Best foldable phones to buy now that the iPhone Duo is here

Apple’s first foldable goes up for pre-order on October 16 and ships a week later. That’s enough to turn a niche Android category into a mainstream decision, because for years the main argument against folding phones was “Apple doesn’t make one, so why bother.” That argument is gone now. A recent Samsung survey of 5,001 buyers across France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK found people choose phones based on what they do today and what they want to be able to do next, which is as good a description of the foldable pitch as any.

It’s also a strange time to be buying any phone. Counterpoint Research’s Q3 2026 report showed global smartphone shipments falling sharply year on year, with Samsung and Apple the only major brands to grow their share while most of the market shrank. Foldables are the one part of the market still getting genuinely new hardware every few months, which makes this a reasonable moment to actually compare what’s on offer rather than defaulting to whatever your last phone was.

What actually matters when you shop for a foldable

Four things separate a good foldable from an expensive gimmick: battery capacity relative to that big internal screen, charging speed, how many years of software updates you’re buying into, and whether the outer screen is usable enough that you’re not opening the phone for every text message.

Battery matters more here than on a normal phone. An 8-inch internal display draws more power than a 6.1-inch slab, so a book-style foldable with a sub-4,500 mAh cell is working harder for the same runtime than one with 5,000 mAh or more. Charging speed varies wildly between brands too: some foldables top up in under an hour, others take closer to two.

Software support is the other number worth asking about before price. A foldable is an expensive, fragile-feeling object you’re likely to keep for three or four years. The length of the update commitment affects resale value and how safe the phone feels to use years in.

Apple iPhone Duo: the newest and most expensive option

Apple’s first foldable pairs a 7.6-inch Super Retina XDR inner display (1,878 x 2,670) with a 5.4-inch Super Retina XDR outer display (1,398 x 2,034), both running ProMotion, on the A20 Pro chip with 12GB of RAM. Storage runs from 256GB up to 2TB. The rear camera setup is simpler than you’d expect from a flagship iPhone: a 48MP main camera at f/1.6 and a 48MP ultrawide at f/2.2, with no telephoto lens.

Battery capacity is 4,883 mAh, charging at just 20W wired, which is noticeably slower than every other phone in this guide. The phone uses Touch ID instead of Face ID, skips a telephoto camera, and ships with iOS 27.1, a version of iOS built specifically for the folding display. It weighs 254 grams.

Pricing starts at $1,999 for the 256GB model, with pre-orders opening October 16 and the phone shipping on October 23. Apple hadn’t published final per-country European pricing by the time of writing; European retail trackers list an estimated price around 2,225 EUR, so treat that figure as an estimate rather than an official number until Apple confirms it in your market.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: the one everyone else is compared to

Samsung’s current book-style foldable runs an 8.0-inch Foldable Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X display at 120Hz with 2,600 nits peak brightness, on the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset. The camera system jumps well past the iPhone Duo’s: a 200MP main plus 12MP ultrawide plus 10MP telephoto triple rear camera, with a dual 10MP front setup.

Battery sits at 4,400 mAh, charging at 25W wired, reaching 50% in 30 minutes, plus 15W wireless charging. It’s the thinnest Fold Samsung has made, at 215 grams and 4.2mm thick when unfolded, and it comes with up to 7 major OS updates promised.

Official European pricing starts at €2,099 for the 256GB model in Germany, rising to €2,219 for 512GB. It’s worth noting Samsung’s own US store already lists a “Galaxy Fold8 Ultra” as a recommended alternative on the Z Fold7 purchase page, more on that below.

Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold: best screen and update promise

Google’s foldable has the brightest screens of the group: an 8.0-inch Super Actua OLED inner display at 2076 x 2152 and 3,000 nits peak, paired with a 6.4-inch Actua OLED outer display also hitting 3,000 nits, both at up to 120Hz. It runs on Tensor G5 with 16GB of RAM standard.

The battery is the second-largest here at 5,015 mAh, with 30W wired and 15W Qi2 wireless charging, and Google claims the phone lasts at least 30 hours on a single charge. Camera hardware covers a 48MP main camera, a 10.5MP ultrawide with 127-degree field of view, and a 10.8MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom, which makes it the only phone in this guide with genuine optical zoom alongside Samsung. It weighs 258 grams and ships with 7 years of OS and security updates, matching Samsung’s commitment.

Pricing starts at $1,799 in the US and €1,899 in Europe for the base 256GB configuration, making it the cheapest of the three big-brand options here.

Honor Magic V5: the battery and charging champion

Honor’s foldable undercuts Samsung and Google on thinness and beats everyone on battery. It packs a 5,820 mAh battery, the largest of any foldable sold internationally, though the version sold in China gets an even bigger 6,100 mAh cell. Charging is the fastest here too: 66W wired and 50W wireless, hitting 50% in 16 minutes and a full charge in 43 minutes.

Display-wise it has a 7.95-inch OLED inner panel at 2352 x 2172 and a 6.43-inch OLED outer panel at 2378 x 1060, both at 120Hz, running on the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. It’s remarkably thin for the battery it carries: 8.8mm folded and just 4.1mm unfolded, weighing 217 grams. Durability is a step behind the others though, rated IP58/IP59 rather than the full IP68 the other three phones in this guide carry.

Official pricing launched at €1,999 in Europe and £1,699.99 in the UK, though launch promotions brought that down to around €1,700, so it’s worth checking current retailer pricing rather than the RRP.

OnePlus Open: the value pick, with caveats

The OnePlus Open is three years old now, launched in October 2023, and OnePlus hasn’t replaced it with a true successor in most Western markets. That makes it the oldest phone in this guide, but it’s also by far the cheapest if you can still find stock. Specs are respectable even today: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, a 7.8-inch inner display and 6.3-inch cover display both at 120Hz, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, with a 4,805 mAh battery and 67W wired charging in Europe. It weighs 239 grams.

It launched at €1,799 in Europe, but current retail trackers put street pricing closer to €1,026 to €1,048. The ageing Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and the fact OnePlus is well into its update tail for this device are the trade-offs for that price. Treat it as a phone for someone who wants to try the format cheaply, not a long-term flagship purchase.

How the five compare

Phone	Inner / outer display	Battery	Wired charging	Weight (g)	Price (base storage)
Apple iPhone Duo	7.6″ / 5.4″	4,883 mAh	20W	254	$1,999 (EU TBC, ~€2,225 est.)
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7	8.0″ / 6.5″	4,400 mAh	25W	215	€2,099
Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold	8.0″ / 6.4″	5,015 mAh	30W	258	€1,899
Honor Magic V5	7.95″ / 6.43″	5,820 mAh	66W	217	€1,999 (launch)
OnePlus Open	7.82″ / 6.31″	4,805 mAh	67W	239	~€1,048 (current)

Battery capacity is the single most decision-relevant number in this category, because it’s the one spec that translates directly into whether the phone survives a full day of the multitasking it’s designed for. Honor’s lead here is real and comes with the fastest charging too, which is why reviewers keep calling it out as the foldable to beat on endurance.

Price tells a different story. Samsung is now the most expensive of the Android options despite having the smallest battery, while Google undercuts both Samsung and Honor at launch. OnePlus is in a category of its own, but you’re buying three-year-old silicon at that price.

Best for… picks by budget and use

Best overall if money isn’t the constraint: Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold. Brightest screens, biggest battery among the big three, genuine optical zoom, and the cheapest of the mainstream options at €1,899.
Best for battery life and fast charging: Honor Magic V5. Nothing else here gets close to 5,820 mAh plus 66W wired charging in the same body.
Best for long-term software support and resale value: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 or Pixel 10 Pro Fold, both promised seven years of OS updates.
Best if you’re staying in Apple’s ecosystem: iPhone Duo, with the understanding you’re paying a premium and accepting the slowest charging and a camera system without a telephoto lens.
Best on a tight budget: OnePlus Open, if you can find one in stock near its current street price and don’t mind running an older chipset.

Buy now or wait?

If you want the iPhone Duo, there’s no “wait” option worth considering: it’s already announced, pre-orders open October 16 and it ships October 23, so the only decision is whether to order on day one or let early reviews land first.

Samsung is a murkier case. Its own US store already surfaces a “Galaxy Fold8 Ultra” as a recommended upgrade on the Z Fold7 product page, which suggests a successor is either shipping already in some markets or close to it. We couldn’t confirm pricing, specs or availability for it, so treat this strictly as an unconfirmed signal rather than a rumour with real detail. If you were leaning toward a Galaxy foldable, it’s worth checking Samsung’s own site for your region before paying full price for a Z Fold7.

What this means for you

If you’ve never used a foldable and want to know whether the format is worth the money, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the safest entry point: it’s the cheapest of the three major-brand options, has the longest promised update support alongside Samsung, and its battery and charging numbers hold up against pricier rivals.

If battery anxiety is what’s kept you away from foldables specifically, buy the Honor Magic V5 and don’t overthink it. The 5,820 mAh cell and 66W charging solve the actual problem that scares people off this category.

Hold off on the iPhone Duo unless you’re committed to iOS and want to be first. The 20W charging speed and missing telephoto lens are real compromises for a first-generation product, and Apple’s own second-generation foldable will almost certainly fix both within a year or two, the same way it did with Apple Watch and AirPods.