Fold them or flip them, smartphones with bendable displays are here to stay | The Straits Times

SINGAPORE – Huawei’s new Mate XT smartphone looks like something out of a dream.

With its three-part screen, where the right and left segments fold into the middle, it opens and closes much like a brochure. Unlike paper brochures, however, it has the processing power of a small computer and a price tag to match (about $3,650).

Currently available only in China, it is among the most buzz-worthy of recent smartphone launches. The foldable phone market is filled with credible options for both clamshell-style flip phones and book-style folding phones with bendable displays.

In September and October, at least two Chinese consumer electronics firms released foldable devices to the global market: Xiaomi, with its first MIX Flip clamshell ($1,499), and Honor, with its Magic V3 book-style phone ($1,999).

Also in October, American tech company Google released the second version of its book-style folding phone: the Pixel 9 Pro Fold (from $2,399).

The trajectory began earlier. In July, South Korean electronics giant Samsung launched the latest version of its Galaxy Z Flip (from $1,648) and Fold (from $2,548) models.

Also available in Singapore, since November 2023, are the Find N3 Flip clamshell ($1,099) and Find N3 book-style ($2,099) folding phones from Chinese manufacturer Oppo.

The Motorola Razr, originally a flip phone that was popular in the mid-2000s, has also been present in the market as a modern touchscreen-only version since 2020.

The latest iteration released in June, the Motorola Razr 50, is not officially available in Singapore. But some retailers on e-commerce platforms Shopee and Lazada are selling it for upwards of $680.

Before 3-, 4- or 5G, when mobile phones were mainly for making phone calls or sending short text messages typed on alphanumeric button pads, smaller was better.

The same philosophy held true for much of the early smartphone era as well.

But as people started to expect more and more from their mobile phones – treating them as substitutes for laptops and desktop computers – big phones came into fashion, decked out with larger screens, higher-capacity batteries and other hardware upgrades.

In this landscape, foldable phones present the best of both worlds in certain respects.

For people struggling to fit modern smartphones into small purses or shallow pockets, compact flip phones hold an obvious appeal.

A book-style folding phone, meanwhile, makes it comfortable to enjoy activities more suited to a tablet, such as watching a movie or reading a book, or even a broadsheet newspaper like The Straits Times.

Seniors and other users tired of squinting at small text on their phones will also appreciate the bigger screen.

However, these phones also take a step further in functionality by essentially packing two devices into one.

The book-style folding phones, for instance, can be used, while folded, as regular candy-bar phones.

Meanwhile, the external cover screens of clamshell phones – which are the top half of the side that faces outward – have become more and more sophisticated with each new generation.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6’s external cover screen spans most of the front of the folded device, and provides easy access to selected functions such as the camera, phone and voice recorder.

The external cover screens on the Xiaomi MIX Flip and Oppo Find N3 Flip are not quite as full-coverage, but they offer a slightly wider selection of widgets that includes Google Maps and TikTok. Resourceful users can get these on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6, but it will require some effort and workarounds.

Phonemakers have also leveraged the hinge mechanisms of these devices to offer more functions than candy-bar phones.

Want to take a quick selfie of your outfit of the day? No need to precariously tilt your phone against a wall or prop it up against a nearby object. Fold it at a 90-degree angle like a laptop or at 45 degrees like a tent, and place it on a flat surface. The phone remains stable while you take your photos, with a camera system that adapts to your chosen configuration.

I take a selfie at my dining table with review units of the Samsung, Xiaomi and Oppo flip phones. It is perhaps the fastest selfie I have taken, if only because I did not need to spend 10 minutes trying to find a half-decent angle to prop the phone up.

These phones also prove useful in the gym, a place where I had never considered recording myself. But the ease of setting up the clamshell phones makes it simple and fuss-free to check my form while lifting weights.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 even lets me mirror the rear camera’s image in the external cover screen, so I can check that I am recording myself properly without shifting out of position.

The camera systems on these devices are respectable, though not the most technologically advanced on the market. Photography pros might have quibbles, but casual users are likely to be satisfied with the images and videos produced by the newer generation of foldable phones.

I take a photo of the sunrise from my home one morning, and there are slight differences in how the colours and light are processed by three different phones.

The Google Pixel Pro, for instance, seems to capture more foreground detail. But given my own amateur skills, and the fact that I will use such photos only in a personal capacity, I am satisfied with them as keepsakes of a transient moment.

Watching video clips or conducting voice calls is easier too. When I chance upon my mother attempting to look up video recipes for ribbon pakoda, a savoury Indian snack, I unfold the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and prop it up on a shelf for us to watch the clips while continuing with our prep work in the kitchen.

There is one task that I did not quite manage to pull off with any of the phones: writing my hypothetical great Singaporean novel.

Even with the book-style folding devices placed in “laptop mode”, typing was awkward and clunky. It was much easier to type while the device was completely unfolded – perfect for writing slightly longer e-mails. Creatives seeking a smartphone that encourages their literary aspirations should look elsewhere.

On the other hand, multitaskers will enjoy the split-screen capabilities of both book-style and clamshell smartphones.

If I could keep these review units just a bit longer, I might catch up on social media while watching a live stream of American pop star Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour concerts, which are into their final stretch in North America.

All the devices in this round-up run on the Android operating system, which means that they offer a similar experience in terms of interface usage and functionality, with small differences.

Other common smartphone features are all in place as well: USB-C connectivity, 4K video recording, fingerprint sensors, lack of a headphone jack.

Most of the displays boast a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz, making for a visual experience that is easy on the eyes – a higher refresh rate means the screen refreshes itself more often in a single second, resulting in a smoother display. This is a feature that the standard iPhone 16, with its 60Hz refresh rate, still lacks.

The creases on the devices are also largely a non-issue during use, and I often forget they are there.

The hinge that causes the crease is really the “hero” element of foldable phones that allows them to fold and unfold – and even half-fold – in various configurations.

However, it has also been the Achilles heel for early iterations of such devices.

I hear a sobering anecdote about a couple, who each had a foldable phone a few years ago – a clamshell for her, a book for him. Both devices broke within a year or two due to the fragile hinge.

But there is evidence that the technology is improving. In August 2023, Polish YouTuber Mrkeybrd ran a live stream where the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 was continuously folded and unfolded by human testers.

The phone managed 220,000 folds before the hinge began to struggle, and more than 400,000 folds before collapsing fully. It might have endured longer had Mrkeybrd not subjected it to “extreme testing” such as a dousing in water, flour and eggs.

Nevertheless, 400,000 folds is double the 200,000 folding and unfolding cycles that Samsung said the Galaxy Z Flip 5 can handle. This means at least five years of use for a person who folds and unfolds the phone some 100 times a day.

It is as positive a sign as any that the foldable smartphone market has pushed past initial conceptions of these devices being novelties or nostalgic gimmicks.

What comes next? It seems that anything is possible. Rumours run the gamut from tri-folding devices from more brands to foldable tablets. There could even be a foldable version from Apple, which some industry observers think could hit the market in 2026.

One thing is clear. While the flip phone was briefly an artefact of a pre-smartphone age, it is now fully back and will not return to obsolescence any time soon.

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