Best folding and flip phones 2025, tested by a tech writer

Google has come a long way since launching the original Pixel fold, seemingly cramming several generations of device updates into a single year. The new Pixel 9 pro fold is very thin as well as being very light for its size. When closed, it almost exactly matches the dimensions of the Pixel 9 pro, which means you can use the outer screen as you usually would when walking around with a ‘normal’ phone.

The Android software experience has evolved massively since last year, too. There are still plenty of apps that aren’t designed to be viewed on the Pixel 9 pro fold’s 8in inner display (even some of Google’s own apps, such as Fitbit, weirdly) but the phone handles seamlessly the transition from vertical app design to immersive full-screen apps that take advantage of the wider display. On YouTube, comments are displayed alongside the video you’re watching, for example. Most third-party apps are still bodge jobs, though.

Unlike the original, this year’s foldable Pixel runs on the same Tensor processor as the mainline Pixel 9 phones, so, it feels fast and responsive. You also get all of those ephemeral, psuedo-Pixel 9 exclusive benefits of Gemini AI built in, such as the Pixel Studio and Pixel Screenshots apps, for all that’s worth to you.

Compared with the Pixel 9 pro XL, what you miss out on is display sharpness. The difference between the 486ppi screen on the Pixel 9 pro XL and the 373ppi on the Pixel 9 pro fold’s inner display is stark – but this is coming from someone who swaps phones on a weekly basis. The Pixel 9 pro fold’s screen falls short on paper but still looks great in person, and it’s impressively bright.

Battery-life is average, running down to less than 30 per cent charge by bedtime each night (with normal use). You also don’t get the top-end lenses found in the Pixel 9 pro XL, presumably because Google couldn’t physically fit them in a phone this thin. Photos still look great, and they benefit from Google’s top-shelf image processing pipelines, but slightly weaker lenses seem a reasonable compromise for anyone who wants their phone to have a giant screen.

• Pixel 9 pro fold with unlimited data: £59.99 a month, £239 up front, Mobiles.co.uk

The Samsung Galaxy Z flip 6 is a pocket-friendly flip phone that folds down to about the size of a Post-it note, like the retro flip phones of old.

The clamshell design opens vertically at any angle, which allows for some fun camera tricks. When shooting a picture or video with the phone unfolded, your subject can see themselves on the cover screen’s viewfinder. Prop open the phone on a table for a group selfie, and you can use the cover screen to more easily get everyone into the frame. Software tricks such as raising your hand to trigger the shot round off a very polished camera experience.

The flip 6 uses the same 3.4in outer display found in last year’s phone – which it calls the “flex window” – but adds in some fun new features such as interactive wallpapers. As chronic fidgeters, we especially enjoy the emojis that tumble around the screen under gravity as you turn and rotate the phone.

• Galaxy Z flip 6 with unlimited data: £40 a month, nothing up front, Fonehouse.co.uk

This year’s Galaxy fold is being treated to just a few minor hardware tweaks to keep it current for 2024. Under the hood, this phone runs on the newest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset and uses a 1.6x larger vapour chamber for improved performance during demanding tasks, such as gaming.

Screen dimensions have been refined ever so slightly, to make this year’s fold shorter and wider, which goes a small way towards addressing concerns about Samsung’s cover display feeling too narrow in the hand. The cover display is 2.7mm bigger and a millimetre wider, while the phone itself is 1.4mm shorter and 14g lighter.

Other small tweaks include a more squared-off edge surrounding the display, as well as a new brushed-metal finish on the rings surrounding the camera, which catch the light in a more dramatic way. Battery capacity and cameras remain unchanged since last year.

The Galaxy Z fold 6 comes in three colourways: blue, silver and pink.

• Galaxy Z fold 6 with 300GB data: £59 a month, £49 up front, Fonehouse.co.uk

When Motorola resurrected the razr line back in 2019, the all-screen flip phone was considered something of a kitsch retro novelty. Since then, the razr has evolved and improved to become the main competitor to the Samsung Galaxy Z flip series of clamshell-style folding phones.

The razr 50 ultra boasts a much bigger cover display than Samsung’s latest offering, with holepunch cutouts for the camera array allowing for an outer case that’s almost all screen. Battery life is excellent, build quality is sturdy, and the cameras perform well in a range of lighting conditions.

• Motorola razr 50 ultra with 500GB data: £29.99 a month, £99 up front, Carphonewarehouse.com