This does mean you can flip the phone to answer a call and flip it shut to end one—super cool. You can put the phone at a 90-degree angle, and some apps will adapt to show controls on the bottom and important details at the top, like in video calling apps or when watching videos on YouTube, though this depends on the phone. Folding flip phones typically have mediocre battery life, and their cameras aren't as good as their non-folding counterparts.
Folding book-like phones are for people who want the big-screen experience. Are you constantly watching full-length movies on your phone? Or do you always find yourself jumping back and forth between two apps? Then these are for you. They have good battery life and better cameras (though not as good as non-folding phones), but they're far more expensive. These include the short-lived triple-screen folding devices like Samsung's Galaxy Z TriFold. They're thick and heavy, though we're seeing newer models that are surprisingly thin. Still, you may have a hard time fitting them in your pockets.
Is Now a Good Time to Buy?
If you're team Android, this is a good time to buy. Samsung and Google just updated their foldables, and Motorola released its first big foldable in the summer and won't announce the Razr 2027 lineup until the spring. For folks outside the US, we probably won't see new foldables from Honor or Oppo until the spring, too.
If you're considering an iPhone, Apple is likely to unveil a new folding phone soon, so you might want to wait and see what it looks like.
My Favorite Folding Features
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Whichever style you go for, my favorite feature of folding phones is the ability to see the viewfinder on the external screen and snap a selfie with the high-quality rear cameras—just set the phone down slightly folded so it stays upright, and there's usually a button you can click in the camera app to send the preview to the external screen. You can usually trigger the shutter hands-free with a palm gesture. (Motorola's Razr Ultra lets you start and stop video recordings with hand gestures, too!) It's excellent when traveling if you want to take a photo of yourself next to a point of interest.
Many of these phones offer similar functionality with translation—Samsung and Google, for example, let you show your words translated on the external screen so the person you are speaking to can see it, and then they can tap a button on the screen to have the phone start translating their words, which you'll see on the internal screen. It's a much nicer system than using Google Translate on a candy bar phone. —Julian Chokkattu
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