Foldable smartphones aren’t a total novelty anymore now that various brands make them, but they’re still far from being ubiquitous in people’s hands. There are various reasons to consider one, but how they can affect mobile photography helps make them more interesting.
Manufacturers who’ve made folding or flip smartphones since Samsung first introduced the Galaxy Z Fold in 2019 keep trying to figure out a few keys. One, make them thinner and lighter. Two, make the inner screen bigger and brighter. Third, try to add unique use cases. Fourth, battery life should be improved to sustain the broader user experience.
Doing all that makes foldables expensive, especially those, like the Fold, that open up like a book, rather than the flip-style models that harken back to those old-school flip phones. It also means compromising on camera performance to keep costs down. And yet, as this mobile sub-category continues to evolve, it’s becoming clearer who’s cutting corners along the way.
Focus Versus Purpose
Take stock of how things currently shape out, and you notice a pattern. Samsung and Google focus more on AI features. In contrast, OnePlus, Vivo, Honor, and Xiaomi tend to prioritize camera performance to align more closely with their regular bar slab phones. That’s not to say they don’t offer any AI features, just that they often come through software updates (though a more significant AI push is likely coming from all of them in 2025).
Regardless, the number one draw is the screen real estate and its ability to enable multitasking. Running two apps in split-screen is old hat for tablets, but on a phone that doesn’t require you to squint, it’s undeniably fun and interesting.
How else can you scroll through your photo gallery on one side while editing selected photos on the other? I’ve personally enjoyed the luxury of doing so myself. In some cases, I’ve used Lightroom on one and the default Gallery editor on the other. In other instances, two photo editing apps can run together. Foldables let you save app pairs as icons on your home screen, launching both together when you want them.
While pen input seems like a no-brainer with a larger display, there’s little movement on that front. Samsung has offered support for its S Pen with the Galaxy Z Fold series for a few generations now, except you have to buy one separately, and it has to be one that’s compatible with the device. Other brands haven’t done much of anything as far as pens go, so this is Samsung’s game to lose.
Samsung Stumbles in 2024
Speaking of Samsung, it might’ve been more prudent for it to alternate years between its foldables. For instance, launch a Galaxy Z Fold one year, a Z Flip the next, and so on. Two-year gaps have certainly made a bigger difference with the Flip, but pooling resources over a longer cycle could — theoretically anyway — lead to bigger leaps and renewed interest for both devices.
Case in point, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a disappointment in several respects. Not just the same camera hardware going back to the Fold 4, but also iterative changes that did little to garner intrigue or excitement. I didn’t review the phone, but after reviewing all of the previous models, I tested the Fold 6 and was underwhelmed by the experience. Little more than a way to push the company’s Galaxy AI features, the Fold 6 feels more like it comes from a brand trying to catch up rather than lead the charge.
Yes, it has a thinner and lighter body with a brighter screen, along with AI features that can sometimes impress with their performance, yet the starting price of $1,900 — $100 more than the Fold 5 — doesn’t feel like there’s as much value attached.
I get that people who buy foldables aren’t necessarily doing it for the cameras but that doesn’t justify charging more for older components. Even more so when Samsung has marketed the Fold and Flip models for their photography potential. Mid-range image sensors on the main and telephoto cameras remain unchanged, while a newer sensor for the ultra-wide camera doesn’t deliver the improved results Samsung claims. Apart from offering full-resolution shooting on the Flip 6, little changed there, too.
Part of my bearish impressions stems from what competitors, particularly those from China, produce. Better cameras, longer battery life, and slicker multitasking combine with excellent designs for a smoother experience. While foldables from Vivo, Honor, and Xiaomi aren’t as readily available on North American shores, they deliver far better imaging options and results than Samsung’s managed the last few years. Same with the OnePlus Open, which is easy to find in Canada and the U.S., and costs much less now at $1,200 with double the storage to boot.
Google’s Play
Google’s latest Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a departure from the original Pixel Fold in both design and purpose. Far more attuned to what a foldable should look and feel like, the device proves a big functional step in the right direction. It’s also a way for the company to introduce its array of AI features, particularly in photo editing and generative AI.
Even still, baffling omissions stand out. In my review of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, I note how the camera app doesn’t let you switch between screens when propping it up in landscape to view the live preview on the lower half. There is a clunky workaround, but it’s not ideal when time isn’t on your side. You only need to tap on the proper toggle in the camera app for all other competing foldables, so losing out on it here is all the more frustrating when you’re just trying to capture a landmark from a lower perspective.
It’s a perplexing choice because this is the first Google foldable released to many markets. The original Pixel Fold was limited to a few countries, so its shortcomings didn’t stand out to those who had no chance of seeing one. To keep costs down, it also largely sticks with the same camera hardware as the Pixel Fold, which didn’t impress as much as the other Pixel phones often do.
Upstarts Make Things Interesting
The OnePlus Open was the first foldable to impress me in some time. While Samsung had been at it for years, changes were highly iterative on the user experience and camera side of things. It managed to flatten the Fold down and offer excellent screens over time. Not to mention excellent dust and water resistance.
Except OnePlus finds ways to make using a foldable fun and useful. It feels more like a standard phone when folded shut and the inner screen packs a visible punch when you open it up. Multitasking features are more refined and well thought out, while battery life tends to be better on both ends. It lasts longer and takes far less time to recharge. The only glaring problem is that OnePlus chose not to include wireless charging. Bad, OnePlus, bad.
Motorola hasn’t made a foldable yet, sticking to what the Razr branding is known for, which is flipping open to a bar slab, thus competing with the Galaxy Z Flip. The Razr’s second chance in the smartphone era (remember the first one circa 2011?) could make things interesting, though it has yet to truly stand out.
Looking further east toward the likes of Vivo and Honor, specifically, both have upstaged Samsung and Google in a variety of ways. Thin and light, sure, but camera output just routs both of them. The Vivo X Fold 3 offers the same versatile camera app as its bar phones, including Zeiss features and integration, presenting several modes and superb manual controls over composition. Moreover, its telephoto lens is unmatched, crushing anything I could capture with a Galaxy or Pixel foldable. Where Vivo errs is in not allowing its camera app to work in split-screen with any other app.
It’s a similar story with the Honor Magic V3, the thinnest and lightest foldable at the time it launched, albeit with an equally noticeable camera bump in the back. Both of its displays are pretty to look at, though this phone carries the unique distinction of having the brightest outer screen and among the dimmest inner ones on all foldables.
Honor manages to deliver a folding phone that feels like a bar phone when closed and a mini tablet when you open it up. It still needs to improve the multitasking toolset to feel more intuitive, but the software’s speed and stability are welcome. Then there are the cameras, which outdo Samsung’s and Google’s latest foldables in just about every respect. Plus, Honor’s partnership with Studio Harcourt Paris adds something new to portraits not seen on other phones.
What Comes Next?
You could make the argument that Chinese brands enjoy certain competitive advantages others don’t. Government subsidies, be they tax breaks or favorable loans, can help level the playing field in ways other foreign brands can’t access. Even so, smartphones are a competitive business, regardless of whether they fold or not, and while it’s hard to innovate every 12 months, someone’s got to take some chances.
Right now, that’s not Samsung. There’s no question 2024 will be remembered as a forgettable year for the South Korean giant. Plummeting profits, poor execution, and disarray in the company’s top echelons trickled down to its products, including the current crop of Fold and Flip devices. Should new leadership right the ship, it could bode well for pushing the envelope in this category but that’s a big “if” under the circumstances.
Nor is Google likely to take advantage of its rival’s shaky situation. Expect Google to play it safe with the next Pixel Fold, though newer camera hardware is possible if it follows the same pattern set with its other Pixel phones. On average, a Pixel phone gets new image sensors every two or three iterations.
More likely, Samsung and Google will double down on AI features to sell new ideas on what it means to use a foldable phone — at least for those paying attention. To keep prices as low as they can go, camera output will ostensibly get better with newer mid-range hardware, but probably not enough to outmatch what the others will deliver.
Meanwhile, brands like Vivo and Honor, which don’t sell directly to consumers in North America, might find it harder to do so if U.S. tariffs place more barriers. Xiaomi already has a foldable for the Chinese market. I’ve seen it, and it’s an interesting device. A camera array on par with Xiaomi’s T series would be a tough competitor for any foldable. Whatever the case, all of these brands will have to seriously consider long-term support with years of Android and security updates to match the now-standard seven-year Samsung and Google set.
As it stands, OnePlus has an opportunity to seize the initiative since it’s probably next in line to launch a foldable successor to the Open. That’s assuming it improves upon the original and turns a few heads with how it looks and operates. We’ll have to wait and see.
Ultimately, the foldable market will grow one way or another. It’s just a question of how big a role AI and camera features will play in that evolution.