How To Make A Flip Phone

Foldable phones are here and they are making waves. With Samsung'sMilky way Fold two and Motorola'sRazr 2020 with 5G may be two of the well-nigh well-known devices, but they're not the only worthwhile ones on the market place today. We've rounded up some of the most exciting foldable phones available now -- and have looked ahead at what's to come.

Since entering mainstream consciousness in tardily 2018,foldable phones are poised to transform the tech industry over the next several years, forth with5G. There's a lot of buzz surrounding these devices, as they offer the compact footprint of a flip telephone and the perks of a smartphone.

The foldable phones on this list are merely a hint at what'south to come. The foldable screen will go thinner, the phone will practice a better job of managing battery life and mobile apps will take advantage of dissimilar display sizes. Plus, Google has helped past committing to providingAndroid back up for foldable designs. (Given some of its contempo patent filings, it may fifty-fifty release a folding phone of its own.)

In short, prepare to run across more foldable phones and devices with a folding screen in the near time to come. Here are the brands that have flexible phones or are expected to bring together the foldable craze.

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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 improve one of the two. (I'll go into more details nearly its predecessor later.) With a list cost of $i,400 (£1,399, which is about AU$ii,470) this model has 5G, a 48-megapixel camera, more retentiveness and a faster Snapdragon 765G processor.

Read our Motorola Razr 5G review.

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Samsung's successor to its headline-making Galaxy Z Fold (more on that beneath) improved many of the irksome features of the original. Aptly named the Galaxy Z Fold 2, the telephone has a refined design and hinge mechanism, a 120Hz display and better app fluidity between the inner and outer displays.

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The Razr (2019) was the highly predictable redux of the classic Razr from 2004. Introduced in Nov 2019, the kickoff 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 six.2-inch display, two cameras and a splash-proof body.

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Every bit the phone that kicked off the mainstream flexible telephone trend, the Galaxy Z Fold gave a compelling peek into the time to come of foldable displays. Its generous vii.3-inch display expanded out similar a tablet and information technology had a total of five cameras. Simply widely reported issues with the brandish led Samsung to improve the design with its followup the next year.

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Nubia Alpha

Nubia, an associate company of Chinese phone-maker ZTE, took the concept of a foldable phone ane step further with its Nubia Blastoff. The device launched at $449 (£360 or about AU$640), only has now been discounted for $299. It'due south unique in that information technology'southward a telephone that wraps effectually your wrist, similar to a smartwatch. Information technology features a flexible iv.01-inch display, gesture controls and a h2o-resistant blueprint. Its 5-megapixel camera can besides record 10-second videos. Even so, it'due south missing a lot of app back up and it doesn't accept Instagram, Google Maps or an internet browser.

This isn't the first fourth dimension nosotros've seen a phone that looks like the Alpha. In 2016, Lenovo had a concept device called the CPlus, which had a 4.26-inch display that you bent over your wrist. Dissimilar the CPlus, the Alpha is a existent device you can buy. Read our Blastoff Nubia easily-on.

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Huawei Mate XS

The Mate XS is a minor update to the Mate X, a flexible telephone that launched in 2019 but was sold but in China. The Mate XS, however, will be available in other countries, including the UK. (Due to ongoing security concerns from the US regime, it is unlikely that any Huawei telephone will come up to the United states for the time beingness.) Though no official price has been set, the phone's expected to cost around £2,200 (nigh $ii,850 or AU$4,300) and it features a stronger brandish and the latest Kirin 990 processor. Read our Huawei Mate XS hands-on.

Royole

Royole Flexpai 2

Despite not beingness 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 $1,318 and £ane,209 (about AU$2,180 converted).

Its sequel, the FlexPai 2, debuted on March 24 and has 5G connectivity, a 7.8-inch flexible brandish and a Snapdragon 865 chipset. Read our Royole Flexpai 2 first take.

What nearly other phone-makers?

Other telephone 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 wait below at some of the companies that may bound on the trend with upcoming products of their own.

Apple/USPTO

Apple: Rumored, with patent application

In February, Apple tree once again updated its patent awarding for a clamshell phone with a foldable display and trunk. 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 ix years ago, in 2011. Since and then, rumors of a flexible iPhone reignite with every new updated document -- filed in 2014, 2016 and 2017 and 2019 (pictured here).

But in keeping with its usual style, Apple tree has remained mum on details, and this year'due south 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 whatever info on what this device might be (and if information technology volition even exist a phone at all) or a timeline for when to expect such products.

Google

Google: Prototyping, with patent application

Back in Dec 2018, tech giant Google filed a patent application for a foldable device. The patent is for a "foldable brandish 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 dorsum stiffening layer and the transparent frontplate layer."

Fast-forward subsequently to May 2019 when Google then confirmed that it's been prototyping the folding technology, but didn't see a clear use case for foldable screens yet. In addition, Google supports foldable phones with its Android OS platform to develop the engineering from the software side also. With the launch of the Pixel five, Pixel 4A 5G and Pixel 4A this year, nosotros've all the same to see a flexible phone from Google.

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TCL: Confirmed

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 information technology not beingness a household name in the U.s.a., you may know TCL improve through other brands information technology owns, namely BlackBerry, Alcatel and Palm.

The upcoming devices all have flexible AMOLED displays that can bend considering of what TCL calls a DragonHinge. Patented past the company, the hinge enables the screens to fold both inwards and outward. TCL estimates that its offset foldable telephone volition be available in 2020 and that it could toll less than $i,000 -- making it significantly cheaper than the Motorola Razr and both foldable Galaxy phones.

Xiaomi

Xiaomi Dual Flex or Mix Flex: Confirmed

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

Xiaomi co-founder and President Bin Lin said this design is "practical and beautiful" and that it "perfectly merges the experience of a tablet and a phone." Specs and pricing information weren't given, but Xiaomi is currently taking votes on two possible names: the Dual Flex or the Mix Flex.

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LG: Rumored

LG doesn't have whatsoever foldable phones to announce yet, but nosotros do know the company is interested in several dissimilar 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.

It released the unique LG Fly likewise, which has one screen that swivels on top of the other, and it teased some other telephone with an extendable, scroll-out display. We also know that LG has the applied science 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 Television that later went on sale.

In the concurrently, however, these two-screen accessories volition have to do.