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The best flip phones you can buy: Expert tested
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Before phones became "phablets" and ditched physical front buttons for touch-capacitive screens, there was the humble flip phone. Using the T9 keyboard on it was a mastery in and of itself, flipping shut the device to hang up calls was the most ruthless thing one could do, and the idea of packing so much gadgetry into a compact unit invoked equal parts playfulness and wonder. While flip phones have dramatically changed over the past decades, I've had the fortune of using the best of the best.
Also: The best phones: Expert tested
What is the best flip phone right now?
Of all the flip phones I've tested and reviewed, the Motorola Razr Plus (2024) is my pick for the best flip phone overall, just a hair above the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6. It's a tight race between the two, but the Razr Plus edges out with a more useful and larger outer display -- which is one of the main appeals of a modern-day flip phone -- as well as better battery life and faster charging. You can also find one for at least $100 cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy. See below for the full list of recommended picks.
Best flip phones in 2024
Motorola Razr Plus (2024)
Best flip phone overall
Deciding on the best flip phone overall came down to the wire, with Motorola's Razr Plus (2024) just scraping by Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 6. I went hands-on with both devices this summer and was left impressed by both, but I ultimately sided with the Motorola because it lets you do more with the outer display.
Review: Motorola Razr Plus (2024)
Not only is the outer display on the Razr Plus an impressive 3.6-inch panel, but the software supports virtually any app you throw at it, meaning you can browse the web, play games, scroll TikTok, and do other mobile tasks without ever needing to flip open the device. Samsung's platform is more limited in this regard, with some loopholes, like the Good Lock app, that require more tinkering.
This year's under-the-hood upgrades are also meaningful, such as the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip optimized for AI workloads, the 12GB of RAM, and the larger 4,000mAh battery that can be charged wired (up to 45W) or wirelessly. Motorola's more ambitious new AI features like "Remember this," which is akin to Microsoft's Recall, will be released later this year. For now, I'm cautiously optimistic about the brand's latest flip phone.
Motorola Razr Plus (2024) tech specs: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 | Display sizes: 4 inches and 6.9 inches| RAM/Storage: 8GB/12GB of RAM with 256GB of storage | Battery: 4,000mAh | Camera: 50MP wide, 50MP telephoto, 32MP front | Price: Starting at $999
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6
Best flip phone for content creators
While the Motorola Razr Plus is the top dog, Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 6 should appeal to a wider audience thanks to its brand power and features tailored to content creators.
The Z Flip 6 is very similar to the standard Samsung Galaxy S-series flagship, with a large 6.7-inch AMOLED panel that's crisp and bright, up to 512GB of RAM for those high-resolution pictures and videos, and a healthy 4,000mAh battery powering it all -- an upgrade from the Z Flip 5. There's also now a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset and the first vapor cooling chamber ever on a Z Flip device, both of which should make the phone run more efficiently, reducing battery drainage. The phone is thinner and lighter than previous models, too.
Review: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6
The Z Flip 6's camera system got a nice boost, with an improved 50MP main sensor and 12MP ultra-wide. There's no dedicated telephoto lens like on the Razr Plus to capture distant subjects, but perhaps the ultra-wide lens may serve you better for landscape photography. You'll also find a new AI-powered Auto Zoom feature, which automatically detects how many people are in a frame and potential background objects the user may want to keep in the shot and repositions the capture digitally.
The Flex Window, or outer display of the flip phone, also gets some fun new features in the Z Flip 6, including interactive wallpapers, suggested replies to text messages, and a new Interpreter Mode for live translations.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 tech specs: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | Display sizes: 3.4 inches and 6.8 inches | RAM/Storage: 12GB of RAM with 256GB/512GB of storage | Battery: 4,000mAh | Cameras: 50MP wide angle, 12MP ultra-wide, 10MP from | Price: Starting at $1,099
Motorola Razr (2024)
Best mid-range flip phone
When the market is competitive, both manufacturers and consumers are winners. Case in point: No one, including myself, expected the $699 Motorola Razr to be as good as it is for the money.
Review: Motorola Razr Plus
In some ways, the standard Razr model yields a better experience than the more expensive Plus variant, with a larger 4,200mAh battery and ultrawide lens that allows for more flexible shooting styles. ZDNET's Max Buondonno tested the Razr and also commended its variety of cover designs, writing, "the Koala Gray version I have comes with a vegan suede material, while the Beach Sand and Spritz Orange (a.k.a. the best color) have vegan leather."
Under the hood is a weaker but still passable MediaTek Dimensity 7300X chipset, with Moto's minimalist approach to Android. There are a few gesture-based perks, like twisting your wrist to prompt the camera or doing a chopping motion to turn on the flashlight, and the front screen is just as customizable as the one on the Razr Plus.
Motorola Razr (2024) tech specs: Processor: MediaTek Dimensity 7300X | Display sizes: 3.6 inches and 6.9 inches | RAM/Storage: 8GB of RAM with 256GB of storage | Battery: 4,200mAh | Camera: 50MP wide, 13MP ultrawide, 32MP front | Price: Starting at $699
Motorola Razr (2023)
Best cheap flip phone
Motorola's "best budget foldable phone" in 2023 carries over into 2024, with the Razr model now being sold at an even lower cost: $399. The standard model is not as flashy as its Plus sibling, with a smaller 1.5-inch external display that's just sizable enough for quick scans of basic information (weather, alarms, contacts, etc.), but it's also hundreds of dollars less.
Review: Motorola Razr (2023)
At its current sale price of $399, the Razr is the most affordable foldable that money can buy this year, and that's not counting the various second-hand flip phones that have since dropped in value and reliability. Even then, the device is specced just well enough for a smooth daily operation, from scrolling through webpages to emailing to multimedia consumption.
Of course, you'll experience some compromises with a cheaper foldable, including the just-passable camera system, 128GB storage limit, and less performant processor. If you can shoulder all of that, the Motorola Razr may just be the best starting point for users to board the foldable hype train.
Motorola Razr (2023) tech specs: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 | Display sizes: 1.5 inches and 6.9 inches | RAM/Storage: 8GB of RAM with 128GB of storage | Battery: 4,200mAh | Camera: 64MP wide, 13MP ultrawide, 32MP front | Price: Starting at $399
Nokia 2780 Flip
Best dumb flip phone
If your definition of a flip phone involves fewer screens and more digital wellness, then you may be looking for a "dumb phone," made popular recently by Gen Z, who encouraged taking digital detoxes. Of course, such devices are also essential for users who just want a bare-bones phone that can still make calls, send text messages, and dial into the internet, but with less chance of leaving digital fingerprints.
Also: Gen Z embraces dumb flip phones, a smarter life hack than you'd think
The Nokia is one of the better dumb phones I've tested, with a relatively large 2.7-inch inner display and 1.7-inch outer display for information at a glance. The keys and navigation buttons are also very spacious, making for a more comfortable typing experience than most phones of this size and price. Naturally, the software experience is minimal, so the 512MB of RAM and nerfed Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 chip are reasonable specs.
You can purchase the phone online unlocked, meaning it'll work with most, if not all, SIM cards you plug into it. Alternatively, I'd recommend buying it at your local carrier store to know for sure whether your network is supported.
Nokia 2780 tech specs: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 | Display sizes: 1.77 inches and 2.7 inches | RAM/Storage: 512MB of RAM with 4GB of storage | Battery: 1,450mAh | Camera: 5MP wide | Price: Starting at $88
What is the best flip phone?
The best flip phone is the Motorola Razr Plus (2024), which offers the most well-rounded mobile experience with up to 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip, a 4000mAh battery with 45W fast charging, and more. Just as important, Motorola undercuts its closest competitor, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, by $100.
Flip phone | Price | Displays | Camera |
Motorola Razr Plus (2024) | $999 | 4-inch and 6.9-inch | 50MP wide, 50MP telephoto, 32MP front |
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 | $1,099 | 6.3-inch and 6.8-inch | 50MP wide, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP front |
Motorola Razr (2024) | $699 | 3.6-inch and 6.9-inch | 50MP wide, 13MP ultrawide, 32MP front |
Motorola Razr (2023) | $399 | 1.5-inch and 6.9-inch | 64MP wide, 13MP ultra, 32MP front |
Nokia 2780 Flip | $88 | 1.77-inch and 2.7-inch | 5MP wide |
Which is the right flip phone for you?
To help you decide, see below for the key reasons to buy each of ZDNET's top flip phone picks.
Choose this flip phone… | If you want… |
Motorola Razr Plus (2024) | The best flipping foldable on the market, with a 4-inch outer display that's highly personalizable and a 4,000mAh battery. |
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 | A flip phone that's backed by brand power and infrastructure, with benefits that include longer software support, more refined features, and greater trade-in values. |
Motorola Razr (2024) | A foldable for less. If you can live with its compromises, the $699 Motorola Razr is, without question, the most accessible device of its kind. |
Motorola Razr (2023) | The most affordable modern-day flip phone, with a $399 price tag that's hard to beat. The Razr also has the same screen size as its Plus siblings. |
Nokia 2780 Flip | A dumb phone that promotes digital wellbeing and detoxing, with bare-bones features and specs for phone calls, texting, and light internet browsing. |
Factors to consider when choosing a phone
The process of making our phone selections includes real-world testing and researching about the phones for weeks, consulting with colleagues, industry experts, and analysts who also have hands-on experience with the smartphones, and then selecting the best from all of the available choices.
Ultimately, we weigh in the following aspects when curating this list:
- Design: The best-designed flip phones are practical to use, require a low to moderate learning curve, and should have a burdenless hand feel.
- Software optimization: A flip phone relies on more than just the standard software features of a traditional handset; it needs specialized tools and services built for the outer displays.
- Durability: The best flip phone can withstand a beating, whether that's in the form of waist-high drops or pouring rain. It helps when a device is certified IPX8 or IP52 or has been tested to meet above-average durability standards.
- Value: It's difficult to ignore how expensive flip phones can be, so price-to-performance is something deeply considered when evaluating between devices. Carrier store promotions, trade-in deals, and other offers are also factored in.
How we test phones
ZDNET's review team spends upwards of a year testing the ins and outs of every major phone release, evaluating the day-to-day performance, camera quality, battery life and endurance, and special features. Here's a breakdown of every factor we consider before we make recommendations:
- Design and ergonomics: How good a phone looks and feels plays a big role in many users' buying journeys, so we consider these aspects heavily when testing.
- Performance: Several factors affect a phone's performance, including LTE/5G signal, battery life, and background tasks. Therefore, we typically begin our evaluations with a fully charged handset, with all background tasks closed, and with as stable of a mobile connection as possible.
- Camera quality: ZDNET tests phone cameras by capturing hundreds of photos and videos of various subjects and in various lighting conditions. We also compare the output to that of older models.
- Battery life and charging: It's also important for us to evaluate how long phones last under light, moderate, and heavy usage, how long they take to recharge, and how they do it (wired, wireless, or both).
- Special features: These features distinguish tested devices from a bustling smartphone market and hopefully bring added value to users, not the opposite.
- Pricing and availability: Beyond budget considerations, we also note if a phone is available in the US or only internationally.
For a more extensive breakdown, check out our comprehensive phone testing methodology page.
Will Apple make a flip phone?
It's the question everyone's been asking since the very first foldable was launched back in 2019: whether or not Apple will put out a foldable iPhone of its own. While the company has yet to unveil any plans of making one, and the rumor mill has been rather slow in that regard, it would not be surprising if there's a team within Cupertino already building one out.
Also: Why foldable phones are still so expensive, according to analysts
And, as is often the case with consumer technology, once Apple does feel comfortable enough to release a mass-market foldable phone, we can expect there to be a drop in overall pricing in the market, as manufacturers scramble to compete in value. The latest rumors point to a release as soon as in 2026.
Other phones we tested
The best flip phones listed above strike the perfect balance of design, functionality, and innovation. If you're still on the fence, here are some alternatives to consider.