The definitive guide to buying a foldable smartphone in 2024

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The foldable smartphone market is poised for substantial growth in the coming years. According to market research firm IDC, foldable shipments worldwide will triple by 2027, crossing over 45 million units—although this is still a tiny fraction of the overall smartphone market.

Samsung and Huawei introduced foldable smartphones in 2019, and since then Chinese smartphone players like Xiaomi, Huawei, Honor, vivo, and OPPO have put out a slew of foldable smartphones, pushing the envelope in innovation and driving adoption. Google got in the fray with the Pixel Fold, while the recently unveiled Huawei Mate XT Ultimate, the world’s first smartphone with a tri-fold design, demonstrates the exhilaration in this category. Meanwhile, affordable smartphone brands like Tecno have taken a jab at the premium category with significantly cheaper foldable smartphones.

This year, the category has seen the entry of the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6, vivo X Fold3 Pro, and the Motorola Razr 50 and Razr 50 Ultra. Earlier, there were concerns about their durability, user experience had to be validated, and they were prohibitively expensive. But in the last year or so, foldable smartphones have made significant inroads into the mainstream and expanded their presence in India across a diverse price range and a wider portfolio.

Now that foldable smartphones have begun to gain considerable traction, here’s a comprehensive buying guide to navigate the world of foldable smartphones—what to watch out for, what to expect, and the best options on the table. The obvious benefit of a foldable smartphone is the size. The ‘Fold’ or book-type phones open to a tablet-like screen estate making content