The Best Folding Phones for 2024: Google, OnePlus, Samsung, and More

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When Is the Best Time to Buy a New Folding Phone?

New foldables aren't announced as often as regular phones are, but they still arrive with a regular cadence. There's really no bad time to buy so long as the phone has all the features you want. As for manufacturer-specific release windows, Samsung and Google have both moved up their foldable release schedules in 2024, respectively, to July and August, so we are still waiting for an annual pattern. OnePlus last announced a foldable in October 2023, but a refresh may not arrive until early 2025.

What Are the Types of Foldables?

Foldables primarily come in either a book- or clamshell-style design. Book-style foldables like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold feature an outer screen that's about the size of a regular slab phone and open to reveal a larger, tablet-sized screen. Meanwhile, clamshell-style devices like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Motorola Razr+ have a small outer screen and resemble a regular slab phone when you flip them open.

The two styles of folding hardware offer completely different experiences, so it's critical to decide which is right for you before buying.

How Durable Are Foldables?

Foldables have an inherent design weakness due to their hinges. Any time you add a moving part or parts, you introduce a point of failure. The hinges are exquisitely engineered but will still wear over time. Samsung claims its Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 can each withstand 200,000 folds over their lifetimes, while Motorola claims its Razr+ can handle 400,000 folds. That's a lot of action on the hinge. In more practical terms, 200,000 folds breaks down to about 100 folds every day for more than 5 years. With the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Google didn't disclose how many folds the device could withstand.

What about that bending screen? Gorilla Glass protects the external screens of some foldables from scratches and damage that might come from drops. The flexible nature of the inner screens prevents manufacturers from coating them with the same hardened materials as a traditional phone, but they generally feature a secondary layer of protective folding glass.

Due to the engineering challenges the hinge introduces, no foldable has yet achieved a full dustproof and waterproof IP68 rating. The Moto Razr+ has an IPX8 rating, meaning it can withstand water, but is not rated for dust ingress. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 has an IP48 rating; meaning it can resist entry of materials greater than 1mm and is rated and withstand submersion.

How Big Are Foldables?

Just like regular smartphones, foldables have gotten thinner and lighter over the years. The original Galaxy Fold resembled two smartphones stacked together, with a thickness of 0.7 inches when closed. But the most recent Galaxy Z Fold 6 is just 0.48 inches thick when closed (a 0.16-inch difference versus the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max.) And at 8.43 ounces, the Fold 6 doesn't weigh too much more than the biggest iPhone (8.01 ounces).

Clamshell-style foldables are still pretty thick when closed. The Z Flip 6 comes in at 0.60 inches, for instance. But it's not very wide (2.8 inches), tall (3.4 inches), or heavy (6.6 ounces). Of course, foldables are half as thick when opened, so the Z Fold 6 measures 0.22 inches thick, and the Z Flip 6 measures 0.27 inches thick.

The most important thing to remember is that the shape and size changes when you unfold them. Book-style foldables become wide, tablet-size devices, while flip-style foldables become the size of a regular phone. Each has distinct pros and cons.

What's It Like to Use a Foldable Phone?

Because you can use foldables closed or open, the experience is a bit different than with a typical phone. Taking a selfie is a good example of how things differ. When you take selfies on a regular phone, you usually use the front-facing camera so you can see the viewfinder. Since foldables have multiple displays on which you can see yourself, the best camera changes based on what you're doing and what sort of photo you want.

There are no folding iPhones yet, which means Android is the sole mobile operating system for foldables. The good news is that the platform is robust and should feel familiar to anyone who has used an Android phone in the past few years. Even so, Android faces usability issues on particularly tiny or huge screens because most apps aren't built with these sizes in mind.

Each phone maker handles the issue differently. Motorola's Razr+ allows you to run almost any app on its pint-size front screen, but it warns you of potential incompatibility issues. In comparison, Samsung intentionally limits the Flip 6's external screen to a select few apps.

For the large, inner screens of book-style phones, you must deal with the same problems that many Android tablets face, namely stretched-out apps and limited multitasking abilities. Again, phone makers differ in how they approach this issue. The Google Pixel Fold, for example, lets you run two apps at once on the inner screen along with a floating video window. Samsung's One UI allows you to tile up to three apps, open a video player on top, and access other apps in a pop-up view. Here, the latter approach is more effective for multitasking.

Manufacturers also have different ideas when it comes to app continuity. That is, should an app continue from the smaller external screen to the larger inner one and vice versa? By default, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 assumes you won't immediately use the outer screen once you close the device. But Motorola's Razr+ gives you the option to continue the app to the front screen after closing it. Nearly all foldables will expand an app you are using on the outer display to the full inner display when you open the phone.

This is to say that you can find ways to get the experience you want out of a foldable device with two screens. It just might take some fine-tuning.

What About That Crease?

Foldable displays still have a visible crease that runs in a line parallel to the hinge. In our experience, the crease is most visible if the display is off or if you are viewing the screen from an off angle. When using apps, playing games, or watching videos, the small inconsistency of the screen is otherwise easy to ignore. Additionally, improvements to flexible displays and hinges have made the crease harder to see and more durable on the most recent models.

What's Next for Foldables?

As the technology behind folding phones matures, the devices will likely become more durable, with smaller bezels, and pack more power into frames that are increasingly thin and light. Will Apple ever make a folding iPhone? It hasn't officially committed to the idea. Meanwhile, rumors are swirling that Samsung will introduce a thinner version of the Fold later in 2024. Samsung also has a history of bringing top-tier features to more affordable devices over time, so a Z Fold FE or Z Flip FE seems like an eventuality (at least we hope so).

We could see other foldable designs in the future, too. Back in 2020, TCL showed off a tri-fold device with a massive 10-inch display. This device remains a concept and has yet to hit the market. But Tecno recently showed off its own tri-fold concept. Some foldables outside of the US show off new ideas, too. The book-style Honor V Purse, for example, resembles a digital handbag with a camera bar along the outer edge. Rollables are another way to squeeze a larger screen into a smaller package, but these still appear to be limited to proofs-of-concept rather than devices intended for production.

If and when these new devices come out, we plan to review them and update this roundup with any new details. Make sure to check back often for all the latest news.