Best Foldable Phones: Galaxy Fold, Huawei Mate X, Motorola Razr, and More
“Flip phones” are coming back in 2019. In February 2019, Samsung announced its highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy Fold, adding to the new category of smartphones that is foldable phones, and Huawei debuted its first foldable 5G smartphone Mate X, which is now selling in China at 16,999 yuan. Recently, Motorola also unveiled a new foldable Motorola Razr. Here’s a list of the best foldable smartphones on the market as well as some upcoming ones.
Samsung Galaxy Fold
- 4.6 inches (folded), 7.3 inches (unfolded)
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
- 12GB RAM; 512GB storage
- 10MP Selfie Camera, 8MP RGB Depth Camera
- Triple rear camera: 16MP Ultra Wide Camera+12MP Wide-angle Camera+12MP Telephoto Camera
- 4,380mAh (LTE model), 4,235mAh (5G model) battery
- $1980
Due to some production problems, the delayed Galaxy Fold finally began shipment in South Korea in September, even though it debuted months ago. Available for around $2,000, the Samsung Galaxy Foldable phone features a secondary 4.6-inch display that serves as its “cover.” And the folding phone can be opened up like a book to a 7.3-inch tablet. This expensive foldable smartphone Galaxy Fold has six cameras. On the back, there’s the same triple-camera setup that the Galaxy S10 had and on the front, there’s a single 10MP camera. In tablet form, there are two additional cameras inside: a selfie camera and an 8MP depth camera.
Huawei Mate X 5G
- 6.6-inch front, 6.38-inch rear (fold), 8-inch OLED tablet (unfold)
- HUAWEI Kirin 980 + Balong 5000
- 8 GB RAM; 512 GB ROM
- Leica Quad Camera: 40 MP (Wide Angle Lens, f/1.8 aperture) + 16 MP (Ultra Wide Angle Lens, f/2.2 aperture) + 8 MP (Telephoto, f/2.4 aperture,OIS), HUAWEI Time-of-Flight(TOF) Camera
- 4500mAh battery with 55W fast-charging
- $2417
Foldable phones and 5G phones have been a hot topic in 2019. Huawei jumped on both trends with its Huawei Mate X 5G smartphone. It has a 6.6-inch display when folded and an 8-inch OLED screen when you flip it open. It supports 5G connectivity said to be four times faster than 4G, a 4,500-mAh battery and a Leica triple camera in the rear. Huawei Mate X 5G is even more expensive than Samsung Galaxy Fold, with the high price of $2417, it was sold out within 10 minutes of its release.
Motorola Razr
- 6.2-inch POLED
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 710
- 6 GB RAM; 128 GB ROM
- 5MP selfie camera, 16 MP main camera
- 2510 mAh battery with 15W TurboPower fast-charge
- $1500
Since its original launch in 2004, the beloved Motorola Razr phone quickly rose in popularity with its sleek design, thin profile and various color options and stood out from a myriad of generic flip phones at the time. This time Motorola rebooted the classic Razr phone with a folding display. When unfolded, the Razr has a 6.2-inch display, slim at 6.9mm thin, about the thickness of an old iPhone 6. When folded, it’s thicker at 14 mm, but the Razr is still thinner than Samsung’s Galaxy Fold.
Royole FlexPai
- 7.8-inch flexible AMOLED display
- Qualcomm SD855
- 6/8GB RAM; 128/256GB storage
- 16MP+20MP camera.
- 3970 mAh battery
- $1280
Announced on October 2018, the Royole FlexPai is claimed to be the world’s first commercial foldable smartphone with a flexible display. It has a 7.8-inch AMOLED screen, which folds down in half to give two 4-inch screens. It runs an Water OSTM based on Google Android 9.0, and features two cameras with a 16MP lens and a 20MP lens. Making use of the foldable screen, the same camera doubles as a selfie camera. The FlexPai can be used either folded or unfolded, giving it the portability of a smartphone plus the screen size of a high-definition tablet. It sells at $1280.
Nubia Alpha
- 4-inch POLED
- Qualcomm® Snapdragon Wear 2100 platform
- 1 GB RAM; 8 GB ROM
- 5MP camera
- 500 mAh battery
- $510
Nubia unveiled its first wearable smartphone Nubia Alpha at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. Nubia Alpha is a cutting-edge wearable device, with an innovative, flexible display and can be worn on wrist like a smartwatch. it has a panoramic, 4-inch, wearable wrap-around screen (up to 230% larger than standard wearable displays), 500mAh battery which can last for 1-2 days of regular use. It also features a 5MP camera with UI shortcuts. To take a picture simply tap on the screen, and long press to record a video.
More Upcoming Foldable Phones
In addition to the newly released folding smartphones, other smartphone companies also have plans to roll out new foldable devices. Famous leakster Tiger Mobiles reported that Chinese phone manufacturer Xiaomi has been granted a patent for a vertical ‘clamshell’ folding phone with two front-facing cameras. Chinese tech company TCL is working on a number of foldable devices, and its first foldable phone might be available in 2020. Even Apple is rumored to have a foldable phone in the works. As early as December 2018, tech giant Google filed a patent application for a foldable device, so it is expected to release a foldable phone in the coming year.
If you want to explore China’s tech ecosystem but don’t know where to start, check out DecodeChina, a one-week immersion program organized by insiders from Pandaily. The latest installment will take place in Beijing and Shenzhen on January 13-19, 2020. Visit decode.pandaily.com to apply and secure a spot!
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