How to Choose Between a Flip Phone and a Foldable Phone
For a while after the first iPhone came out way back in 2007, it seemed like we knew what all smartphones would look like: big, rectangular candy bars. It’s a good approach, because it simplifies things and lets apps take center stage, but there’s no denying that the sheer variety of devices before the iPhone was something special.
Finally, the standard set by the iPhone has a worthy competitor. There have been several attempts to move away from the candybar concept since 2007, including my personal favorite, the Xperia Play gaming phone (with a built-in PlayStation controller), but none of them really took hold until the advent of flexible OLED displays.
Over the past few years, companies like Google , Samsung, and Motorola have adopted two major formats that are distinct from the iPhone. These foldable phones have lasted long enough to span multiple generations, proving that they are more than just a passing fad. Even if they still make up a small percentage of the overall market , they seem like the best chance to escape the dominance of the original iPhone.
But one question remains: which foldable phone is better?
The most supported foldable phones right now come in two flavors: one that opens horizontally like a book, and one that resembles the flip phones of the ’90s and early 2000s that opens vertically like a compact. They’re often referred to as “foldable phones” and “clamshells,” respectively, which I find a little annoying given that both are technically “foldable” phones, but that’s the terminology I’ll use for the remainder of this comparison.
Each has its pros and cons, and with the release of standout examples like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Motorola Razr Ultra , I finally got a chance to use both. I think there’s a clear winner here, but depending on your preference, both devices offer compelling alternatives to the clunky brick you’ve probably been carrying around for the last decade.
Portability
Of course, the main thing that attracts me most to foldable phones is portability, but foldable phones and flip phones have different priorities in this regard.
For example, foldable phones don’t look as big when folded as non-foldable phones, and they can even be a bit thicker. For example, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is 0.35 inches (8.7 cm) thick when folded, while the iPhone 16 Pro is 0.32 inches (8.7 cm). That’s not bad at all, especially compared to previous models or alternatives like the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which is 0.4 inches (10.4 cm) thick when folded, but it doesn’t make foldable phones immediately more portable.
The catch is that when unfolded, foldable phones offer much more screen real estate than regular phones, allowing you to save the space they take up in your bag or pocket. In this way, they can be thought of more like portable tablets. Popular models like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold boast impressively large 8-inch displays when unfolded. Overall, these aren’t small devices, but they offer the largest possible display while taking up the least amount of space. They can also be quite thin when unfolded: The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is only 0.22 inches thick when fully unfolded.
Flip phones, on the other hand, are actually smaller. They don’t add screen real estate, but instead squeeze the screen space of a regular phone into a smaller area. When unfolded, they look like any other candy bar, but when folded, they resemble the flip phones that many millennials have used.
Unfortunately, this means they can be a bit thicker than regular phones when folded, with the Razr Ultra measuring 16.5cm thick and the Galaxy Z Flip 7 measuring 13.5cm. On the other hand, they’re much shorter when folded, with the Razr Ultra measuring just 8.5cm tall and the Z Flip 7 measuring 8.5cm. Considering the iPhone 16 Pro is 14.5cm tall, this trade-off may be worth it for those with limited space in their bag or pocket.
Additionally, like foldable phones, flip phones tend to be thinner than their regular counterparts when unfolded. The Razr Ultra measures 0.29 inches (6.7 cm) thick when unfolded, while the Z Flip 7 is just 0.26 inches (6.7 cm).
Which approach to portability you prefer probably depends on your priorities: Do you want a device that takes up the same amount of space as a regular phone but can hold more stuff, or do you want a phone that folds smaller than a regular phone? Personally, as someone with small or no pockets, I prefer the latter, but cases can be made for both. However, since this is my article, flip phones are the winner for now.
Ease of use
The next big advantage of foldable and flip phones is their expanded feature set. Sure, they’re well hidden, but when you hold them in your hand, what do you get for that extra investment?
For foldable phones, the answer is obvious: more screen space. This can be convenient when browsing the web, reading books, or multitasking with parallel apps, but unfortunately, this approach has a drawback. As much as I compare foldable phones to tablets, they have an Achilles heel: aspect ratio.
While tablets typically use rectangular screens that are well suited for gaming and watching video, a foldable phone’s main display is essentially two regular smartphone screens placed side by side — so these devices typically have to distort content to fit into a more square space.
This means a lot of cropping and letterboxing. As I discovered during my Z Fold 7 review, most apps still make poor use of the foldable phone’s extra screen real estate, especially video-sharing apps like TikTok. Games are a little better, but support varies by developer. Using an unoptimized app on a foldable phone’s main display won’t necessarily make the experience worse, but you also won’t get much benefit from the extra investment, which I’ll get to later.
To be fair, foldable phones also come with protective screens, so you can use them like regular phones when closed. This is great for quick one-handed use, and newer models like the Z Fold 7 now have screens that are no thinner than non-foldable phone displays (which was a big problem with older models), meaning you can go for a more traditional aspect ratio screen. But again, that means unless you plan on using apps side-by-side in multitasking or text-heavy apps that are easier to resize, you can’t expect the same experience as a regular tablet.
Flip phones, on the other hand, work just like regular phones when they’re unfolded. That means no aspect ratio issues, but no bonuses either. If you’ve used a smartphone in the last few decades, you know what to expect. However, like foldable phones, they also come with protective screens that you can use while folded, which has a toy-like charm to it. They’re not as functional as a foldable phone’s inset screen, which is essentially the same as a regular phone’s main screen, but these little displays are a great way to quickly check messages, check the time, or quickly open minimalist versions of certain apps. They won’t open every app, but using the inset screen when folded can make flip phones especially useful if you prefer to use your phone one-handed, since they’re generally smaller than even regular phones in this form factor. I’d still prefer the inset screen to foldable phones in general, but it’s a nice touch.
Before we go any further, it’s worth mentioning one more feature that both foldable and flip phones have in common. They are easy to take selfies with, thanks to the protective screens next to the main camera. This is a boon for influencers and social media enthusiasts, as rear cameras are usually much more powerful than the dot cameras built into the main displays of most phones. Foldable and flip phones usually have dot cameras, too, but it’s probably better to flip your phone over to take selfies with the more powerful camera.
Overall, foldable phone screens allow you to do more than flip phone screens, so I’ll put this category under them, but keep in mind that not every app will take up the entire screen when you unfold them.
Price
Whether you buy a foldable phone or a flip phone now, both are expensive. The cost of producing a durable screen and all those moving parts is too high for foldables to compete on price with similar non-foldable devices. But in my opinion, the flip phone is much more reasonably priced.
Yes, flip phones have less overall screen real estate. But with decent options like the base Motorola Razr starting at $700 (and dropping to $600 at the time of writing ), buying a flip phone now seems more affordable for the average person. Sure, these cheaper models have drawbacks, like weaker processors and smaller screens, but even top-end flip phones like the Razr Ultra and Galaxy Z Flip 7 still don’t break $1,500.
Meanwhile, foldable phones tend to cost more than even a really good laptop . The two most popular models right now, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold, start at $ 2,000 and $1,800 , respectively. That’s a lot of money for the extra screen space that many apps simply can’t use.
With that in mind, I have to look at the prices of flip phones. You’ll get the most out of every dollar you spend on these devices, but given their unusual aspect ratio, I don’t think foldable phones can match the same quality just yet.
Which phone to choose: flip or foldable?
If you’re the type of person who’s willing to spend the most on a device, a foldable phone is certainly tempting. It has a bigger screen, makes a great conversation piece, and manufacturers typically equip them with the most powerful processors they can imagine.
But for everyone else, I think flip phones are still the better choice. They just offer more for the money while still letting you do cool things like take selfies with the rear camera or display text on the outer screen. Plus, they actually beat foldable phones in terms of portability.
That could change over time if phones with other unusual form factors start to add more variation to the candy bar look. But for now, flip phones do a great job of offering something new while still fitting into the candy bar ecosystem when needed. Foldable phones are too weird when opened for most developers to bother supporting.