The foldable phone has been trying to make a comeback for nearly four years. There are new clamshell designs that recall the classic Motorola Razr but now fold out to offer the size of touchscreen seen as standard today. And there are book designs that open out to offer a small tablet – or ‘phablet’ – experience, while retaining a standard screen on the outside. The segment’s unquestioned leader is Samsung.
Its latest entries are the Galaxy Z Flip 4 (clamshell) and Z Fold 4 (phablet). At £999 and £1,649 respectively, these are premium-priced handsets, although they come with aggressive bargain options. Samsung will accept any smartphone as a minimum £250 trade-in against the Flip 4 and trade-ins of up to £580 against the Fold 4. You can also get a year’s worth of Disney+ streaming.
The deals reflect how hard it has been proving for foldables to get traction among consumers. The main problem has been reliability, particularly around the inner display.
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