Top Foldable Phones for 2022: Motorola Razr 2020, Galaxy Flip, Galaxy Fold 2 and More – CNET

Angela Lang/CNET

Angela Lang/CNET
Mostly known for its affordable televisions, Chinese tech company TCL is working on a number of foldable devices, which include two tablets (one of which folds three times!), two phones and a cufflike phone you wear around your wrist. Despite it not being a household name in the US, you may know TCL better through other brands it owns, namely BlackBerry, Alcatel and Palm.

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LG: Rumored

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Angela Lang/CNET
It released the unique LG Wing too, which has one screen that swivels on top of the other, and it teased another phone with an extendable, roll-out display. We also know that LG has the technology in the works for a flexible phone. Back in 2014, LG did launch the G Flex, a phone with a curved screen. And at CES 2019, it showed off a rollable LG TV that later went on sale. 
Foldable phones are here and they are making waves. With Samsung’s Galaxy Fold 2 and Motorola’s Razr 2020 with 5G may be two of the most well-known devices, but they’re not the only worthwhile ones on the market today. We’ve rounded up some of the most exciting foldable phones available now — and have looked ahead at what’s to come. 

LG doesn’t have any foldable phones to announce yet, but we do know the company is interested in several different form factors and designs. For example, it released many phones that come with a second-screen attachment, which opens similarly to the Galaxy Fold: the LG Velvet, LG V60 (pictured here), the LG G8X and the LG V50. 

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Other phone companies like Apple and Google haven’t released specific flexible phones yet, but there’s evidence that they, and others, are exploring the concept. This is either based on official reports from executives themselves or patent filings. Take a look below at some of the companies that may jump on the trend with upcoming products of their own.

The upcoming devices all have flexible AMOLED displays that can bend because of what TCL calls a DragonHinge. Patented by the company, the hinge enables the screens to fold both inward and outward. TCL estimates that its first foldable phone will be available in 2020 and that it could cost less than ,000 — making it significantly cheaper than the Motorola Razr and both foldable Galaxy phones.

Royole

Xiaomi Dual Flex or Mix Flex: Confirmed

As the phone that kicked off the mainstream flexible phone trend, the Galaxy Z Fold gave a compelling peek into the future of foldable displays. Its generous 7.3-inch display expanded out like a tablet and it had a total of five cameras. But widely reported issues with the display led Samsung to improve the design with its followup the next year.

Apple/USPTO
But in keeping with its usual style, Apple has remained mum on details, and this year’s iPhone 12 launch came and went without any flexible phones. As of now, nothing has come to fruition with any of these patents in the public eye, and there hasn’t been any info on what this device might be (and if it will even be a phone at all) or a timeline for when to expect such products.
Back in December 2018, tech giant Google filed a patent application for a foldable device. The patent is for a “foldable display of a computing device and includes a back stiffening layer, a transparent front-plate layer, a transparent cover window layer and an OLED display layer disposed between the back stiffening layer and the transparent frontplate layer.” 

Since entering mainstream consciousness in late 2018, foldable phones are poised to transform the tech industry over the next several years, along with 5G. There’s a lot of buzz surrounding these devices, as they offer the compact footprint of a flip phone and the perks of a smartphone.

Google
At the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020, Motorola announced two flexible Razr phones within months of each other. The 2020 version is the better one of the two. (I’ll go into more details about its predecessor later.) With a list price of ,400 (£1,399, which is about AU,470) this model has 5G, a 48-megapixel camera, more memory and a faster Snapdragon 765G processor.

In the meantime, however, these two-screen accessories will have to do.

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The Mate XS is a minor update to the Mate X, a flexible phone that launched in 2019 but was sold only in China. The Mate XS, however, will be available in other countries, including the UK. (Due to ongoing security concerns from the US government, it is unlikely that any Huawei phone will come to the US for the time being.) Though no official price has been set, the phone’s expected to cost around £2,200 (about ,850 or AU,300) and it features a stronger display and the latest Kirin 990 processor. Read our Huawei Mate XS hands-on.

Despite not being a huge tech name, Royole, a Chinese startup with offices in Fremont, California, was the first to sell a flexible phone. Its flagship device, the Royole FlexPai, was revealed in November 2018 and started at ,318 and £1,209 (about AU,180 converted).  Xiaomi
In February, Apple once again updated its patent application for a clamshell phone with a foldable display and body. In the latest filings, the patent is for “electronic devices with flexible displays and hinges.” These filings have been ongoing since Apple’s first one nine years ago, in 2011. Since then, rumors of a flexible iPhone reignite with every new updated document — filed in 2014, 2016 and 2017 and 2019 (pictured here).

Google: Prototyping, with patent application

Nubia Alpha

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In January 2019, Chinese phone-maker Xiaomi introduced its foldable phone on the social media platform Weibo. Unlike other phones we’ve seen, which have only one bend down the middle, Xiaomi’s phone folds down into thirds, with both sides folding down.

TCL: Confirmed

The Razr (2019) was the highly anticipated redux of the classic Razr from 2004. Introduced in November 2019, the first flexible Razr phone excited tech enthusiasts for its pioneering yet iconic design. (At the time, flexible phones were big and folded like a book). The phone featured a 6.2-inch display, two cameras and a splash-proof body.