Like you, I haven’t been particularly impressed with the average deals we’re seeing for this year’s Black Friday. The age of can’t-be-beat doorbusters seems truly dead and behind us, and frankly, retailers can keep their “up to 30 percent off” sales to themselves. And with the proliferation of Prime Day — and all of the rival sales done by Amazon’s closest competitors — Black Friday might just not feel as “special” as it once did.
No Thanks, Keep Reading
However, if you’ve spent the last half-decade dreaming of owning a foldable, I think you might’ve found yourself an exception. I can’t think of a better opportunity to purchase a folding phone than this weekend, with practically every recent release marked down to a much more affordable price. So, if you’ve been thinking about upgrading your smartphone, here’s your guide to the foldables to buy — and skip — this Black Friday.
I want a flip phone
Whether it’s thanks to their portability or their price tag, flip phones are by far the more popular form of foldable you’ll find on the market today. In North America, however, we only have two companies currently producing flip phones: Samsung and Motorola. Both brands make devices worth buying, but you’ll want to be savvy in your selection to find the most bang for your buck.
Skip the Galaxy Z Flip 6 — pick up the Flip 5 instead
To some early adopters, this might sound like heresy. But the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is remarkably similar to its predecessor, so much so that I find it difficult to recommend for $150 more. With near-identical displays, designs, and software features, the Flip 5 is a steal at $700 through Best Buy, even as we head into 2025. The biggest change between these two generations is the move up to a 50MP main camera sensor, along with a bump up to seven years of OS update support.
Otherwise, you’re still getting one hell of a flip phone with the Galaxy Z Flip 5. It’s guaranteed to receive at least Android 17, along with an additional year of security patches, uses the same exterior display as the Flip 6, and makes the most of its surprisingly excellent Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. There’s very little downside to saving $150 on the older model, unless you’re looking for that extended software support. To some shoppers, that might be worth a little extra cash upfront.
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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6
$818 $1100 Save $282The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is Samsung’s most evolved take yet on the flip-style foldable form factor. Its 3.4-inch AMOLED cover screen supports Galaxy AI features without opening the device, along with upgraded widgets and suggested replies, but its gorgeous 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED folding display will still have you flipping the phone open quite a bit.
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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5
$700 $1000 Save $300The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 features a 3.4-inch external display, making it ideal for social media scrolling or text responses without opening the device. In addition, Samsung has redesigned the hinge on the Flip 5, allowing it to close flat for the first time on the Flip series.
Want the absolute cheapest foldable around? Moto’s most recent Razr is worth considering
Unlike Samsung, Motorola made some serious changes to its Razr lineup this year. The Razr+ gained a more expansive 4-inch front display, while the cheaper Razr moved to the same 3.6-inch panel first seen on 2023’s flagship clamshell. While I was pretty taken with this year’s Razr+ — and its throwback magenta hue — I might’ve preferred the cheaper model this year. The 2024 Razr doesn’t have a particularly great camera, and its gaming performance isn’t much to write home about, but for typical smartphone tasks, it’s basically flawless, and the battery life is surprisingly solid.
The price is the big selling point, of course. At $450, we are squarely in budget territory this Black Friday, which was unheard of for foldables just a couple of years ago. Really, the only problem facing the Razr is the same problem facing every Motorola phone: weak software support. If you can accept that your future upgrades might be delayed, though, this device is worth every penny.
Of course, the rest of Motorola’s Razr lineup is also on sale this year. I’d skip the 2023 Razr+ — in my opinion, the 2024 Razr’s better build quality and battery beats it, and it’s still $50 cheaper — but the 2023 regular Razr might be worth it if you’re shopping for a relative. At $340 through Amazon, it could make for a great first smartphone, whether it’s for your parents or your kids. And if you’re looking to go all out, the $750 Razr+ from this year remains an exceptional (if more expensive) choice as well.
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Motorola Razr (2024)
$500 $700 Save $200The Razr (2024) is Motorola’s affordable flip phone, packing almost all the features you can ask for. It packs a big, usable 3.6-inch cover display, a 6.9-inch pOLED folding screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, and a powerful MediaTek DImensity chip.
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Motorola Razr+ (2024)
$750 $1000 Save $250The Motorola Razr+ (2024) is an impressive flip foldable, featuring high-end internals. With the 2024 variant, Motorola has made one of our favorite flip phones from last year even better, bumping the cover screen size even further, fitting a beefier battery, and improving the cameras.
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Motorola Razr (2023)
$340 $700 Save $360The Motorola Razr (2023) doesn’t offer the same external display as the Razr+, and the older Snapdragon 7 processor certainly slows things down. However, its budget-minded price, larger battery, and compact size still make this a worthwhile pick for those looking to relive the flip phone glory days but with all the modern smartphone conveniences.
I want a book-style foldable
As great as it is seeing clamshell phones drop in price, when you think of a foldable, you’re probably thinking of a book-style device. These usually cost around $2,000, though, pricing them out of consideration for all but the most dedicated of road warriors. This Black Friday, however, you can find some worthy deals that bring the cost down considerably. While we’re far from budget territory, if you’re looking to upgrade without spending all that much more than what you’d usually drop on a Galaxy S24 Ultra, you have some options.
What’s the cheapest price available?
If you’re looking for savings above all else, you’re going to have to hop back to 2023 to find the best possible price. The OnePlus Open is down to $1,200, just over a year after it stole the tech community’s collective hearts last fall. I’m a big fan of the Open, even as we head into 2025, and for this price, it’s a great option.
Nothing about this phone feels particularly dated, unless you happen to place it next to the slimmer, sleeker Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Otherwise, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 inside still performs like a dream, the Open Canvas-based multitasking solution remains best-in-class, and the Hasselblad-tuned camera remains the best you’ll find on a foldable. The OnePlus Open might feel like a budget choice compared to its competitors, but it’s still one of my favorite smartphones around.
OnePlus Open
OnePlus’ first foldable packs an impressive specs sheet and boasts some equally remarkable features. The lightweight design, the super-bright cover and folding screens, the high-end internals, and the triple-camera setup make the OnePlus Open a great alternative to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold lineup.
What if I’m after something newer?
While we didn’t get a OnePlus Open 2 in 2024 — here’s hoping for 2025 — we did get new foldables from Samsung and Google. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 introduced a slight redesign that places it more in like with the company’s Galaxy S-series, particularly the Galaxy S24 Ultra. It’s a perfectly fine phone, but like much of Samsung’s output, it’s starting to feel a little stale. Perhaps that’s why the company is going all in on Black Friday discounts, offering the Galaxy Z Fold 6 for just $1,400 through retailers like Best Buy, and even cheaper through its own storefront.
That’s right — technically, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is the cheapest foldable you can buy, assuming you’re okay with Crafted Black or White. Those models are going for $1,100 on Samsung’s online store, even without a trade-in. It’s the cheapest price around, and an obvious deal worth grabbing if you’re already invested in the Samsung ecosystem.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6
Samsung’s latest foldable takes some cues from the Galaxy S24 Ultra, with a boxier design and an all-matte finish. It features a slightly wider cover display for a more comfortable typing experience, as well as new Galaxy AI features and an upgraded ultra-wide camera.
What if I want a Pixel 9 Pro Fold?
Google’s second-gen foldable is the latest to launch in the US, and as such, it’s a little more expensive than the competition. Still, at $1,500, it’s a decent deal for anyone looking to grab the latest from Google without having to pay full price. We’ll almost certainly see better deals than this throughout 2025, but if you’re the early adopter type, this is an excellent price on a device that hasn’t even been out for three months. Not too shabby.
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold boasts a bigger eight-inch Super Actua inner display, paired with a 6.3-inch outer display. It is powered by Google’s new Tensor G4 chipset, paired with 16GB of RAM and a Titan M2 security coprocessor, making it faster than its predecessor, at least on paper.
Make a move, because these prices won’t last forever
While I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of these discounts survive the duration of the holiday shopping season, make no mistake — you shouldn’t wait on any of these sales. This is the time to buy a foldable if you’ve ever been interested, and from the cheapest Moto Razrs to the most expensive Pixel 9 Pro Fold, practically every option worth buying is on sale.
