Into the Fold: Comparing Verizon's Folding Smartphones

[Dan_VZ]

As ubiquitous as mobile devices have become over the last 30 years, it’s still rare that we see a brand new device form factor introduced to the industry.  Flip phones, candy bar phones, slide-out keyboards, and the now standard slate design were all transformative in allowing us to interact with our devices and each other in new ways.  The next step in that progression has already been on the market for a few years, but now has more devices than ever: the folding smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5For those of us old enough to remember candy bar phones, most folding smartphones look something like those when they’re closed, but with a full touchscreen on the front.  Opening the phone reveals a large screen that allows you to get immersed in video content and offers impressive multitasking capabilities.  Now you can watch a video and scroll your social feeds all on one screen.  You can even drag and drop items into messages or email attachments by having those two apps open at once.

Verizon currently offers two folding smartphones and while they’re both impressive devices, there are some key differences in their size.  The first is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5.  When unfolded, it is 5.1 inches wide and 6.1 inches tall.  The Google Pixel Fold, released earlier this year, has different dimensions: 6.2 inches wide and 5.5 inches tall.  This means that while both phones are close to a square screen size, the Galaxy Z Fold5 is more of a portrait orientation, while the Pixel Fold is closer to landscape.  If you’re looking at purchasing these devices, the choice all comes down to preferenceGoogle Pixel Fold and what you’re looking to accomplish with the smartphone.  If your main priority is video, then the Pixel Fold may be the one for you so you can watch in landscape and take advantage of the wider screen size.  If you’re going to be multitasking and writing emails, the Galaxy Z Fold5 might be easier to use for typing messages and creating presentations.

Samsung also offers the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, with a smaller form factor that when unfolded is the size of your standard slate-style smartphone, but when folded up it gets tiny: only 3.4 in x 2.9 in.  If portability is your priority, it's worth checking out!

Have you checked out any of the folding smartphones or are you thinking of upgrading to once soon?  Let us know in the comments!