Foldable phones are here to stay. I wasn’t sure if they would be at first — I remember plenty of the problems with Samsung’s original Galaxy Z Fold — but they’ve come a long way in just seven years. Their hinges have gotten stronger, cameras better, and software more mature, yet they’re still as eye-catching and head-turning as ever.
I should know — I’ve had my hands on almost every foldable (and flip) phone to launch in the US or abroad since the start. Have I loved them all? Of course not, but I, along with the rest of the Android Authority team, have watched them steadily improve to the point where we’ll happily carry the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold or Motorola Razr Ultra as a daily driver over a traditional Android phone.
And, with that extensive experience in mind, here are the best foldable phones you can buy in 2025.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: The best foldable phone overall
Thinnest, lightest Z Fold to date • More durable design • 200MP primary camera • Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy
MSRP: $1,999.99
Thin, light, high-powered, and it folds!
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 offers an 8-inch OLED screen, a 200MP camera, the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset, and a 4,400mAh battery. The Galaxy AI experience is baked in, offering tools across the camera, Circle to Search, and much more. Best of all, Samsung continues to evolve its foldable hinge assembly, promising reduced visibility of the crease.
Positives
- Incredible slimline design
- Improved internal display
- Solid performance
- Good enough battery life
- Flexible cameras
- Excellent update commitment
Cons
- No S Pen support
- Lame wired charging speeds
- Prohibitively expensive
Google claimed our top foldable crown in 2024 with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, but after a weaker offering in 2025 from the Big G (more on that later), Samsung is back on top with the Galaxy Z Fold 7. It is, in our opinion, one of the best-looking and best-feeling foldable phones ever made, measuring barely thicker than a pair of Galaxy S25 Edges when closed.
Despite my usual preference for flip phones over book-style foldables, this is one that I’ve continued to come back to for its mix of just-right Galaxy AI features, a 200MP primary camera, and a rich blue finish that looks just as good now as it did when I set it up.
Seriously, though, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is thin enough that it has to be felt to be believed. Yes, that means I had a terrible time opening it during parts of my review period, but that’s only because my fingers aren’t used to trying to open something that’s only as thick as the Galaxy S25 Ultra in the first place. Along with slimming around the waistline, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 packs a Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 and Victus 2 combination sandwiched around Armor Aluminum for quite a lot of peace of mind.
Inside that package, the seventh-generation foldable is mostly a case of annual upgrades. It bumps to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset, pairs it with the same 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage that hummed through task after task last year, and backs it with a 4,400mAh battery that’s about as predictable as the sun rising each morning. Perhaps it’s not the most exciting cell, but Samsung has had a few years to optimize its performance, enabling it to outpace its predecessor and nearly keep pace with the Galaxy S25 Ultra in several categories.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 is unbelievably thin, yet remarkably long-lasting.
Another thing the powerful Galaxy Z Fold 7 shares with its more traditional sibling is its camera setup — or at least its massive primary sensor. It’s been an excellent shooter during our time with the phone, delivering sharp photos and lending its mountain of megapixels to the entire zoom range, bringing a noticeable boost to everything from 1x zoom to about 10x. It also bins down to 12MP shots by default, making it much easier to manage your images when editing in Photo Assist. Just note that you won’t find any sort of S Pen support on the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which is a pretty big departure from previous years.
Motorola Razr Ultra: The best foldable flip phone you can buy
Blisteringly fast charging and excellent battery life • Ultra-flagship-tier performance • Top-notch materials and eye-catching Pantone colors
MSRP: $1,299.99
High-end processing power in a folding shell
Adding Ultra to the name, the Motorola Razr Ultra is the first folding phone from Moto with a top-tier processor. The 7-inch folding display is paired with a half-size front display to give you both a premium experience, and a compact and portable communication device.
Positives
- Blisteringly fast charging and excellent battery life
- Ultra-flagship-tier performance
- Solid dual camera setup
- Top-notch materials and eye-catching Pantone colors
- Two very vibrant displays
- Clean, simple software
Cons
- Moto AI feels half baked
- Limited software commitment
- Long-range zoom kinda stinks
- Expensive
We’ve been asking for a true no-holds-barred flip phone for a few years now, and with the Motorola Razr Ultra, we’ve finally got it. It’s brand-new to the Razr family for 2025, and Motorola’s most premium foldable is the real deal. It’s bigger and more powerful than ever, featuring a 7-inch AMOLED panel, Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, and a 4,700mAh battery that’s significantly larger than the one in the rival Galaxy Z Flip 7.
The Razr Ultra is more than just a packed spec sheet, though, as it offers the in-hand experience to back up Motorola’s boasting. Its use of Corning’s Gorilla Glass Ceramic and an optional wood back panel make this flip phone one of the best-looking and most durable I’ve handled. Its 165Hz refresh rates (on both displays) are incredibly smooth, even if I’d probably have been just as happy with 120Hz instead. Either way, Motorola’s cover screen experience remains the absolute best part of the Razr Ultra, offering three panels for widgets and an app drawer that you can actually fill with all the apps on your phone.
I’m relieved to report that Motorola has reworked its cameras, too, undoing what I begged for on the Razr Plus from 2024. The Razr Ultra swapped back from a wide and telephoto pairing to wide and ultrawide, and bumped both sensors to 50MP along the way. This is, quite simply, the pairing that a flip phone was always meant to have, with excellent sharpness and just enough field of view to fit everyone in your selfies.
Motorola packed its Razr Ultra with the best specs it could find, and then some.
Of course, there are still a few wrinkles to iron out with the Motorola Razr Ultra. It’s the first Moto device to embrace a brand-new AI button opposite the power button, and it comes with an extensive list of Moto AI features for you to explore. I’ve appreciated a few, like the semi-automated Look and Talk and the generative Image Studio, but others have left me scratching my head, like the Playlist Studio that only works with Amazon Music. Perhaps the most useful one, if you’re new to this AI world, is called Next Move, which guides you into Motorola’s other features when you’re not quite sure what you need your phone to do.
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Motorola Razr Ultra
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7: The best foldable phone for Samsung fans
MSRP: $1,099.00
Samsung’s best flip phone for 2025.
The Galaxy Z Flip 7 offers some of Samsung’s most impressive flip phone hardware ever, featuring a 4.1-inch edge-to-edge cover screen and a thickness of just 13.7mm when closed. It also has a larger 6.9-inch inner display, good general performance, and seven years of Android updates.
Positives
- Excellent cover screen hardware
- Impressively thin design
- Larger, more comfortable inner display
- Good day-to-day performance
- Seven years of Android updates
Cons
- Frustrating cover screen software
- Exynos 2500 is a downgrade from the Snapdragon 8 Elite
- Slow (and hot) charging
- Middling cameras
From a flip phone that’s more than a little of everything to a stylish update of an old friend, it’s time to talk about the ever-reliable Galaxy Z Flip. Specifically, Samsung is onto its seventh generation of folds (and flips), so it’s used to setting the tone for both build quality and software consistency. In many ways, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 is almost identical to the device that came before it, but it now offers a square cover screen that stretches from one edge of the aluminum frame to the other.
Honestly, the best reason to pick up the Galaxy Z Flip 7 is its overall consistency and the fact that it’s a much more affordable gateway to the world of Samsung foldables than the Galaxy Z Fold line. As much as we’ve given Samsung schtick for requiring Good Lock to unlock the full potential of its Flex Window, once you jump through the correct number of hoops, it becomes a pretty well-rounded experience. Samsung’s cover screen widgets are responsive and refined, making it almost unnecessary to use apps on the Flex Window in the first place. But, like, seriously, Samsung, maybe it’s time to take the training wheels off.
A brand-new cover screen makes the Galaxy Z Flip 7 much more enjoyable to use while closed.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 7 also offers some of the best AI-powered camera features available on a flip phone. I spent a lot of my review using Auto Zoom with the phone in Flex Mode, trusting it to keep me within the frame of the wide and ultrawide cameras without ever having to adjust the zoom myself. You can also use Sketch to Image to add elements to your photos, but you’ll have to trust your ability to draw with a fingertip.
Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold: The most durable foldable phone
Magnetic charging • IP68 rating • 6.4-inch outer and 8-inch inner displays
MSRP: $1,799.00
Thinner, more powerful, and a bigger display
The Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold combines a 6.4-inch front display with a folding 8-inch inner panel for two capable viewing experiences. With the Tensor G5 shipset, 16GB of RAM, and lots of UFS 4.0 storage options, it matches the Pixel 10 Pro XL in terms of specifications and performance. The folding phone also offers a triple camera setup, plenty of powerful AI features, wireless charging, and an IP68 rating.
Positives
- First foldable with an IP68 rating
- Smooth, durable hinge
- Built-in magnets
- Very good battery life
- Pixel software looks great on a big display
Cons
- Much heavier and thicker than the competition
- Extremely mediocre cameras
- Tensor G5 doesn’t fit a $1,799 smartphone
- Biometric and connectivity bugs at launch
When it launched in 2024, I thought the Pixel 9 Pro Fold was one of the best single-year updates to a phone — maybe ever. It brought upgrades to build quality, performance, and overall design, and felt like a finished product where the original Pixel Fold just didn’t. In many ways, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is yet another step forward, but the stride was a little too short to top this list.
Google’s most expensive phone makes a few head-scratching decisions that we covered in our review, but it does have some added benefits like Pixelsnap magnets, a tough IP68 rating, and a brand-new gearless hinge. These all mean that the Pixel 10 Pro Fold should handle day-to-day life just a little bit better than its predecessor.
While it’s tough to skirt around the fact that some parts of the Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s design might be steps backwards, everything under the hood feels like progress. This third-generation foldable has a bigger battery, crossing the 5,000mAh mark for the first time, a more powerful Tensor G5 chipset, and a whole host of new Gemini-powered features. Some, like updates to Gemini Live, have found their way into my routine more effectively than others, such as the Magic Cue and Daily Hub, but Google continues to demonstrate that it has no shortage of ideas.
Also, Google’s Material 3 Expressive refresh looks simply excellent on this tough foldable’s dual displays. Both OLED panels are crisp and smooth, with 120Hz refresh rates and 3000 nits of peak brightness both inside and out, and we’ve yet to find anything — games, movies, or too-long Instagram sliders — that doesn’t adapt well to life on the 8-inch internal panel. Multitasking is better than ever thanks to a clever take on OnePlus’s Open Canvas, and Google’s shorter, wider display still looks great with two apps side by side.
Google’s Pixel 10 Pro Fold is as tough as they come, packing the first IP68 rating on a foldable phone.
If there’s one thing that kept the Pixel 10 Pro Fold from repeating as our top foldable phone, though, it’s the cameras. They still benefit from that lovable Pixel processing, but Google hasn’t given its most expensive foldable the same sensors as its other Pixel 10 devices, backing the 48MP primary sensor with 10.8MP telephoto and 10.5MP ultrawide options. They still support many of the same shooting modes as their non-folding cousins, but we have to say that we miss the extra resolution.
Joe Maring / Android Authority
Motorola Razr 2025: The best value foldable phone
Improved hinge • Flexible cameras • Excellent price
MSRP: $699.99
The most affordable 2025 Razr
A good looking 6.9-inch folding display is paired with a 3.6-inch external display to make up a compact folded phone, with few compromises at full-size. The Motorola Razr 2025 is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 7300X and 8GB of RAM, a 50MP camera, and a 4,500mAh battery.
Positives
- Solid performance
- Improved hinge
- New Pantone color options
- Flexible cameras
- Excellent price
Cons
- Slower charging than other Razrs
- Limited software update commitment
If there’s one problem with all the foldable phones we’ve mentioned on this list so far, it’s that they’re all expensive. You’ll have to shell out $1,000 or more to put any of them in your pocket, which is more than a first-timer might want to spend. With the Motorola Razr (2025), though, you can get the best of Hello UX with money left for accessories. And yes, it looks like the Razr Plus from a few years back, but when you’re getting this much value, we’re not going to pick apart appearances.
Besides, we liked the original Razr Plus design, and it’s just as good with a new set of Pantone colors and textures on top. It’s plenty durable for the money, combining an IP48 rating with an aluminum frame, a stainless steel hinge, and Gorilla Glass Victus for the 3.6-inch cover screen — a square panel that stretches from the middle of the design right down to around the dual camera array.
And, of course, no Razr is complete without Motorola’s open, flexible software experience. Just like on the Razr Ultra, you can open any app in your library right there on the cover screen without Good Lock. You might need to modify the layout with a long press on the gesture pill, but it’s much nicer to have the ability to open Gemini and more without needing a second app drawer. MediaTek’s Dimensity 7400X chipset might not be quite the powerhouse of the Snapdragon 8 Elite in its Ultra-badged sibling, but it’ll do in a pinch.
I’ll always take a Razr Ultra-level experience for half the price.
Also, I’d say the Razr (2025) is a perfect example of tech journalists not always knowing best. I begged Motorola to ditch its ultrawide camera in favor of a telephoto sensor for years, and found myself thoroughly disappointed when it did just that on recent Razr Plus launches. So, with the base Razr circling back to a 50MP wide and 13MP ultrawide duo, I can happily say I’ve learned my lesson about what works best.
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Honorable mentions
OPPO Find N5
One of the best-designed foldables ever.
OPPO is back with another foldable with the Find N5, a gorgeously designed book-style folding phone with a powerful processor and an almost crease-less screen.
OPPO’s Find N5 is one of those foldables that we just have to appreciate from afar in the United States. It offers everything we were hoping for from a OnePlus Open 2 (which isn’t coming this year), pairing excellent build quality with a nearly creaseless display and a punchy Snapdragon 8 Elite chip to keep the lights on. We spent enough time with the Find N5 to find out that its ultrawide camera leaves something to be desired, though, and there’s that little issue of it not being available in the US or Europe…
HUAWEI Mate XT Ultimate Design
Tri-foldable OLED display • High screen-to-body ratio • Versatile triple camera setup
The first ever tri-fold phone.
Experience the future of technology today with this tri-fold phone, from its sleek design to powerful performance that redefines what a phone can do. The HUAWEI Mate XT feels like any other foldable phone when closed, which is a testament to the device’s design.
Since we’re well into the weeds of phones that won’t be coming to the US, let’s up the ante. HUAWEI’s Mate XT Ultimate Design is the most ambitious foldable phone to launch since the original Galaxy Z Fold, packing not one hinge but two to give you the option of a 6.4-inch, 7.9-inch, or 10.2-inch display. Remarkably, it’s only about as thick as a Galaxy Z Fold 6 when closed, and is almost alarmingly thin when opened all the way. If you decide to import one, just be ready for that ~$3,800 price tag to sting a little bit.
nubia Flip 5G
Decent performance • Small display crease • Cheap for a foldable
The foldable flip phone gets even cheaper.
The nubia Flip 5G takes affordable foldables to the next level, bringing respectable performance, a tiny display crease, and solid battery life to the table.
The nubia Flip 5G might not set any performance or durability records among the foldable phone crowd, but there’s a good reason it’s on this list: This is the most affordable foldable phone money can buy. It’s a full $200 cheaper than the most basic Motorola Razr and a whopping $400 less than Samsung’s affordable offering, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE, but it offers respectable charging and battery life to at least get your foot in the foldable door. That said, it skips creature comforts like an ultrawide camera, an IP rating of any kind, and ultra-thin glass for the internal display, so you may want to consider an older Razr or Galaxy Z Flip instead.
OnePlus Open
Solid cameras • Refined hardware • Alert slider
A debut foldable phone with great hardware
The OnePlus Open brings what might be the best hardware on a foldable phone and enough clever software tricks to turn heads. It pairs top-end internals with some of OPPO’s careful trial-and-error to create a debut foldable phone that hardly feels like a first attempt. Add in a competitive asking price, and the OnePlus Open just might give other foldables a run for their money.
One last honorable mention that we think is worth a look is the OnePlus Open. Yes, we’ve moved on to hoping and praying for a successor, but the Open walked so that a lot of 2025 foldables could run. It pioneered the Open Canvas multitasking that both Samsung and Google now use, and its cameras are still some of the best that we’ve used on a foldable phone. Toss in OnePlus’s fast SuperVOOC charging and a charger in the box, and there’s a lot to like about this first-generation foldable over two years after its launch.
What to look for in a good foldable phone
Joe Maring / Android Authority
There are more options for foldable phones than ever right now. From flip-style convenience to fold-shaped power, it can be a challenge to nail down exactly what you’re looking for. There are, however, a few key factors to consider as you narrow down your options. Our advice is to start with the biggest, most important features, and work your way down to the smaller perks that you think would be nice to have. Of course, even that is easier said than done, so we’ve picked out a few options to get you started.
Foldable phones come in all shapes and sizes, so it’s not always easy to pick the right one.
Now, just because these things to look for are on our list doesn’t mean they’ll be on yours, too. You might find that you couldn’t care less about your battery capacity or AI features, simply because you’re an everyday charger or because you have no plans to let Gemini take over. Either way, take a glance down our list and see if anything catches your eye or guides your decision.
- Flip vs fold: The most obvious decision that you have to make before you buy a foldable phone is which form factor you prefer. Personally, I always gravitate towards the convenience of a flip phone, but you might find that you need the tablet-like internal display to tackle research tasks and multitask with confidence.
- Chipset: At one point, it felt like most foldable phones opted for the latest and greatest chipset, but now that there are so many different price points, you’ll also have to weigh out whether you want Qualcomm’s top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite or if a mid-range Dimensity chipset is more your speed. There are benefits to both, though one might pack more of a punch than another.
- Cameras: This should come as no surprise, but flip phones don’t tend to have much room for camera sensors. They tend to stick with the classic wide and ultrawide pairing, giving you convenient flexibility to use both as selfie cameras. Fold-style phones, however, usually add a telephoto sensor for better zoom — although not always up to the standard of a flagship.
- Materials: Just like our first few points, the materials used on foldable phones across the board have improved by leaps and bounds in recent years. It’s no longer a surprise to see high-grade Gorilla Glass on cover screens, as well as interesting materials like vegan leather and nylon on back panels, and hinges made from tough titanium or stainless steel. You may not need to worry about materials as much if you plan to buy a case, but a little peace of mind goes a long way.
- Battery and charging: Unfortunately, battery life has always been a sticking point when it comes to foldable phones. The tricky designs simply mean that Samsung, Motorola, and more have to be creative with their cells, and the limited cooling architecture makes charging at full speed tricky, too. Thankfully, flip phones like the Motorola Razr Ultra demonstrate that large batteries and fast charging are indeed possible.
- Updates: The best thing to come out of the last few years is that most Android flagships are now guaranteed several years of updates. Both the Galaxy Z Flip and Fold, as well as the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, are lined up for seven years of support, while Motorola’s Razr series is a few years short of full support. Keep in mind that you’ll be best served by a foldable phone that receives updates for as long as its hardware holds up.
- AI features: It’s also important to think about what AI features your chosen foldable phone offers, as well as how often you’ll use them. Right now, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold and Samsung’s Galaxy partners lead the pack with Gemini and Galaxy AI in every corner, though the Razrs aren’t far behind with options like Next Move trying to carve out a foothold in contextual convenience.
- Crease visibility: Last, but certainly not least, it’s no longer a guarantee that your foldable phone will have a crease across its display that feels like a valley. Sure, it’ll still have one, but advancements in hinge technology mean that creases tend to be wider and shallower, making them less noticeable as you swipe up and down (or across) your display.
Why you should trust me
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
I’ve been singing the praises of foldables for a few years at this point, and begging my editors to let me check them out for even longer than that. Alright, well, not much longer, because I started reviewing the Galaxy Z Flip series with its fourth generation, and I fell in love with Motorola’s Razrs once it brought them back to the US in 2023. That’s about when flip phones started to reach their prime, and I’d say I’ve spent as long exploring them as anyone else on the Android Authority team.
Are there foldable phones I haven’t tried? Sure, some of the best models aren’t available in the US. In those cases, though, I defer to the experience of my fellow writers and tech enthusiasts, and I trust the insights they’ve gleaned from affordable nubia models, Xiaomi options, and the older OPPO Find N models that I remain envious of to this day. I’ll still admit that the most interesting foldable phones are only available overseas, but that won’t stop me from trying as many as I can.
If there’s a flip phone out there, I’ve probably used it… and I’ve definitely declared it better than a book-style foldable.
And, while this makes it sound like I only use flip phones, know that isn’t the case. I’ve also used many of the latest book-style foldables, including all three generations of Pixel Fold, the last few Galaxy Z Folds, and the original OnePlus Open. I’ll still go to bat for that last option two years after its launch simply because it brought so much new potential to the US foldable race. I’m waiting (impatiently) for a sequel, and I’m praying that it follows in the well-rounded footsteps of the OnePlus 13.
What do you look for in a foldable phone?
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So, if there’s a foldable phone you’re thinking about, you can trust that I’ve probably either spent time with it or I know someone who has. If it’s the former, I’m happy to answer any and all questions that you might have, because I probably had the same ones at the start of my review period. If it’s the latter, I’ve probably asked my colleagues a question or two, so we can go down that rabbit hole together.
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