I converted to a foldable Android phone a couple of years ago, and I've used them for nearly everything ever since.In that time, I've owned three different foldables during that time, borrowed a few, and have placed my hands on demo units of several others.Based on my experience, here are the five best or most impactful foldables to hit the U.S.
market to date.5 OnePlus Open The phone that set the template Close The OnePlus Open was hardly the first book-style foldable.When it launched in the fall of 2023, Samsung was on the fifth generation of the Galaxy Z Fold series, and Google had released its first Pixel Fold.
Yet while the Galaxy Z Fold 5 was slender like a TV remote and the Pixel Fold was squat like a passport, the OnePlus Open was the first foldable in the US to be similar in both shape and size to a conventional smartphone.The OnePlus Open was beloved by reviewers, and for the next two years, foldables in the US would gradually look increasingly like the OnePlus Open.The second generation Pixel Fold followed suit first, introducing the design that persists through to the Pixel 11 Pro Fold today.
Samsung would take longer to get there, but it would nonetheless.4 Motorola Razr The flip foldable that all others want to be Close The Moto Razr released in February 2020 was the first flip-style phone with a foldable display, beating out the original Samsung Galaxy Z Flip by barely a week.Despite Samsung being the larger company, it's the Moto Razr series that impressed pundits and consumers alike.
The series was popular enough for Motorola to capture half of the US foldable market even without offering a book-style foldable of its own.In addition to the Razr's lower price, the preference for the Razr over the Galaxy Z Flip is thanks largely to its external screen, which allows the former to function as a 4-inch square minimal phone.The Razr's outer screen is capable of running most of the same apps as the internal one.
Samsung's approach originally treated the external screen more like a smartwatch, though the design has shifted closer to Motorola with each new model.Despite these subtle shifts, Samsung's defeat has been so thorough that some leaks suggest the Galaxy Z Flip 8 may not get a successor next year.3 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 A foldable so thin, it's no larger than a regular slab phone Close The Galaxy Z Fold 5 was my first book-style foldable, and I loved it.
I then sold it for the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which could better run Samsung DeX on a 4K display.Yet neither of those phones, which were largely regarded as iterative, make this list.It's the Galaxy Z Fold 7 that really started to capture hearts and minds—all due to it being so impressively thin.
Personally, I was put off by the Z Fold 7.Samsung ditched the digitizer required for the S Pen in order to shave off those extra millimeters.I also found the phone more difficult to open, which is an annoyance for someone like me who almost exclusively uses my phone unfolded.
Yet the Z Fold 7 went on to sell boatloads, and the design of this year's successor, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, remains largely unchanged.2 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 The widescreen passport foldable we've been waiting for Close Samsung is on a roll.A year after the Galaxy Z Fold 7 expanded interest in foldable phones beyond us enthusiasts, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has attracted even more near-universal praise.
It is a shorter device than its predecessors, making it feel like you're carrying around a smaller phone in your pocket.Yet once unfolded, the 4:3 aspect ratio is better suited for apps, games, and video alike.The Z Fold 8 feels less like a square and more like a tablet that you can carry in your pocket.
I'd argue the phone is at its best when rotated vertically, where the device becomes the ideal size for browsing the web, reading books, and working with documents.1 Motorola Razr Fold The all-around best hardware you can buy today Close The Motorola Razr Fold did not wow most journalists or sell gangbusters when it launched in early 2026.If anything, there's a case to make that Motorola has done too little too late to claim a chunk of the book-style foldable market.
Yet that doesn't change the fact that the Razr Fold is the closest thing to being one of the many superior Chinese foldables we have not been able to buy in the US.The Razr Fold undercuts the competition on price while offering superior specs across the board.With a massive 6,000mAh silicon carbon battery and 80W charging, this book-style foldable has longer battery life and faster charging than not only the foldable competition, but many slab phones as well.
Its three 50MP cameras have been ranked higher than any Galaxy or Pixel phone by DXOMark.It is also the only current US foldable that offers stylus support.While the Razr Fold's Snapdragon chip isn't quite as powerful as what ships in Samsung phones, you'll be hard-pressed to notice a performance difference, and the tradeoff likely contributes to the stellar battery life.
Thanks to Motorola Smart Connect, you even have an alternative to Samsung DeX.When you consider that, in traditional Motorola fashion, the Razr Fold is almost always on sale when purchased directly from Motorola, this is the easiest foldable for me to recommend to anyone who wants a book-style foldable at the best price with the fewest compromises (assuming Motorola actually delivers on its seven years of promised software support).Though with GrapheneOS support in the works for upcoming models, for some of us, the best Razr Fold to buy may not be this one, but next year's.
A shout-out to the honorable mentions It's hard for me to write this list without giving a spot to the original Pixel Fold, a phone that attempted the shorter and wider form-factor before Samsung—but it was ultimately a heavier, less fully-baked phone.The same could definitely be said about the Microsoft Surface Duo, which didn't have a folding screen, but it attracted a following by having a size and shape that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has come closest to emulating.You could also say the Samsung Galaxy TriFold was the most ambitious foldable to launch in the US, even if very few were actually produced.
In other words, enough foldable phones have launched in the US for your list to understandably look very different from mine.
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