2024 was a pretty strange year for foldables, particularly in the US. While users in Europe and China were treated to a smorgasbord of options — not to mention cutting-edge technology like Huawei’s tri-fold phone — it was business as usual on our side of the Atlantic. Only three brands released foldables here in the US, including Google, Samsung, and Motorola. And, for yet another year, only the latter two companies released a flip phone here, with the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and this year’s Moto Razr+ building on their predecessors to deliver pretty excellent flip phone experiences.
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Of course, both brands took their own routes. Samsung kept the same basic hardware, choosing to improve its cover display purely through enhanced software, while Motorola expanded its own front panel to a (relatively) massive 4 inches. That leaves us with two devices that are trying to transform their respective cover displays into, effectively, small Android phones. I’m concerned, however, that these new form factors might be missing out on what made flip phones so exciting to some consumers in the first place — and what made more portable smartphones so appealing in the first place.
Flip phones no longer feel like a digital detox
But there’s an easy way to bring that feeling back
Looking back on earlier Galaxy Z Flip and Moto Razr models, you’ll notice one thing in common: ticker displays in lieu of full, expansive cover screens. These early clamshell models considered their outer panel something for basic information, not for loading navigation in Maps or scrolling through Instagram stories. You could view the time, weather conditions, and incoming notifications, and not much else. Comparing these devices to their modern counterparts is like comparing a Fitbit to the Pixel Watch 3.
To plenty of people — power users and small phone fans in particular — this was a compromised situation. AP’s Google Editor Taylor Kerns found this out the hardware during a four-month trial run with the Galaxy Z Flip 4 a couple of years ago. While his issues with photo quality remain mostly unsolved, Motorola and Samsung did rectify his complaints about the ticker display rendering the phone fundamentally useless in a lot of situations. Here’s Taylor:
“The Flip 4 also takes a little caution to open without feeling like it’s liable to tumble to the ground — popping it open one-handed is not an elegant maneuver. I’ve really missed being able to easily pull my phone out of my pocket, unlock and interact with it, and put it back while, say, holding a cup of coffee in the other hand. It’s hardly impossible with the Flip, but it’s awkward at best. I can see this being a perk, too, for someone looking to curb compulsive smartphone use, but for me, it’s mostly just meant more neglected notifications.”
While I absolutely see Taylor’s point, these days, you can count me in with the group he’s describing near the end. As someone who lives his life literally surrounded by smartphones — many of them usually on for testing purposes — my life is nothing but neglected notifications and endless distractions. I find it surprisingly difficult to ignore a flashing display in front of me, even when the smartwatch on my wrist exists to inform me whether it’s actually important. That ticker screen might make the phone less useful, but it might also be just what I need to relax and unwind in the evening or on weekends.
To me, this is absolutely a solvable problem, but it requires Samsung and Motorola to put in some work. We don’t need to ditch the sorts of screens that help rectify usability issues found in older generations, but we do need additional software settings that allow for all that noise to be tuned out. Why not build a software-based version of the old-school ticker display, toggleable from quick settings, that allows you to turn your device into something a little less smart — even if it’s just while it’s resting on the table in front of you?
It’s a simple enough strategy, one that could make both the Taylors and the Wills of the world feel more satisfied with their phone. It’s something that could even pair well with Google’s own Digital Wellbeing initiative on Android, working to help you disconnect from your online life whenever you possibly can.
Flip phones aren’t good at being small phones
Let’s bring back the real deal already
Of course, that still might just be a Band-aid slapped on a larger, more fundamental problem with the mobile market. Both Samsung and Motorola have taken wildly different swings with very similar hardware over the past couple of years, and it tells us a lot about what to expect from each phone. With the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Flip 6, Samsung feels like it’s trying to glue a smartwatch to the front display, as evidenced by how tedious activating full app support remains. Motorola, meanwhile, allows for most of your apps to work on the cover screen out of the box, a strategy I fully expect Samsung to adopt in coming generations.
Despite these different approaches, both flip phones are acting as substitutions for actual small phones, the type of device that was effectively eradicated from the market with the death of the iPhone 13 Mini. While that experience might work for some users, it’s a poor replacement for what many people actually want: a device that slides into our pocket without weighing anything down. It’s why I’ve gone to bat for devices like the Pixel 8a and iPhone 16, phones that feel relatively small while using designs that don’t necessitate relying on a protective case.
What Samsung and Motorola — and, presumably, any other company that decides to join this competition in the coming years — don’t understand, of course, is that a capable cover display isn’t a real replacement for truly small phones. Sure, Google Maps works well enough on a folded Razr, but it’ll never compare to running it on, say, a Pixel 5-sized device. And when you do need a more traditional screen size and shape, flipping open the Galaxy Z Flip 6 reveals a large phone, regardless of how it feels when shut.
If a smaller alternative existed, it’d be easier to see our current cover display situation as, simply, an alternate approach to making smartphones more pocketable. Crave the flexibility of a large and small display? Grab a Moto Razr. Want something more standard but still friendly enough to use with one hand? Grab a… well, I can’t even come up with a hypothetical device at this rate. A Pixel 10 Mini, if you will.
The future of flip phones is wide open
Let’s hope it includes more truly small devices
Perhaps it’s unfair to pick on clamshell foldables for their shortcomings as small phone replacements — after all, it’s not their fault the market demanded we leave sub-6-inch screens behind. But if all we’re left with are devices like the Moto Razr+, I’d like to see companies like Motorola and Samsung think through how they can maximize the experience on both sides of the aisle.
Make those cover displays as flexible and powerful as possible, but at the same time, delivering a more minimal, laid back experience could help users disconnect whenever possible. And, frankly, get back to making small phones alongside clamshell foldables. These devices come with some real shortcomings, something a truly small Pixel 10 Pro would likely be able to ignore.
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Why I’m waiting for a Pixel Flip to go all in on foldables
Motorola and Samsung be damned, gimme that Pixel clamshell!
