Foldable smartphones were once thought of as an experiment, but now companies are starting to make improvements to the point where the average consumer might consider a phone of this kind. While they still need work, they all have their unique features, and may become the common phone of the future if they catch on. Here’s a comparison between the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2, the Microsoft Surface Duo, and the Motorola Razr 5G.

Size

Samsung

The Fold 2 is  2.67” x 6.26” x 0.6” (hinge) folded and 5.04” x 6.26” x 0.27” (frame) unfolded. It weighs 282 grams, slightly heavier than last year’s model (276g).

Microsoft

It’s nearly a cross-over between tablet and phone for the Duo, as it’s 5.72” x 3.67” x .39 (frame) unfolded and 5.72” x 7.36” x .19” (frame) unfolded. It weighs 250 grams, weighing less than the Fold 2, and much slimmer.

Motorola

Folded, the Razr 5G is 3.61” X 2.85” x .62” (frame), while it’s 6.66” x 2.85” x .62 unfolded. It has that classic Motorola Razr look and conviency to it, that will be more pocketable than the other phones.

Display

Samsung

The Fold 2 has a 7.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED internal display, using a glass screen protected by a plastic layer. The external screen has 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED display and uses gorilla glass. The phone uses a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate.

Microsoft

Although it has no external screens, the display on the Duo is great, with a 8.1” dual AMOLED display, and a 5.6” single AMOLED display when just using one screen. The thought behind Microsoft using 2 separate screens is to make the screens more durable if someone chooses to use the Microsoft Surface pen with the Duo.

Motorola

The main screen on the Razr 5G is 6.2” plastic OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate, while it has a 2.7” glass OLED display. The OLED display is ok, but the 90Hz is pretty good for this phone, as this phone is not expected to have amazing specs yet.

Hardware

Samsung

The Fold 2 has 12GB of RAM, and consumers can choose from either 256GB or 512GB on non-expandable storage and a Snapdragon 865+ chip, the most recent Qualcomm chip on the market. The chip along with the 120Hz adaptive refresh rate will allow users to switch apps from one screen to the other in a flash. It has one battery on each side that totals to 4500 mAh (2,155 mAh and 2,345 mAh respectively), and it supports fast-charging (up to 25W via USB-C) and wireless charging (up to 11 W). Even though the battery is the same size as the Galaxy S20 Ultra, using two separate batteries for a 5G phone with a 120Hz refresh rate sounds like the battery life won’t be too good.

Microsoft

Because it’s so thin, the Duo had to make some sacrifices, which include no 5G, NFC, wireless charging, and a single speaker at the top of the phone. It has a Snapdragon 855 chip, 6GB of RAM and the option between 128GB or 256GB of storage. It has a 3577mAh battery (27 hours of talk time) that which is disappointing, but with this phone not having the best hardware and a low refresh rate, the battery life shouldn’t be as bad as expected.

Motorola

It has the worst Qualcomm chip of all three phones with a 765G chip, however what somewhat (not really) makes up for it is that it’s 256GB built-in storage can be expandable through a micro-SD card. It has 8GB of RAM and a 2800mAh battery that Motorola claims will last all day.

Software

Samsung

The Fold 2 uses Android 10 and Samsung’s One UI software. It improved its multi window mode, which can display three supported apps all at once. It also has a new “Flex Mode” that allows supported apps to have split-screen functionality.

Microsoft

As opposed to the other phones, the Duo comes with Microsoft Office built-in. The Duo is the first Microsoft phone to use Android (Android 10), but it also uses its Microsoft Duo UI to help make all Office products accessible with the dual screens.

Motorola

This phone uses Android 10 as well, but what’s cool about it with this phone, is that you can use its features on the small external screen, and is supposed to be more accessible than last year’s Razr.

Camera

Samsung

It’s not as good as the S20 Ultra’s camera, but the cameras on here are great for a foldable phone. The Fold 2 has a 10mp front-facing camera and a 12 mp main camera (12mp wide and 12mp telephoto). However, you can take selfies with the rear camera, using the external screen as a viewfinder.

Microsoft

There’s only one 11MP camera on the inside of the Duo and it’s horrible to say the least. But again, this phone is more like a tablet, so if you put it in that category the camera shouldn’t be that important. But if Microsoft is trying to make the Duo an everyday phone, they’re going to have to drastically improve this camera for the next model.

Motorola

While it is better than the Duo’s camera (that’s not saying much), the Razr 5G’s camera won’t blow you away. It has an average 48MP rear camera and 20 MP front facing camera. You can use the rear camera for selfies, without having to open the phone, using the external screen as a viewfinder.

Features

Samsung

The hinge in the Z Fold 2 uses nylon fiber to help keep dust out. It also has its fingerprint reader in the power button on the side of the phone, which is convenient but would have been better if that was integrated inside of the display.

Microsoft

Unlike the other foldable phones on this list, the Duo has a 360 hinge, so you can flip the screens either way. As mentioned previously, you’ll be able to use the Surface Pen with the Duo, where it can magnetically attach to the back, making the phone much useable and versatile. Hopefully Samsung can implement a similar strategy for the next Z Fold and make it compatible with the S Pen.

Motorola

Similar to Google’s Pixel phones, the fingerprint reader is on the back of the phone, conveniently right where you would likely place your fingers to hold the phone. This year’s external screen is much more better than last year’s, and you can do more gestures with it. This one of the few advantages the Duo has over the other 2 phones because you can do things with the external screen without even opening your phone. The Z Flip 2 of course has a external screen too, but it’s durability is questionable, especially if you have it in your pocket with objects such as keys.

Price

Samsung

The Fold 2 is a whopping $1,999.

Microsoft

The Duo doesn’t get much cheaper as it’s $1,399.

Motorola

The Razr 5G comes in at the same price of the Duo at $1,399.

Conclusion?

Unless one of these phones really fascinates you, there should be no reason to buy any of these phones. The Z Flip 2 is obviously the best foldable phone out of the three, but it needs more improvements along with the other two phones. All of these phones are highly expensive, and the Flip 2 makes it questionable if you should spend $2,000 on a phone, especially because the external screen can get damaged in your pocket, and you need a “Samsung professional” to change the screen protector of the internal screen protector if it gets damaged.

These three companies should examine how Huawei built their fantastic Mate Xs foldable which came out in the beginning of this year. The Mate Xs design is better than all of these phones, with a 360 hinge, and has good specs, but unfortunately all Huawei phones can’t use Android and are banned from the US. I love foldable phones, especially because this is just leading up to where we’ll eventually have bendable phones. However, these phones are still basically prototypes of a new kind of phone, still need much improvement, and is not worth the excessive price yet.