Best Flip Phones of 2024

Foldable phones are great and all, but there's been a compromise going on for generations now—the camera. The thing is, to make the flip phone thin and light, you need to sacrifice a few things, and the camera is often the first to go. Well, not anymore, because Oppo has launched the successor to its popular and very well-received Find N2 Flip model.

The Oppo Find N3 Flip expands on the idea of a do-it-all flip phone with a great cover display and a Hasselblad-branded main camera. The Find N3 Flip might just be the first flip phone with a triple camera system, we're talking about real camera, not depth sensors or other excuses for increasing the camera count.

There's a 50MP main camera, a 48MP sensor under the ultrawide lens, and a dedicated 32MP telephoto snapper with optical zoom! The phone also comes with a Dimensity 9200 chipset, 12GB of LPDDR5x RAM, and 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage, both upgrades from the memory specs of its predecessor. The 4,300 mAh dual battery and fast 44W charging are carried over.

Read More: Oppo Find N3 Flip one-ups Z Flip 5 with monster triple camera and Hasselblad portraits

Let's not forget that flip phones were designed to look like a makeup compact (also called a flapjack). Of course, we can't say that a certain smartphone model is girly anymore, but we can say that the Huawei P50 Pocket is a very stylish device that our author Iskra (who happens to be a girl) liked very much.

It's an exercise in vanity to some extent, but in a world where smartphones are so similar and sometimes plain boring, we're all for little panage. The Huawei P50 Pocked has a great screen, a very capable camera system, and fast wired charging.

On the negative side, this phone comes with an older Snapdragon 888 chipset and without 5G capabilities, and, of course, it doesn't have Google Services onboard. This thing looks pretty, though.

When Samsung dropped the price of the Galaxy Z Flip line under $1000 all hailed that move as the first break for the foldable phones into the affordable category. Now, we can argue whether $999 is affordable but the fact of the matter is that it drove the market forward. Now, several years later, we have the first actually affordable flip phone-the Motorola Razr 40 (known just as the Motorola Razr (2023) in the States).

The Motorola Razr is just $699, which is cheaper than a lot of non-folding flagships out there. Granted, the phone is midrange all-over, but you can taste that flip experience without breaking the bank. It's a great gateway into the flexible-display smartphone world, and if you really like it, you can upgrade to a more capable and expensive one after a year or two.

Do you want a flip phone without the need to rob the bank? Nubia has got you covered. The Nubia Flip 5G offers a great gateway into the flip phone world, because it only costs $499 for the 8/256GB entry model. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 processor and sports a 6.9-inch foldable OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, which is not bad at all, considering the price tag.

There's a 1.43-inch very cool circular OLED cover display and a big 4,310 mAh battery, too. The main camera is a 50MP snapper, and some nice color options are available as well. 

Read More: The most affordable foldable smartphone is now available for pre-order

Some of you may remember the Huawei P50 Pocket. It was a very fashionable phone, but it's now several years old. Well, the Chinese company just launched a replacement, called Huawei Nova Flip. Huawei has apparently decided to launch a flip phone under the Nova branding, rather than make a direct successor to the P50 Pocket.

The Nova Flip is one of the thinnest foldables on the market. It measures just 6.88mm when unfolded and comes with some interesting bells and whistles onboard. The main screen is a 6.94-inch LTPO OLED with FHD+ resolution and a 1-120Hz refresh rate, and there's a square 2.14-inch cover screen with some limited functionality.

The main camera sports a 50MP RYYB sensor under a lens with an aperture of F/1.9. There's a hefty 4,400mAh battery inside, and under the hood we can find a Kirin 8000 chipset. Even though this flip phone isn't fighting for the top spot on our list, it's still pretty interesting. For now, the Huawei Nova Flip is only available in China starting at around $744 for the base 256GB version.

Read More: Huawei launches one of the thinnest flip phones on the market

Are flip phones worth the additional cost?

That's a tough question. It really depends on what you're looking for in a phone. If you like to be at the forefront of smartphone technology and you don't mind paying extra, then yes. Furthermore, there are now really affordable flip phones such as the Nubia Flip ($499), allowing you to test the experience without robbing the bank.

Are flip phones durable enough?

The folding technology has been around for many years now, and most of the concerns have been dealt with. The hinges companies use are designed to withstand around 200,000 folds, which is 5 years of heavy use. However, you should be careful and not abuse these hinges. They might be tested in lab conditions but a tad of attention goes a long way. Be wary of dust and dirt slipping between the hinge and the display, as this can break the screen and render it unusable. All in all, flip phones are durable, but not as durable as their more rigid non-folding cousins.

Is the size and shape of flip phones a factor in battery life?

Several generations ago, the battery life of flip phones used to be slightly lower than that of regular flagship phones. Nowadays, though, most flip phones come with 4,000 mAh or bigger batteries inside, and the battery life is comparable to that of a similar compact flagship phone. At the end of the day, it all depends on the use scenarios. The nature of flip phones allows them to be used without flipping them open, which can conserve battery life.

Are there any differences in camera quality between flip phones and traditional phones?

Normally, yes. Flip phones have to be slimmer and lighter to incorporate the hinge and to be able to fold without being too thick. This calls for some compromises, mainly in the camera department. Most flip phones come with a dual camera setup consisting of a main and ultrawide cameras. However, we're starting to see models with three cameras on the back and flagship-grade sensors and lenses. So the answer to this question is “it really depends on the model.”