Android Foldables

Foldables are still a new concept, but they’ve been getting much better over the few years they’ve been on the market. Samsung has been the leader in foldables since the beginning, but the company has now officially lost its crown as competition heats up and Galaxy foldables stagnate.

Foldable smartphones are still pretty expensive, but prices have been coming down. MWC 2024, though, was the place where it became abundantly clear that cheap foldables are coming, as several made an appearance.

Foldable smartphones aren’t “new” at this point, but 2023 was easily the most impactful year yet for the form factor. Two devices in particular stand out amongst the new releases – the OnePlus Open and the Google Pixel Fold.

Samsung pulled the plug on its Galaxy Note lineup in 2022, pushing the best aspects of the beloved phones into its “Ultra” flagship, as well as giving the foldable Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip into the Note’s old release date. For anyone still hopeful the Note would return, though, those hopes have certainly been dashed at this point.

Foldable smartphones are full of promise, but so far, they’ve also been full of compromise. With the Galaxy Z Fold 5, though, Samsung really nailed it in one aspect by finally delivering on the promise of stellar battery life.

One of the biggest criticisms of foldable smartphones from Samsung and others over the past couple of years has been durability, as stories of spontaneously broken displays have made their way through the web. More torture tests of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5, though, continue to show that Samsung’s devices are more durable than they’re given credit for.

Foldable smartphones have reached their fifth major generation, as heralded by Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Fold 5, and the major expansion of brands that are stepping up to the plate. With so many options out there, what’s stopping you from getting a foldable?

I think foldable screens are flawed as every fold wears out the display, but I do admit that the tech is getting good enough for that to not matter over the average lifespan of a phone. That said, I think there’s a more fundamental and conceptual question to be asked about today’s Android foldables: Does most large-screen content have to span the screen, and be physically connected when going from one half of a fold to the other?

Gmail appears to be rolling out a new UI update on foldables, adding a useful navigation rail to the app.

Google’s large-screen push that started with Android 12L culminates with the launch of the Pixel Tablet and Fold. Now that it’s on shipping hardware, I think the tablet benefited much more than the foldable, with another Android optimization drive needed for the unique hardware form factor.

With the promise of a Chrome refresh coming to desktop sometime this year, we’re already seeing signs of a redesign on foldable devices, as subtle as they may be.

It still feels like foldables are a brand new technology, but it’s been four years since Samsung first launched its Galaxy Fold that pushed the form factor into the mainstream. Now, according to a new report, foldable smartphones are expected to ship over 20 million units in 2023, with even bigger numbers in the future.

As the foldable market heats up, prices should eventually start coming down. At MWC 2023, the smaller smartphone brand Tecno announced the Phantom V Fold, a foldable in the same style as Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4, but at nearly half the price.

Samsung is finally set to get some real foldable competition – the Oppo Find N2 Flip launches globally today with a compelling offer against the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

According to a new report today, Microsoft’s approach to Android foldables, which certainly stood out, is coming to an end as the Surface Duo 3 looks to use a traditional foldable screen.

Foldables clearly have a big role in the future of smartphones, but to date, every model has come with compromises – whether those be on hardware or software. With the Galaxy Z Fold 4, Samsung has brought its hardware to a strong point, but it might just be the boost from Google’s Android 12L release that really makes this model shine.

Foldable smartphones still feel like a brand new idea, but in reality, Samsung is now on its fourth generation of the form factor. Foldables are still far from perfect, yet each new release inches closer to solving the biggest issues. With the Galaxy Z Flip 4, Samsung has debuted a foldable that’s really ready for most buyers, mainly thanks to solving the most glaring issue.

Foldable smartphones finally caught some traction with the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and, even more so, the Galaxy Z Flip 3. Now, as the next round hits the market, Samsung believes that over the next few years, foldables will become the brand’s most popular premium smartphones.