Over the past few years, two major formats that deviate from the iPhone shape have been embraced by companies including Google<\/a>, Samsung, and Motorola. These foldable phones have stuck around long enough to span multiple generations, proving they\u2019re not just a flash-in-the-pan gimmick. Even if they\u2019re still a small percent of the overall market<\/a>, they seem like the best opportunity we have to escape the original iPhone\u2019s dominance.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s still one question in mind\u2014which kind of foldable phone is better?<\/p>\n Right now, the foldable phones with the most support come in two versions: one that opens horizontally like a book, and one that calls back to the flip phones of the \u201890s and early 2000s, opening vertically like a makeup compact. These tend to get called \u201cfolding phones\u201d and \u201cflip phones,\u201d respectively, which is a bit annoying to me given that they both technically fall under the umbrella of \u201cfoldables,\u201d but it\u2019s the language I\u2019ll use for the rest of this comparison.<\/p>\n Each have their pros and cons, and with the releases of recent shining examples like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7<\/a> and the Motorola Razr Ultra<\/a>, I\u2019ve finally gotten extended hands-on time with both. I do think there\u2019s a clear winner here, but depending on who you are, both offer compelling alternatives to the non-folding brick you\u2019ve probably been carrying around for the past decade.<\/p>\n Portability<\/p>\n By far, the thing that stands out to me most about foldables is portability, but folding phones and flip phones each have different priorities in this case.<\/p>\n Folding phones, for instance, don\u2019t tend to look that different from non-folding options when they\u2019re closed, and can actually be a little thicker. The Galaxy Z Fold 7, for instance, is 0.35 inches thick when folded, while the iPhone 16 Pro is 0.32 inches thick. That\u2019s not bad at all, especially compared to previous models or alternatives like the 0.4 inch thick (when folded) Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, but it also doesn\u2019t immediately make folding phones look more portable.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n The Galaxy Z Fold 7 (left) next to an iPhone 15 Pro (right). The catch is that, when unfolded, folding phones offer way more screen space than a normal phone, giving you a better value for the real estate they take up in your bag or pocket. In that way, they can be seen more as portable tablets, with popular options like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold both boasting impressively large 8-inch displays when unfolded. They\u2019re not small devices overall, but they provide the most display you can get while taking up as little space as possible. Plus, they can actually get pretty thin when unfolded, with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 in particular being just 0.22 inches thick when fully stretched out.<\/p>\n Flip phones, meanwhile, do actually give you a smaller overall package. With these, you don\u2019t get more screen space, but instead pack a normal phone\u2019s screen space into less overall area. When unfolded, they look like any other candy bar phone, but when folded, they call back to the clamshell phones of many a millennial\u2019s youth.<\/p>\n \n Razr Ultra halfway between being flipped open. Unfortunately, that does mean they can be a little thicker than a non-folding phone when folded up, with the Razr Ultra hitting 0.62 inches thick and the Galaxy Z Flip 7 reaching 0.54 inches thick. On the flipside, they\u2019re much less tall in this mode\u2014the Razr Ultra is just 3.47 inches tall and the Z Flip 7 is actually a little shorter at 3.34 inches tall. Given that the iPhone 16 Pro is 5.89 inches tall, that compromise might just be worth it for anyone who\u2019s short on bag or pocket space.<\/p>\n Plus, like folding phones, flip phones also tend to be thinner than their non-folding counterparts when unfolded. The Razr Ultra is 0.29 inches thick when opened up, and the Z Flip 7 is a slender 0.26 inches thick.<\/p>\n Which approach to portability will appeal more to you probably depends more on your priorities\u2014do you want something that takes up the same space as a normal phone, but packs more into that package, or do you want something with an overall smaller profile than a normal phone when it\u2019s folded up? Personally, as someone with small or even nonexistent pockets, I prefer the latter, but cases can be made for both. Since this is my article, though, flip phones are taking the win for now.<\/p>\n Usability<\/p>\n The next big advantage to folding and flip phones is their enhanced feature sets. Sure, they tuck away well, but when you actually have them unfolded and in your hands, what do you get for your extra investment?<\/p>\n For folding phones, the answer is obvious: more screen space. This can be great when browsing the internet, reading a book, or multitasking with side-by-side apps, but it unfortunately has a drawback to it. As much as I compared folding phones to tablets earlier, they have an Achilles heel: aspect ratio.<\/p>\n While tablets tend to use rectangular screens that work well for gaming and videos, a folding phone\u2019s main display is essentially just two regular smartphone screens side-by-side\u2014therefore, these devices usually have to try to contort content to fit into a more square space.<\/p>\n \n Multitasking on the Galaxy Z Fold 7. That means a lot of cropping and letterboxing. As I discovered while reviewing the Z Fold 7, most apps still don\u2019t make good use of a folding phone\u2019s extra display space, especially video forward ones like TikTok. Gaming fares a little better, but support depends on the developer. You\u2019re not necessarily getting a worse experience when using an unoptimized app on a folding phone\u2019s main display, but you\u2019re also not making much use out of your extra investment, which I\u2019ll get into in a bit.<\/p>\n What do you think so far?<\/p>\n To be fair, folding phones also come with cover screens, so you can use them like a normal phone while they\u2019re closed. That\u2019s great for quick one-handed use, and more recent models like the Z Fold 7 have now made sure their cover screens are no longer thinner than the displays on non-folding phones (a big issue on older models), which means you can swap over to using the cover screen for a more traditional aspect ratio. But again, that still means that unless you\u2019re planning to use apps in a side-by-side multitasking mode, or use text-based apps that are more easily resized, you can\u2019t rely on getting the same experience that you would on a typical tablet.<\/p>\n \n Razr Ultra fully unfolded. Flip phones, meanwhile, essentially operate exactly like non-folding phones when opened. That means no aspect ratio issues, but also no bonuses. If you\u2019ve used a smartphone at any time over the past few decades, you\u2019ll know what to expect. That said, like folding phones, they also come with cover screens to use when they\u2019re folded up, and these can have some toy-ish charm to them. They\u2019re not as functional as a folding phone\u2019s cover screen, which is essentially the same as a non-folding phone\u2019s main screen, but these smaller displays are a great way to quickly check messages, read the time, or access minimalist versions of select apps in a hurry. They won\u2019t be able to open every app, but using the cover screen while folded can make flip phones extra useful if you like to use your phone with one-hand, as they\u2019re overall smaller than even non-folding phones in this form factor. I\u2019d still give cover screen usability to folding phones overall, but it\u2019s a nice touch.<\/p>\n Before I move on, I should also mention one extra feature that both folding phones and flip phones have. Because they have cover screens right next to their rear cameras, it’s easy to take selfies with them. That\u2019s a boon for influencers and social media butterflies, since rear cameras are usually much more powerful than the pinhole cameras built into most phones\u2019 main displays. Usually, folding and flip phones will feature pinhole cameras as well, but you\u2019re probably better off turning the phone around to take your selfies with a more powerful camera setup.<\/p>\n \n A selfie taken using the Razr Ultra’s rear camera. Overall, folding phones do have more you can do with their screens than flip phones, so I\u2019ll give this category to them, but note that not every app is going to take up the whole screen when you unfold them.<\/p>\n Price<\/p>\n Whether you\u2019re buying a folding phone or a flip phone right now, both come at a premium. The cost of manufacturing a durable screen and all those moving parts is just too much for foldable devices to compete on pricing with comparable non-folding configurations right now. But for my money, flip phone pricing is a lot easier to stomach.<\/p>\n Yes, you get less overall screen space with a flip phone. But with decent options like the base Motorola Razr starting at $700 (and down to $600 at time of writing<\/a>), getting a flip phone just feels more attainable for the average person at this moment. Granted, these more inexpensive models do have compromises, like weaker chips and smaller cover screens, but even top-of-the-line flip phones, like the Razr Ultra<\/a> and the Galaxy Z Flip 7<\/a>, still don\u2019t break the $1,500 mark.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, folding phones tend to cost more than even a really good laptop<\/a>. The two most popular ones right now, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, start at $2,000<\/a> and $1,800<\/a>, respectively. That\u2019s a lot to spend on extra screen space that a lot of apps can\u2019t even make use of.<\/p>\n With that in mind, I\u2019m going to have to give pricing to flip phones. You\u2019ll be able to make great use out of every bit of your dollar on these devices, and because of their unusual aspect ratios, I just don\u2019t think folding phones can say that yet.<\/p>\n Should you get a flip phone or a folding phone?<\/p>\n \n Razr Ultra cover screen. If you\u2019re the type of person to go all-out when buying a device, getting a folding phone is certainly tempting. You\u2019ll get more screen space, it\u2019ll make a great conversation piece, and manufacturers usually deck these models out with the most powerful chips they can muster.<\/p>\n But for everyone else, I think a flip phone is still the better choice. They simply offer more value for your money, while still being able to pull off neat tricks like taking selfies with their rear cameras or showing texts on their cover screens. Plus, they actually have folding phones beat when it comes to portability.<\/p>\n This could change over time, if phones with other unusual form factors start to make more of a dent in the \u201ccandy bar\u201d look. But for now, flip phones do a great job of offering something new while still fitting into the candy bar ecosystem when needed. Folding phones, meanwhile, are just too strange when opened up for most developers to bother with supporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We may earn a commission from links on this page. An unfolded Galaxy Z Fold 7 (left) Next…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51467,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[49,48,190,61],"class_list":["post-51466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mobile","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/images-1.fill.size_2000x1125.v1754509142.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt\n <\/p>\n![\"Razr](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/images-2.fill.size_2000x1125.v1754509142.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt\n <\/p>\n![\"Multitasking](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/images-3.fill.size_2000x1125.v1754509142.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt\n <\/p>\n![\"Razr](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/images-4.fill.size_2000x1125.v1754509143.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt\n <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/images-5.fill.size_2000x1500.v1754509143.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt\n <\/p>\n![\"Razr](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/images-6.fill.size_2000x1126.v1754509824.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt\n <\/p>\n