2023 saw a lot of activity in the foldable smartphone category. New players like OnePlus and Google stepped into the ring for the first time, while established names like Samsung vastly improved upon their offerings. As the years roll on, foldables are also getting more affordable, as evidenced by Motorola’s Razr 40. If you’re in the market for a folding phone, now would be the perfect time to buy one. So, without further ado, here are our top 8 picks for the best foldable smartphones in 2023.
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In This Article
OnePlus Open
Price: Rs 1,39,999 on OnePlus.in
Key Specs
| Display | Cover Display: 6.31-inch LTPO3 OLED
Inner Display: 7.82-inch LTPO3 AMOLED |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
| RAM | 16GB |
| Storage | 512GB |
| Battery | 4,805 mAh |
OnePlus may have entered the foldable game a little late, but it did so with a bang. The OnePlus Open is a behemoth of a smartphone, powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. It spans 7.82 inches when unfolded and has a very handy 6.31-inch cover display if you want to use it like a traditional smartphone. Talking about the camera specs, the OnePlus Open sports a triple camera array consisting of a 48MP primary shooter, 64MP telephoto lens, and another 48MP ultrawide lens. Check out our review of the OnePlus Open to know how it performed.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
Price: Rs 1,54,999 on Samsung.in
Key Specs
| Display | Cover Display: 6.2-inch AMOLED
Inner Display: 7.6-inch AMOLED |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
| RAM | 12GB |
| Storage | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
| Battery | 4,400 mAh |
Powerful, premium, and reliable, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is as close as it gets to the perfect foldable. One of the more notable improvements on this year’s Fold is its hardware and folding mechanism. Samsung has managed to cut down the gap between the two folded screens even further, making it more compact and allowing fewer dust particles to seep in. The Fold 5 also has one of the best inner displays on a foldable, with a 120Hz AMOLED panel and very minimal bezels around it. The 4MP under-display selfie camera for the inner panel is not one of our favourites, but it doesn’t bother us too much, given you can use the 10MP selfie camera on the cover display or the 50MP primary shooter to take selfies. Also present on the Fold 5 is a 10MP telephoto and a 12MP ultrawide lens. Check out our review of the smartphone.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5
Price: Rs 99,999 on Samsung.in
Key Specs
| Display | Cover Display: 3.4-inch Super AMOLED
Inner Display: 6.7-inch AMOLED 2X |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Storage | 256GB, 512GB |
| Battery | 3,700 mAh |
Samsung’s flip phone saw one key improvement this year in the form of a 3.4-inch Super AMOLED cover display. This cover display can be used to access widgets, make payments using Samsung Pay, answer texts, make calls, and more. Like its previous iterations, the cover display can also act as a viewfinder for selfies and videos. The larger screen makes it easier to take selfies when the phone is folded. However, this display still cannot run all the apps from the library. Talking about the camera specs, the Samsung Galaxy Flip 5 has two 12MP sensors for the wide and ultrawide cameras. A 10MP camera is housed in a punch-hole cutout on the display for selfies. Read our review of the Samsung Galaxy Flip 5 here.
Oppo Find N3 Flip
Price: Rs 94,999 on Oppo.com
Key Specs
| Display | Cover Display: 3.26-inch AMOLED
Inner Display: 6.8-inch LTPO AMOLED |
| Chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 9200 |
| RAM | 12GB |
| Storage | 256GB, 512GB |
| Battery | 4,300 mAh |
The Oppo Find N3 Flip has a lot of things going on for it. Instead of a horizontal cover display, the Find N3 Flip has a vertical screen right next to the circular camera module. This cover screen supports over 40 native cover screen apps. The Find N3 Flip is also the only flip phone on the market with an alert slider. What also sets the Find N3 Flip apart from its peers is the 32MP telephoto lens in the camera arrangement. Samsung and Motorola’s flip offerings lack this camera lens. The smartphone is currently priced at Rs 94,999 in India.
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Motorola Razr 40
Price: Rs 44,999 on Motorola.in
Key Specs
| Display | Cover Display: 1.5-inch AMOLED
Inner Display: 6.9-inch LTPO AMOLED |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 |
| RAM | 8GB, 12GB |
| Storage | 128GB, 256GB |
| Battery | 4,200 mAh |
The new Moto Razr 40 is one of the most affordable foldable ‘flip’ smartphones you can buy right now. For the price, it offers amazing specs. Powering the smartphone is the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC, which is an admirable chipset. It also gets a smaller cover display compared to the ‘Ultra’ variant. One of the biggest appeals of a flip phone is the lack of distraction when it is folded shut. A smaller cover display relays all the key notifications and ensures you don’t open the smartphone at every opportunity. Talking about the cameras, the 64MP wide and 13MP ultrawide sensors put up a good performance. There is also a 32MP selfie camera housed in a punch-hole cutout on the display.
Tecno Phantom V Fold
Price: Rs 69,999 on Amazon
Key Specs
| Display | Cover Display: 6.42-inch LTPO AMOLED
Inner Display: 7.85-inch LTPO AMOLED |
| Chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ |
| RAM | 12GB |
| Storage | 256GB, 512GB |
| Battery | 5,000 mAh |
With prices starting at Rs 69,999, the Tecno Phantom V Fold is one of the most affordable foldable phones on the market. It is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ SoC and Mali-G710 MC10 GPU. It features a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and a giant 5,000 mAh battery. OS duties are handled by Android 13 running the HiOS 13 Fold skin. The rear camera module of the Phantom V Fold consists of a 50MP primary shooter, a 50MP telephoto lens, and a 13MP ultrawide sensor. There is a 16MP inner display camera and a 32MP cover camera for selfies.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra
Price: Rs 72,999 on Motorola.in
Key Specs
| Display | Cover Display: 3.6-inch AMOLED
Inner Display: 6.9-inch LTPO AMOLED |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 |
| RAM | 8GB, 12GB |
| Storage | 256GB, 512GB |
| Battery | 3,800 mAh |
The ‘Ultra’ variant of the Razr series gets a larger 3.6-inch cover display and last year’s flagship Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset. GPU duties on the smartphone are handled by Adreno 730. The Razr 40 Ultra gets 2 lens camera module, featuring a 12MP primary shooter and a 13MP ultrawide lens. A 32MP lens housed in a punch-hole cutout on the display serves as the selfie camera. Like all flip phones on the market, the side key on the Razr 40 Ulra also acts as a fingerprint scanner. The smartphone supports 30W fast charging and 5W wireless charging.
Honourable Mention: Google Pixel Fold
Price: $1,799
Key Specs
| Display | Cover Display: 5.8-inch OLED
Inner Display: 7.6-inch OLED |
| Chipset | Google Tensor G2 |
| RAM | 12GB |
| Storage | 256GB, 512GB |
| Battery | 4,821 mAh |
Even though it did not launch in India this year, we could not omit Google Pixel Fold from this list. Google’s debut smartphone in the foldable category, the Pixel Fold feels very much like a first-generation device, but there are a lot of things that it gets right. The most important of those is its passport-size form factor, which we feel is perfect for folding devices. The chunky bezels around the display may be off-putting to some, but they make the phone very comfortable to hold. The incredible photo processing and Google’s smartphone magic give this foldable its unique Pixel-ness. Needless to say, we cannot wait for it to launch in India soon!
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Conclusion
These are our picks for the best foldable smartphones of 2023. Think there’s a phone that deserves a spot on here? Let us know in the comments! Keep checking this space for more year-end lists this week! While you’re here, check out our picks for the best smartphones of 2023 as well!
