5 new foldable phones to consider instead of the iPhone Duo

Apple isn’t known for being an early adopter of industry trends with new hardware features – it generally likes to sit back, watch how new technology evolves, and then jump in with its own refined approach once the competition has ironed out the initial kinks. This was also the case with foldables. Other manufacturers currently have several years of development in their foldable ranges, with Samsung already in its eighth generation of Galaxy Z Fold devices. Apple finally unveiled the iPhone Duo alongside the iPhone 18 Pro series, and it’s already turned heads.

Apple has opted for a passport-style format for the iPhone Duo, with a 5.4-inch screen cover that folds out to reveal a larger 7.6-inch screen. Both screens are OLED and support refresh rates of up to 120Hz, with the inner screen using a nano-textured finish that makes it almost impossible to detect its crease from certain angles. The iPhone Duo is powered by the new 2nm A20 Pro SoC and comes with two rear cameras: a wide and an ultra-wide.

Pricing for the iPhone Duo starts at $2,000, which is a bit higher than competing foldables. Reviewers’ first hands-on impressions have been mostly positive, especially regarding the Duo’s design and well-thought-out software. If you’re not deeply familiar with Apple’s ecosystem, there are other Android foldables worth checking out. Based on reviews from industry experts, here are five foldable devices you might want to consider before locking in your iPhone Duo purchase.

Samsung revealed its new Galaxy Z Fold 8 series less than two months before Apple announced the iPhone Duo. While we expected Samsung to release the usual foldable and flip phones every year, the company has added a new form factor this time. Technically, the successor to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, as it features the same larger form factor. The standard Galaxy Z Fold 8 is now a wider, more compact foldable, something whose footprint is much closer to that of the iPhone Duo.

When folded, the phone offers a 5.5-inch screen cover, and unfolding it reveals a 7.6-inch canvas. The interior and exterior displays are Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X panels and refresh at up to 120Hz. Samsung uses what it calls “Flex Titanium technology,” designed to improve the durability of the foldable display while minimizing visibility of the crease that runs down the middle. Tom’s Guide appreciated the reduced visibility of the folds in its review of the Galaxy Z Fold 8, which also highlights the phone’s improved batteries, now that Samsung is starting to integrate silicon-carbon battery technology into its foldables.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC, has wide and ultra-wide cameras, and comes with a seven-year One UI update policy. Pricing starts at $1,900, which is $100 less than the iPhone Duo while still offering the same 256GB capacity.

The Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold is also priced at $1,900. Despite the name, this is only Google’s fourth foldable, but it does bring some notable improvements. For starters, it’s thinner and lighter than last year and features a new fiberglass composite back panel that Google says is “nearly impossible to crack.” Like the iPhone Duo, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold has an IP68 rating, but it doesn’t officially support pen input. It also uses an aluminum frame, which may not feel as premium or as sturdy as the iPhone Duo’s titanium frame.

The phone narrowly beats the iPhone Duo in terms of peak brightness, with two 3,600 nit displays. The cover screen measures 6.5 inches and the inner screen spans 8 inches. Both panels refresh at up to 120Hz and are OLED. Like other Android foldable devices, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold houses its front camera in a punch-hole cutout. Apple, on the other hand, has opted for an integrated camera, but this comes at the expense of image quality.

The software experience is powered by Android 17. Google’s Pixel UI continues to deliver a clean experience with a ton of AI features sprinkled in, courtesy of Gemini. They don’t always work as expected, as we explored in our Pixel 11 Pro Fold review, but the ones that do work can be genuinely useful. We also reported a decent experience with the camera and battery, but nothing exceptional.

The iPhone Duo’s larger form factor appears to be the direction the industry is heading, with many Android manufacturers adding passport-style foldable options to their lineups. However, flip phones continue to enjoy a place in the foldable market, and Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 8 is one of the best you can get. It’s powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC and 12GB of RAM, and starts at $1,200 for the 256GB variant.

Aesthetically, not much has changed on the exterior. You still get the edge-to-edge coverage screen that surrounds both cameras. Being a square panel, it is better suited for quick interactions like controlling music playback or checking notifications. This time around, however, you can use the cover screen to interact with more of your phone. You can swipe up to view the app drawer, down to access notifications, and even use the recent apps switcher to switch between apps.

Camera performance is decent, but it doesn’t match the optics offered by classic candy bar flagships. In PhoneArena’s review, the device narrowly beats the Motorola Razr Ultra, which is another compelling flip-style offering on the market. The Galaxy Z Flip 8 is a bit thinner and lighter than before and has a similarly reduced crease as the Galaxy Z Fold 8. While it’s more expensive than its predecessor, it’s still considerably less expensive than the iPhone Duo and may be a good first foldable for most people.

Xiaomi makes some of the most feature-rich Android smartphones, even if that means some of them shamelessly borrow hardware and software design elements directly from Apple. That said, Xiaomi’s phones tend to outperform their sources of inspiration in other areas. Announced just two days before Apple’s event, the Xiaomi 18 Fold is probably the closest thing to the iPhone Duo in the Android world, at least in terms of design. In fact, both foldables are exactly the same height, to within a tenth of a millimeter.

Both displays on the Xiaomi 18 Fold are 120Hz LTPO AMOLED panels, support Dolby Vision and HDR10+, and get brighter than the iPhone Duo with 4,000 nits of peak brightness. Xiaomi uses its own Xring O3 chipset inside the 18 Fold, which is built on a 3nm process. It may not outperform Apple’s A20 Pro SoC in raw benchmark tests, but reports indicate that the Xring O3 offers about the same performance as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 while being noticeably more efficient.

The Xiaomi 18 Fold also surpasses the iPhone Duo in camera versatility, offering a 50-megapixel 3x telephoto lens in addition to its 200-megapixel wide and 50-megapixel ultra-wide lenses. The phone runs Android 17 with Xiaomi’s HyperOS 4 interface. Xiaomi doesn’t officially sell its phones in the United States, but if you’re willing to splurge on a foldable device, importing the device is always an option. Operator compatibility is something to keep in mind though.

Given the complex engineering of foldable devices, we have come to accept that they represent an advantage over traditional smartphones. Most foldable devices tend to cost more than the best panel-style flagship phones, despite frequent compromises in the camera and battery areas. If you’re looking to buy your first foldable but don’t want to spend more than $1,200 on one, the Motorola Razr (2026) is a pretty reasonable buy at $800. It doesn’t have the most powerful processor or the fanciest displays, but it has all the essentials you’d expect from a foldable clamshell in 2026.

The Motorola Razr has a smaller 3.6-inch cover screen, and while it’s AMOLED, it can only achieve refresh rates of up to 90Hz. Still, like its more expensive sibling, the Razr Ultra and Galaxy Z Flip 8, the Motorola Razr’s cover screen surrounds its dual-camera system, making it look quite modern. The interior display is a 120Hz LTPO AMOLED panel that peaks at 3,000 nits.

The phone is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 7450X SoC, which is not designed to compete in the high-end performance segment. It also comes with 8GB of RAM and a starting storage capacity of 256GB. PCMag called it “the best budget foldable yet,” giving it a four-star rating. Additionally, Motorola tends to bundle deals, frequently offering a pair of wireless earbuds and a Moto Watch with its devices, which could make the Motorola Razr an even better value.

The iPhone Duo may be Apple’s first foldable smartphone, but the product category has been around for several years now, giving us a healthy choice. When researching options for this list, we referenced reviews from expert publications like Tom’s Guide, PhoneArena, and PCMag. Our internal review coverage has also helped us narrow down candidates for lists like this. Of course, no matter which foldable you buy, it’s worth keeping in mind that they’re more prone to accidental screen damage than regular phones. App support also plays an important role in the overall experience.