For a time, it was unclear whether the flip or fold form factor was the future of folding smartphones, but for now at least, it seems clear that the book-style fold is the winner.
It’s what we saw from Samsung’s 8th-generation folding phone, it’s what we’re expecting from the iPhone Ultra, and leaked images of Xiaomi’s 18 Fold also follow the trend …
There are two form factors for folding smartphones, colloquially known as the flip and the fold.
The flip design essentially has a conventional smartphone fold in half to a device which is thicker but half the height. This provides a standard-sized screen in a more pocketable format. The Motorola Razr is one example of this, and it echoes a design the same company first popularized way back in 2004.
The fold format, now increasingly referred to as a “book” design for obvious reasons, takes a device with a squarer shape and then unfolds into the equivalent of a small tablet like the iPad mini. This is the design Apple is set to unveil next month.
