If it looks like each firm is now hawking a foldable cellphone, you are not fallacious. After years of expertise experiments and many engineering refinements, the massive cellphone designers are going mainstream with fashions which have ironed out many early issues like seen display creases. And that is all earlier than Apple jumps into the market with the rumored iPhone Extremely.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7, as an illustration, is skinny sufficient to really feel like a normal slab cellphone whereas folded. The brand new Honor Magic V6 has a bigger battery capability than the Samsung Galaxy S26 Extremely. Huawei’s Mate X7 has a 50-megapixel predominant digital camera with a 10-stop variable aperture — a characteristic beforehand restricted to top-of-the-line digital camera telephones. And Oppo lastly fastened the crease problem with its Discover N6 foldable cellphone, making an nearly flat interior display within the course of. These are all quality-of-life upgrades that led me to shift from my iPhone 17 Professional Max full-time. I like the foldable telephones for his or her productivity-focused use, and so they not maintain again on design, battery life or (to an extent) cameras.
These enhancements look like mirrored in gross sales numbers. The worldwide foldable cellphone shipments had been anticipated to develop 10% in 2025 in contrast with 2024, in response to a December report from market analysis agency IDC. This quantity is anticipated to proceed rising in 2026, with an anticipated 30% year-on-year bounce.
This uptake reveals that the foldable class is prepared for wider audiences, and these options that we’re seeing proper now are the the reason why they’re able to shine.
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Creaseless folding screens are actually a actuality
The Oppo Discover N6 has nearly eradicated the crease, as in comparison with the Galaxy Z Fold 7.
For the longest time, foldable telephones have had a deep bump (crease) operating by way of the center of their interior screens. Whereas Chinese language cellphone producers minimized it with a water-drop hinge design, the crease has been very a lot current. That is why seeing the creaseless idea display from Samsung Show at CES 2026 was one in every of my highlights of the tradeshow.
Nevertheless, the cellular vertical, Samsung Cell, has but to apply it to a client product. Whereas the Korean firm shocked me with its skinny and light-weight Galaxy Z Fold 7, its crease wasn’t impressively much less. In actual fact, it has solely deepened with use over time. I put it subsequent to the brand new Oppo Discover N6, and the distinction was evening and day.
The crease on Oppo’s Discover N6 is barely seen, even below direct gentle.
The Discover N6 has set a brand new normal for book-style foldables. Oppo used 3D-printed liquid photopolymer droplets within the hole between the hinge and the interior display. These droplets stuffed the imperfections inherent to every hinge mechanism in a bid to scale back the peak variance from the business normal of 0.2mm to only 0.05mm, as per the corporate.
This resulted in an nearly crease-free folding display. You may’t really feel it until you rub your nail (barely) firmly in the course of the show. The crease continues to be there, however Oppo has gotten fairly darn near getting a totally flat canvas.
The Oppo Discover N6 is claimed to be 338% extra deformation-resistant than earlier than, which ought to, theoretically, forestall the crease from deepening over time. It’s a kind of options that may push different cellphone producers to do higher and hopefully, give us extra foldable telephones with minimal creases.
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Antireflective screens for the win
The Oppo Discover N6 (left) has an anti-reflective coating on the folding display, which makes it extra legible as in comparison with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 (proper). Each screens are on most brightness.
As somebody who’s outside more often than not, I have been a giant fan of Samsung’s antireflective screens, beginning with the Galaxy S24 Extremely. It had a barely dimmer show, however that problem was solved with the Galaxy S25 Extremely final 12 months. I like antireflective coatings as a result of they make the screens extra legible in harsh lighting situations — whether or not outside or in direct gentle inside public areas. And this characteristic is now slowly coming to foldable telephones. It is a essential improve as a result of, in contrast to slab telephones, you’ll be able to’t add third-party matte display protectors on folding screens.
Honor launched an antireflective matte cowl display on the Magic V5 and improved it with the Magic V6 this 12 months. Alternatively, Oppo added this coating to its interior display with the Discover N5 and upgraded its newest iteration. Because of this, these telephones are simpler to make use of outside, particularly whenever you’re navigating maps or studying in your commute.
It makes extra sense to have an anti-reflective coating on the interior display as a result of most of these folding shows appeal to smudges very simply (attributable to their shiny plastic properties). I’ve to wipe my Fold 7 each time I unfold it on the commute. I like having an expansive canvas to learn, however smudges mixed with excessive reflectivity end in a poor viewing expertise. I’ve to wipe the Oppo Discover N6 too, but it surely gives higher legibility even on a smudged panel.
Ideally, I might like to have an antireflective coating on each the duvet display and the interior show, however we have but to see a foldable cellphone of that sort. Nevertheless, we’re getting nearer with every technology.
Bigger batteries in slimmer designs
The Honor Magic V6 (left) and Oppo Discover N6 (proper) have a few of the largest batteries on foldable telephones.
Battery life is arguably crucial characteristic in any cellular machine. I would not wish to have all of the bells and whistles just for my cellphone to die in the course of the day. That is corroborated by the readers who voted in a CNET/YouGov survey. They ranked “longer battery life” second solely to cost amongst causes to improve to a brand new cellphone.
Having a bigger cell in a cellphone issues to most individuals, and it’s made attainable by silicon-carbon batteries. It’s a comparatively new kind of energy supply that is denser than lithium-ion batteries. Because of this, cellphone producers can match extra battery capability in the identical physique. That is how the OnePlus 15 has a 7,300-mAh cell, and the Realme P4 Energy packs a ten,001-mAh battery with out weighing greater than the iPhone 17 Professional Max.
Whereas Apple, Samsung and Google have kept away from adopting silicon-carbon anode batteries, the tech is already maturing elsewhere. Honor was one of many first cellphone producers to undertake it with the Magic 5 Professional in 2023 and is already on the fifth technology with its new Magic V6.
The Huawei Mate X7 is skinny and light-weight and has a really snug in-hand really feel, regardless of packing a 5,600mAh battery.
A silicon-carbon battery turns into extra necessary on foldable telephones as a result of they’ve house constraints and require extra show energy for his or her bigger screens. The brand new-gen batteries are slimmer than conventional ones and permit for extra cell capability inside a foldable’s slim physique.
Samsung has but to make use of it in a tool, which is why the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is caught with a 4,400-mAh battery. In the meantime, the Honor Magic V6, Oppo Discover N6 and Huawei Mate X7 have a lot greater 6,600-mAh, 6,000-mAh and 5,600-mAh cells, respectively.
I hope each the upcoming Apple iPhone Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 8 undertake the sort of battery so we get all-day energy on foldable telephones within the US.
Near flagship cameras
The Huawei Mate X7 has top-of-the-line predominant cameras on a foldable cellphone.
Cameras have been one of the vital problematic compromises on foldable telephones. They’re proper up there with noticeable creases and smaller batteries. In any case, no person wish to get an inferior set of cameras on a cellphone that prices significantly greater than conventional flagship telephones. However that is modified in the previous few months.
In December, Huawei launched the Mate X7 with a 50-megapixel predominant digital camera with a 10-stop variable aperture starting from f/1.5 to f/4.0. This permits it to soak up 86% extra gentle than earlier than and carry out higher in low gentle, in response to the corporate. Alternatively, each Oppo and Samsung have high-resolution 200-megapixel predominant cameras on their newest folding telephones.
Honor, Oppo, Vivo and Huawei foldables even have succesful telephoto cameras for improved zoom. These are mixed with distinctive processing (in some circumstances) for pleasing-looking portraits. Whereas there’s room for enchancment, these cameras are on par with the Galaxy S26 Extremely and Pixel 10 Professional. And so they’re not the weak level they was once on foldable telephones.
True multitasking that takes benefit of the massive display
The OnePlus Open was one of many first foldable telephones that might run three apps concurrently.
When OnePlus Open debuted in 2023, it was hailed for its Open Canvas multitasking characteristic. The foldable lets you use as much as three apps concurrently with no need a pop-up window. I used it to analysis in two browsers aspect by aspect and add notes in a Google Docs file on the backside. I cherished the expertise, particularly when in comparison with Samsung’s multitasking.
Vivo upped the sport final 12 months with its Stage Supervisor-like Atomic Workbench on the X Fold 5. It added pinned home windows to the aspect of the display, so I might have one app for targeted use with one other only a faucet away for fast reference. It was a refreshing expertise to get that degree of multitasking on a cellular machine with no need an exterior accent for help.
Multitasking on Android ought to solely get higher with Android 17, as Google has made it obligatory for apps to correctly help resizing and windowed multitasking on the brand new model. Current foldable telephones just like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Pixel 10 Professional Fold ought to profit considerably from this enchancment.
Within the Apple land, the upcoming iPhone Fold will help iPad-like multitasking, in response to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. It is best to anticipate a side-by-side app structure for true multitasking, which has been notably absent from iOS regardless of being supported by Android telephones for years. The Cupertino-based firm is reportedly additionally updating its core apps with a sidebar on the left aspect of the display to benefit from the bigger display.
Extra sturdy foldable cellphone designs
The Google Pixel 10 Professional Fold is essentially the most sturdy foldable cellphone in the marketplace.
Whereas lots of the aforementioned options are shared by a number of foldable telephones, just one machine — the Google Pixel 10 Professional Fold — is rated for true mud resistance.
An IP score may be an afterthought when buying a brand new cell phone, but it surely turns into extra necessary on a folding cellphone than on a slab cellphone. That is as a result of small mud particles like pocket lint can penetrate foldables by way of their transferring elements, particularly across the hinge corners.
Most of those telephones (Oppo, Honor and Vivo, amongst others) are actually IP58 or IP59 rated for resistance towards dangerous mud particles, water submersion and high-pressure water jets, whereas the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 continues to be caught at IP48. The “4” means it’s protected towards strong objects bigger than 1mm, however pocket lint and dirt are smaller than 1mm. So, these tiny particles can enter the cellphone and doubtlessly hurt the internals.
The IP68 score on the Pixel 10 Professional Fold means it’s dust-tight and would not permit mud particles to enter even by way of the hinge.
Alternatively, the “5” in IP58 or IP59 stands for a dust-resistant design and never a dust-tight construct. This implies it’s protected towards tiny strong particles (lower than 1mm), however they’ll nonetheless enter the cellphone. That is why Google’s IP68 score on the Pixel 10 Professional Fold was a recreation changer final 12 months. It made a foldable cellphone with transferring elements that is actually dust-tight, at the least in response to IEC’s score information. It is a main win for sturdiness, and I hope we see extra corporations work on their telephones to make dust-tight designs.
In 2026, we might get a number of different-looking foldable telephones. Some may be taller, whereas others could possibly be wider.
I am stoked as a result of, for the primary time in trendy folding telephones’ existence, it seems like they’ve an opportunity to compete with the finest telephones out there. The {hardware}, software program and expertise required for it to operate flawlessly are lastly coming collectively. These enhancements ought to give us foldable telephones that do not compromise on something (albeit the value, I do not anticipate them to get cheaper anytime quickly).
Editors’ notice: The creator’s journey prices associated to the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S26, Huawei Mate X7 and Honor Magic V6 had been coated by these corresponding corporations. The judgments and opinions of CNET are our personal.
