Foldable phones

A foldable asks you to trust a hinge and a flexible screen that no spec sheet fully describes. Our coverage so far centers on the iPhone Duo and the Xiaomi 18 Fold, but the same questions apply to any foldable.

Durability: look for evidence, not promises. A maker's description of its hinge, a patent or a factory yield figure says little about how a phone survives years of folding. Field data only exists once phones have been in customers' hands for a while.

Weight and battery: compare the makers' figures for what they are. Capacity in mAh and rated video playback hours measure different things, and neither replaces an independent battery test.

Software and buying abroad: a big inner screen is only as good as the apps built for it, and reviewers have found poorly adapted apps on at least one foldable. A phone sold only in China can also mean a reseller-installed Play Store, uncertain warranty coverage abroad, and banking or payment apps nobody has checked.