Best foldable smartphones so far in 2023

UPDATE: 07/31/2023 08:30 EST BY ROLAND UDVARLAKI

We regularly update older posts to ensure they contain the latest and most up-to-date information. We edited this post to include the recently unveiled Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphones.

Foldable smartphones are more popular than ever, and while they won’t take over traditional, flat smartphones anytime soon, they’re gaining traction. Foldables are slowly becoming a new way of consuming content, and many more companies are joining the race to get a slice. Some companies, such as Samsung, have dominated the market for several years, and we’re seeing increased competition from brands such as Google, HONOR, Samsung, Motorola, OPPO, and soon OnePlus.

In this guide, we collected some of the best horizontal and vertically foldable smartphones that money can buy. We included our favourite phones and the ones you can most likely buy or at least consider purchasing. We had phones from Samsung, Google, HONOR, Motorola, OPPO, and a few more. We also encourage you to visit our best smartphones in 2023 and the best with stylus guides.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is the latest foldable in the company’s lineup, and it offers excellent value if you’re considering buying your first foldable. When the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 4, it might not look like much of an upgrade. Still, there are enough quality-of-life updates to make the Fold 5 an easy recommendation for those looking to upgrade from the Galaxy Fold 3 or older or pick up their first foldable.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset powers the Fold 5, with up to 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of USF 4.0 storage. It’s fast, powerful, and efficient. The phone has a 6.2-inch cover and a 7.6-inch central display. Both panels are bright and colourful and offer high-refresh rates to provide a more enjoyable and premium experience. The main screen also supports the S Pen stylus input to let users draw, make notes, and do sketches.

The device has the same camera setup as the Fold 4, consisting of a 50MP primary, a 12MP ultrawide, and a 10MP telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom. There’s a 4MP under-display camera on the main screen and a 10MP selfie shooter on the cover screen. Luckily, users can unfold the phone and take selfies using the rear cameras, offering high-quality self-portraits with ease. As for the battery, the phone has a 4,400 mAh cell inside with support for 25W charging and 15W wireless charging. It’s not the fastest around, but Samsung says it’ll be able to go from 0-50% in 30 minutes.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is one of the best flip phones in 2023, and it’s the best Samsung offers. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 is an excellent upgrade over the Galaxy Z Flip 4, and its highlighted upgrade is the new 3.4-inch cover display that lets you interact with the phone more meaningfully and efficiently. Taking selfies will be easier, glancing at the time, and notifications will be more manageable without needing to open the phone as much.

The Flip 5 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, with 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. It’s thin, light and offers beautiful looks and up to eight colour options. The device has a large 6.7-inch central display with a 120hz refresh rate. The cover screen is 3.4 inches, and while it offers only 60Hz, it’s a Super AMOLED panel and is bright and colourful.

The phone packs a dual camera setup, including a 12MP primary and a 12MP ultrawide camera. It also has a 10MP snapper on the front, and we expect great photos in most lighting conditions. The downside is that it lacks a telephoto camera, and you won’t be able to zoom in without losing some quality, but at least we still get ultrawide shots. The battery is the same 3,700 mAh cell in the Flip 4 with support for 25W wired and 15W wireless charging.

The Google Pixel Fold is the latest and the first foldable smartphone from the software giant. It costs a whopping $1,800 in the US, which might seem like a lot, but it’s on par with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Fold 4 – the latter can be found for much less now that it has been available for over a year.

The Pixel Fold boasts a 5.8-inch OLED, 120Hz, cover display and a 7.6-inch OLED, 120Hz main screen. It’s large and wide, and it’s excellent for simultaneously using two apps. It’s great for gaming, multitasking, and just about anything you can think of. The phone is powered by the Google Tensor G2 chip, the same SoC that powers the Pixel 7 series, including the Pixel 7a. It’s also IPX8 water resistant, offering peace of mind while using the phone beside pools and on a table.

It has a triple camera setup on the back, a 48MP primary, a 10MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom, and another 10MP ultrawide. There’s also an 8MP selfie camera on the main screen and a 9.5MP sensor on the cover display to help you take selfies. Regarding the battery, the Pixel Fold houses a 4,821 mAh cell inside that can last about a full day of mixed usage between the cover and the main display. It has wired and wireless charging options, and the phone support the Pixel Stand and other Google accessories made for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 series of phones. The Pixel Fold is worth considering if you’re after the actual Pixel experience.

HONOR recently unveiled the Magic V2 in China. While we await the company to reveal the device internationally, the HONOR Magic Vs remains a viable alternative for most European users. The HONOR Magic Vs became available not long ago for a low-enough price to make UK buyers consider it over the Galaxy Z Fold 4. The Magic Vs is available for £1,400, while the Fold 4 remains at £1,650 in the UK. The recently unveiled Galaxy Z Fold 5 will retail for £1,750 in the UK, making the HONOR Magic Vs an even better option.

The HONOR Magic Vs sports a lot of great features and powerful hardware. It has a 6.45-inch OLED cover display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 7.9-inch OLED main display with 90Hz. The cover screen is larger than the Fold 4, making the typing experience more user-friendly, giving you more space to message, browse, and use your favourite apps.

The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip powers the device, with 12GB of memory and 512GB of storage. It supports the Magic Pen stylus (sold separately) and runs MagicOS 7.1 based on the latest Android 13. The company also promises multiple years of OS and security updates.

The Magic Vs has a 54MP primary, 50MP ultrawide, 8MP telephoto sensor, and a 16MP front camera. It takes beautiful photos in all lighting conditions. While the HONOR Magic5 Pro still takes better images, the Magic Vs receives a worthy mention due to HONOR’s great optimizations and built-in features. Regarding the battery, the phone has a hefty 5,000 mAh cell inside. It supports 66W fast wired charging. However, it lacks wireless charging and is not IP-rated against water or dust.

The Motorola Razr+ (also known as the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra in some regions) is the latest foldable flip phone from Motorola, and it goes head-to-head against the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Razr+ vs Galaxy Z Flip 5. The Razr+ has a large 6.9-inch central display with up to 165Hz refresh rate and a 3.6-inch pOLED 144Hz refresh rate cover screen. It’s one of the most extensive cover screens we’ve ever seen, and Motorola even lets you use and control any apps you want. It’s not limited to only widgets, like the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

Hardware-wise, the Razr+ is equipped with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC with 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage. It has a 12MP primary, a 13MP ultrawide sensor, and a 32MP front-facing camera. Motorola has reportedly made many improvements in the camera department, and we look forward to testing them out in a future review.

Regarding power, the Motorola Razr+ comes with a 3,800 mAh battery cell, which is 100 mAh more than the Flip 4. It supports 30W wired charging and 5W wireless charging. It’s also IP52 rated, meaning it can withstand water splashes, and dust shouldn’t be an issue. The Moto Razr+ looks like a solid alternative to the Galaxy Z Flip 4, and it will be available in many more regions than the previous foldable phones from the company

The OPPO Find N2 Flip was announced back in February, 2023, and it quickly gained a lot of traction due to its low price tag, and impressive hardware and software features. The MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ chipset powers the smartphone, and it has up to 16GB of memory and up to 512GB of storage.

It’s a powerful chipset, capable of playing graphics-intensive games, multitasking, and just about anything you can imagine. The OPPO Find N2 Flip has a 6.8-inch LTPO AMOLED, 120Hz main display, and a large 3.26-inch AMOLED cover screen. The cover screen lets you add multiple widgets and the ability to preview selfies, among other things.

The Find N2 Flip has a 50MP primary and an 8MP ultrawide camera on the back. While the phone isn’t as powerful as the flagship phone from OPPO, it can shoot images in any lighting conditions with impressive results. It also has a 32MP front-facing camera.

The phone has a 4,300 mAh battery with 44W fast wired charging support. OPPO says it can go from 0 to 50% in just 23 minutes, and the phone can last about a day on a single charge. It costs £50 to £100 less than the Galaxy Z Flip 4 in the UK. However, it’s unavailable in places like North America.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 remains a solid option in 2023, despite the Galaxy Z Fold 5 bringing small quality of life improvements to the lineup. The Fold 4 is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset, with 12GB of RAM and 256/512GB and 1TB storage sizes.

The device features a 6.2-inch 23.1:9 Dynamic AMOLED 2X 120Hz cover display and a 7.6-inch 21.6:18 Dynamic AMOLED 2X 1-120Hz main display. It’s shorter and wider than the Galaxy Z Fold 3, making it easier to hold and more user-friendly. The crease is still visible but less prominent, and the new hinge mechanism appears to have held up.

The Fold 4’s camera setup received many upgrades and has a similar camera array to the Galaxy S22 Plus. It’s perfectly capable for day-to-day shoots, and while it won’t take photos as amazing as the Galaxy S23 Ultra, it’ll be more than capable with its 50MP primary, 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP telephoto sensor. The selfie camera on the cover display is a 10MP unit, and the main screen boasts a 4MP under-display sensor that we’d only recommend using for conference and video calls.

Most other specifications are similar to the Fold 3, and the latest SoC brings Bluetooth 5.2, 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, and more. It still features the IPX8 water resistance certificate, and while it has the same 4,400 mAh battery and 25W fast wired charging, Samsung claims that the phone can go from 0-50% in just 30 minutes.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 remains a solid option for clamshell foldable. Still, Motorola and many other brands are quickly gaining traction with their foldable devices offering similar and even more functionality at similar prices.

We picked the Galaxy Z Flip 4 mainly because of great software and hardware support and Samsung’s excellent track record in recent years. The company has made some of the best foldable devices, and although it was unchallenged, it deserves the first position. We have equally high hopes for the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 5, expected to arrive in July, 2023.

The Galaxy Z Flip 4 features a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz display It has a 1.9-inch Super AMOLED cover display, that lets users place widgets, see notifications and other incoming alerts such as phones calls, messages, and more. The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 SoC, like the Galaxy Z Fold 4, and it has 8GB of RAM and 128/256/512GB of storage options.

The Flip 4 houses a 12MP primary and a 12MP ultrawide camera, and there’s also a 10MP selfie shooter in a punch hole in the center top of the display. When the phone is folded, the outer display can be used to preview selfies taken on the primary cameras, resulting in higher-quality photos.

The device is powered by a 3,700 mAh battery, slightly larger than the one found in the Flip 3. The Flip 4 also supports 25W fast wired charging, and Samsung claims it can go from 0-50% in just 30 minutes. The phone also supports 15W fast wireless charging and 4.5W reverse wireless charging.

The HUAWEI Mate X3 is the latest foldable flagship from the Chinese giant. It comes with most of the features you expect from HUAWEI and is an excellent piece of hardware. It looks stunning, and the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip powers it. While it’s not the latest chip, it’s still adequate and powerful enough to do most tasks, including multitasking, playing games, and more.

We included the Mate X3 on this list due to its excellent set of features. We also know that many HUAWEI fans continue to support the company, and HUAWEI is continuously improving on offering a more comprehensive software solution for its devices to make them more appealing.

The Mate X3 comes with a 6.4-inch OLED, 120Hz cover display, and a 7.85-inch OLED, 120Hz main screen. It runs HarmonyOS 3.1 in China, and EMUI 13.1 in Europe. Sadly, the phone doesn’t support 5G and lacks support for Google Play Services.

HUAWEI was always known for its stunning camera quality, and the Mate X3 is excellent. It has a 50MP primary, a 12MP periscope telephoto sensor with 5x optical zoom, and a 13MP ultrawide camera. There’s an 8MP selfie camera on the main screen and another on the cover screen.

Regarding the battery, the Mate X3 has a 4,800 mAh cell. It’ll reportedly last a full day on a single charge, supporting 66W fast wired and 50W quickly wireless charging. The phone also supports 7.5W reverse wireless charging, and it’s available in a single colour in the UK.