Remember the days when text messages and Snake on your Nokia 3310 were two of the most exciting things a phone could manage? We do, too. Fast-forward two decades and we have in-display fingerprint scanners, bezel-free displays, under-display cameras, plus a whole different take on slider and flip phones.

Flip phones were once slim, compact and hinged devices. Now, flip phones have morphed into these foldable phones with actual bendable screens. That tends to bring the potential for huge price tags, to get hold of a piece of this magic.

Here are the devices leading the foldable smartphone trend.

Our Top Picks: Best Foldable Phone

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 features a more refined design compared to its predecessors – the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 5G – with a more durable hinge and frame design, making it feel more sturdy.

Like the Galaxy Z Fold 4, the Z Flip 3 has waterproofing too. The cover display is still small, and a little limited in functionality, but the internal display is a fantastic, vibrant panel with 120Hz adaptive refresh rates.

The camera specifications are good this time, as are the RAM and storage options and the battery capacity, plus with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 onboard, you get fast and efficient performance too.

Other foldable phones we recommend

The Galaxy Z Flip 4 won’t be the phone for everyone, and there are plenty of other models and styles to choose from, with more manufacturers joining the flexible smartphone market all the time and each with their benefits.

We were really torn between the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Moto Razr 40 Ultra (Razr+) in first place, both have strengths, but in the end the Samsung pipped it for its better software optimisation and better cameras in testing. With that said, we still like the latest flagship Motorola – a lot. The clean, bloat-free software is a breath of fresh air, and it has the flagship power and performance you’d want from a top-tier phone. What’s more – for a clamshell foldable – the battery life is very good, comfortably lasting a full day even with a lot of screen usage.

The big draw is the large cover screen on the outside. It’s great for taking selfies and surprisingly convenient for reading (and replying to) messages on the fly, meaning you don’t have to open the phone for every interaction like you do with the Z Flip 4.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 succeeds the Galaxy Z Fold 3, bringing a few small – but important – improvements over the older model. The design and hinge were upgraded to make the phone more durable and long-lasting. Samsung also increased the width of the front display, making it closer to a regular smartphone ratio. It’s still quite narrow, but it’s an improvement nonetheless. Add to that a decent triple camera system with great zoom, a vibrant 120Hz display, the convenience of S Pen support and Flex mode software optimisations and you have an epic multitasking machine. All of this is built on the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, which is an incredibly fast and efficient platform.

It’s safe to say Oppo thought about things very differently from its competitors with the Find N2 Flip. Yes, you still get a portable, foldable clamshell that slips easily into a pocket, but you also get an unusual vertical display on the front which makes a lot of sense in specific scenarios. It’s essentially a mini smartphone display and is great for lists, message inboxes and recording vertical videos.

Marry that with a phone that has a brilliant internal display, an almost invisible crease in the display and a gapless design, and it’s a really tempting offering, especially at this price point. As an extra kicker – you get 44W wired charging – delivering a full charge in about an hour.

Honor’s flagship foldable takes a similar approach to its former parent company, Huawei’s. It’s a really big device with a large flexible display on the inside and a full-sized screen on the outside. You get lots of screen real estate then, and both displays offer a great visual experience. It folds flush, which is a big draw, and has some impressive specifications. The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 runs the show, and Honor’s Android skin comes with all the proper Play Store compatibility. It’s a great option for those who want a big screened foldable.

Let’s get the two major elephants out of the room first: yes, it’s expensive and no, it doesn’t have Google Play Services. But there’s many a reason we think the Mate X3 deserves a mention, even if it’s just an honourable mention at the end of a list. The hardware design is – without doubt – the nicest we’ve laid our hands on. The slimness seems almost impossible and – combined with the fake leather back – make it really comfortable to hold. It’s also got a wonderful pair of screens and – probably – the best camera of any foldable phone.

Lacking Google Play isn’t the hurdle it used to be. Apps that aren’t on the Huawei’s App Gallery are available to download as APKs through Petal Search which now also informs you when there are updates available to download, so that process feels more user-friendly than it was. What’s more, there’s a suite of Microsoft apps, including Outlook and Edge, available in place of Gmail and Chrome. There are still some hurdles, and some apps you’ll struggle to get hold of, so you still need to look into that to see if you’re missing anything crucial.

Unlike standard smartphones, however, missing apps isn’t the major inconvenience it could be. Plenty of services are available as web services, and accessible through the browser, and that method can be beneficial on the almost tablet-sized display on the inside.