Foldable smartphones have quickly transitioned from concept devices to gadgets that are ready for real world scenarios. The numbers validate this trend. Statista predicts that the foldable smartphone segment is poised for take-off, with projected sales number of 69.2 million units by 2025 from 0.6 million in 2019. Is it time you took the plunge?
Concept phase
In February 2008, Nokia unveiled a concept mobile device – Nokia Morph, at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City. It was presented as part of the museum’s ‘Design and The Elastic Mind’ exhibit. While Morph might have been a drawing board concept, Samsung took things slightly further in 2013 with several concepts – codenamed Youm, for smartphones with flexible displays. You might remember the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge from 2010s where a portion of the screen sloped over the right-hand bezel. This was actually a glimpse into the future. Although Samsung has taken the lead in this space, it was Chinese start-up Royole that released the first commercially available foldable smartphone with an OLED display — the Royole Flexpai.
Rubber hits the road
Samsung first teased the prototype of its first foldable device soon after the Royole Flexpai was launched. The first gen Samsung Galaxy Fold finally debuted in 2019 with some teething issues but Samsung quickly went back to the drawing board and ironed them out. The Z Fold and Z Flip, Samsung’s clamshell style foldable display are both in their fourth generation now. Motorola rolled back the years and sought inspiration from its iconic Razr for its first smartphone with a foldable screen.
Flip or Fold
The Vivo X Fold
Brands like OPPO, Vivo and Huawei have also launched quite a few flagship foldable smartphones. The Vivo X Fold (not yet available in India) is one of the devices that has impressed us with its 8.03-inch inner foldable screen and the slightly curved 6.53-inch outer screen. If you’re in the market for a foldable smartphone in India, you have to choose between a book-type foldable (The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold series) that opens into a mini tablet or the clamshell style foldable. The large screen of the Z Fold series is great for videos, gaming and flipping through e-books. I love the dark mode (black screen with white text) on the Kindle App that is easy on the eye. You also get the extra screen real estate when you need it to catch up on your emails or editing a word doc.
Best foldable smartphones
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4: The fourth-gen Z Fold features an immersive 7.6-inch primary display (120 Hz / 1812 x 2176 pixels/ 373 PPI) with a 90.9% screen:body ratio. The Z Fold 4 is IPX4 certified for water resistance and weighs just 10% more than flagship devices like Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra or the iPhone 14 Pro Max. It’s also the best camera set up on any foldable device, with a 50MP lens, a 10MP telephoto cam with 3X zoom and an ultra-wide lens. The Z Fold 4 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor and comes with multiple storage options that stretch all the way to a 12GB/1TB variant. (Rs 1,54,999 onwards)
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4: In its folded position, the Z Flip 4 can slip into your skinny jeans. It weighs just 187 gm and feels great in your hand when flipped open (there’s a 6.7-inch primary display). Selfie fiends have driven the sales for the Z Flip series, this year Samsung adds ‘FlexCam’ that offers selfie previews. The cover display doubles up as a viewfinder, and you get a host of shooting options when the device is half open. (Rs 89,999 onwards)
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4
Moto Razr 5G: It’s been two years since this device debuted in India and is now available at a great deal on online platforms. Motorola uses a stainless steel frame and a proprietary ‘Zero Gap hinge’ mechanism that ensures the device folds in half with virtually no gap that protects the primary 6.2-inch pOLED display. The 48MP primary camera is backed by a large f/1.7 aperture that is stabilised with OIS and snaps vibrant images with 4x better low light sensitivity. It also doubles up as a selfie shooter with the phone flipped closed. (Rs 54,999)
