The definitive guide to buying a foldable smartphone in 2024

Earlier, there were concerns about their durability, user experience had to be validated, and they were prohibitively expensive. But in the last year or so, foldable smartphones have made significant inroads into the mainstream and expanded their presence in India across a diverse price range and a wider portfolio.

Now that foldable smartphones have begun to gain considerable traction, here’s a comprehensive buying guide to navigate the world of foldable smartphones—what to watch out for, what to expect, and the best options on the table.

Flip or Fold

The obvious benefit of a foldable smartphone is the size. The ‘Fold’ or book-type phones open to a tablet-like screen estate making content consumption, everyday productive work, and multitasking much more convenient, while the ‘Flip’ or clamshell ones fold the display into half, making them compact and easy to pocket. This year, book-type foldables surpassed the clamshell type for the first time since 2021 when the foldable smartphone market began its notable growth following the release of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3. While the clamshell market enjoyed popularity due to its more accessible pricing all this while, the democratizing of book-type foldables is leading to a reversal.

The Hinge and the Crease

There’s no doubt that foldable smartphones are inherently more fragile than normal phones since that hinge adds an additional point of failure. Most brands now test for a substantial number of foldings and unfoldings. Samsung claims that the Galaxy Z Fold6 can withstand 200,000 folds over its lifetime— around 100 folds every day for more than 5 years. These numbers are assuring; however, it could only take a single drop or an accidental counter fold for considerable damage. There’s also limited dust and water resistance due to the engineering challenges the hinge introduces—no foldable smartphone has yet achieved a full IP68 rating.

Another issue is that visible crease that runs parallel to the hinge. The crease is most visible if the display is off or if you are viewing from an off angle, but at most times, one tunes out that small inconsistency of the screen in current generation foldable smartphones. Of course, the end goal for the smartphone manufactures is to make the crease almost invisible in everyday use.

Camera Capabilities

Considering they are premium devices, foldable smartphones, especially the ‘fold’ ones, feature advanced camera systems. But navigating the engineering challenge of foldables and the space constraint in a slim frame implies that the camera capabilities always lag the flagship smartphone in that stable. Google’s Pixel 9 Pro has better camera setup than the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and the camera on Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 is dwarfed by what the Samsung S24 Ultra packs, for example.

That said, foldable smartphones offer some unique functionality for everyday photography.

All smartphones have a better rear camera than the front-facing camera, and therefore, you can use the rear camera for selfies from a foldable smartphone using the external display as a viewfinder. Additionally, you can set the phone down slightly folded, so it stays upright to click photos with a timer or using the palm gesture—no tripod or selfie stick needed!

Software Experience

Again, while the foldable smartphones boast of top-of-the-line specifications sheet, it’s the software where each of them differentiates. All smartphone brands offer unique software optimizations and additional functionalities for foldable smartphones.

Afterall, they need to take the advantage of an additional display, deal with the user experience of a dynamic screen estate, and offer an evolved multitasking experience to take advantage of the large display size. Plus, there’s also the difference in the functionality of the external display in flip-style phones—run all apps or limited apps or just widgets. Each phone maker handles these in its unique way.

Which One Should You Buy?

Premium Flagship Experience: A wider external display and a slimmer chassis makes the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold ( ₹1,72,999) nearly identical to a normal flagship smartphone. And once you open it, the large 8-inch screen transforms it into a mini tablet.

Overall, the hardware’s solid and reliable, there’s the expected Pixel camera goodness, and the displays are quite gorgeous. And it comes with the signature Pixel software experience, along with a dollop of AI-powered features. But it’s also the most expensive of the lot, mind you.

Most Complete Foldable: The OnePlus Open ( ₹1,39,999) easily beats the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Galaxy Z Fold6 when it comes to serious multitasking. It allows you to let you run multiple apps simultaneously in any size you want, taking the best advantage of that large screen estate.

And it’s backed by top-of-the-line hardware specifications, a giant camera module, and an attractive design. There’s no wireless charging and a limited IPX4 water-resistance rating though—but this skimping helps OnePlus to price it much cheaper than comparable foldables.

The OGs: Both Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 ( ₹1,44,999) and Galaxy Z Flip6 ( ₹89,999) continue to remain the primary considerations for anyone looking to pick up a foldable smartphone. They don’t come cheap, but they have also matured over time and exude confidence when it comes to durability and long-term reliability.

The Fold6 sports beautiful, bright displays, packs an excellent camera system, and offers blazing performance making the device a productivity powerhouse. There’s also a fair bit of AI-enabled experiences thrown in.

The Challenger: The vivo X Fold3 Pro ( ₹1,59,999) doesn’t just offer feature and experience parity with conventional flagships but exceeds them in meaningful ways.

With its kitchen sink approach to the X Fold 3 Pro, vivo packs in everything for everyone in its foldable smartphone. If only the software experience was more polished and the company guaranteed software updates for a longer period, it could really go for the crown.

Budget King: The motorola razr 50 ( ₹64,999) is a great starting place into the world of foldable smartphone without the proverbial selling your kidney. It offers excellent value and is also quite chic.

Sure, it will not break any performance benchmarks – there’s the more loaded motorola razr 50 ultra ( ₹89,999) for that – but there’s an enormous 6.9-inch display on the inside and a 3.6-inch outer display that lets you run full apps.