We are firmly set in the smartphone generation, with 85% of the United States population owning one. While flip phones dominated the 2000s and modernized portable cell phones, they now comprise a much smaller portion of the mobile phone market. That said, there’s a new generation of classic flip phones rising in popularity, as well as an emerging category of smart flip phones. In this article, we will explain the difference between classic flip phones, smartphones, and smart flip phones (also referred to as foldable or flippable smartphones) to help you decide which type is better for you.
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In simplest terms, a flip phone is a mobile phone that flips along a horizontal axis. This protects the screen and the keyboard and makes the device more portable.
Basic flip phones tend to be smaller and easy to carry around. Compared to smartphones, basic flip phones are cheaper and harder to hack, given their limited internet connectivity. They still have basic call and text capabilities, so anyone who is not interested in smart features will find that a classic flip phone offers all the standard functionality they need in a cell phone. Flip phones can also be a great solution for parents looking to keep their children connected while minimizing screen time.
Smartphones are mobile phones with touchscreens and advanced computing features. They can connect to 4G and 5G networks and cost significantly more than your average flip phone. Most phones in the United States today are smartphones, and there are a wide variety of brands available.
Smartphones let you browse the internet and connect with anyone you need to at any time. Of course, they also let you talk and text. You can use your smartphone to play games, record audio, and watch movies or TV shows, not to mention scroll social media, surf the web, and shop online. Another advantage of smartphones is their hotspot connectivity. For many people, smartphones have become a major part of daily life, and it’s hard to imagine not having one.
Smart flip phones, a.k.a. folding smartphones or foldables, are the latest breakthrough in mobile technology. These devices are blurring the lines between flip phones and smartphones, hence the name smart flip phones. Packed with smart functionality and featuring flexible displays that can be folded either vertically or horizontally, smart flip phones offer a compact size when folded and a larger screen when unfolded. The key to bringing foldable smartphones to market has been the use of flexible OLED or AMOLED screens that can bend without damage.
Whether you call them smart flip phones, foldable smartphones, or flippable smartphones, the advantages are one and the same. These devices offer users the best of all worlds—combining the convenient size of a flip phone when folded, the bells and whistles of a smartphone when it comes to functionality and the immersive experience of a nearly tablet-sized screen when unfolded. Users can enjoy an expansive viewing area or multitask on their larger display when desired.
With their larger screens, foldable smartphones enable more efficient multitasking capabilities, allowing users to run multiple apps simultaneously without compromising performance. Despite having expanded screens, these devices remain portable and easy to carry around when folded up neatly. Manufacturers also introduce unique software features specifically tailored for foldables, ensuring seamless transitions between different device states while enhancing user experience.
The aesthetic of the flip phone is inspired by three decades-old technology. The original designs were built to transform oversized ’80s cell phones into foldable devices you could use anywhere. While the technology has advanced, the look of basic flip phones has remained relatively consistent. For some, this throwback vibe adds to the appeal.
Unlike flip phones of the past, today’s designs come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Because the design does not revolve around a large central screen, there is more flexibility for different colors and materials.
However, because in recent years, flip phones have not been in as high demand as smartphones, basic flip phones tend to be made out of less expensive materials to help keep costs down.
Smartphones, on the other hand, are much more similar in shape from one to the next. Regardless of your preferred brand, smartphones feature a rectangular design, with the screen taking up most of the real estate. Because the demand for smartphones is so high, manufacturers can charge more for them, and therefore, these devices tend to be made with premium materials that elevate their look.The appearance of smartphones is also much more customizable thanks to the countless cases compatible with all the primary brands.
With demand for smart flip phones on the rise and the materials needed to ensure foldable smartphones don’t break, the design and look of these devices is sleeker and more comparable to smartphones than traditional flip phones.
When it comes to price, basic flip phones are significantly cheaper. Smart features make up a big chunk of the price for smartphones. As of the writing of this article, a basic flip phone from a popular brand like the Nokia 2720 V Flip can be purchased online for a little over $100.
On the other hand, smartphones have a lot more variety when it comes to price. The lowest-priced smartphones can start under $200 , while premium smartphones cost upwards of a thousand dollars, making them a much bigger investment than your standard-variety flip phones. It’s worth noting that smartphone prices vary based on region, availability, and specific deals or promotions. Be sure to keep these factors in mind when purchasing a smartphone.
Not surprisingly, the cost of a smart flip phone is higher than your basic flip phone. The reason is two-fold: Reason one is the flexible OLED or AMOLED screens that can bend without damage, and reason two is the smart features. That said, there’s yet to be a smart flip phone that has exceeded the price of the most expensive smartphones on the market.
Standard flip phones come with basic call and text capabilities. Most of them also only have limited internet access, meaning they aren’t a good solution for those who want to use apps and connect to the web on their phone. They have small screens compared to smartphones and include physical keyboards with buttons you can press.
Smartphones are basically small pocket computers, so they have a lot more features. You can stream video, connect to video calls, play 3D games, and utilize a wide variety of phone apps. Your smartphone can be a computer, a compass, a calculator, and an HD camera all in one. Ditto for smart flip phones.
The advanced nature of smartphones comes with a big drawback: increased vulnerability to security breaches. Smartphones constantly connect to different networks, requiring users to have significantly more advanced security protocols if they want to keep their data safe. There have been many recent instances of cloud data being hacked and internet info being stolen.
Flip phones are not perfect for security, but in this case, their limited connectivity can be considered an advantage. Of course, phone scams are common, and you must be careful about whom you give your information to. However, these scams are no more likely to occur on flip phones than on smartphones.
Now that we’ve gone over traditional flip phones, smartphones, and smart flip phones, let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of regular flip phones compared to smart flip phones/foldable smartphones.
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As you consider whether a traditional flip phone or smart flip phone is right for you, you may want to check out our Best Flip and Fold Phones article, featuring top brands like Samsung, LG, Google, Alcatel, and more.
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Flip phones and smartphones both have their advantages, though they are likely to appeal to different people. While the dependability and utility of a traditional flip phone is hard to beat, the modern smartphone is packed with advanced tech many can’t live without. For those who are intrigued by flip phone size and convenience but want smartphone sleekness and functionality, the smart flip phone could be a good pick. Simply put, If you are in the market for a bare-bones, low-cost phone, you might just be better off with a flip phone. But if you want modern technology and internet connectivity with app access, a smartphone or smart flip phone is the way to go.
The most immediately enticing thing about a flip phone, at least if you ask a gadget lover older than about 30, is just the way it feels when it flips. The smartphone industry has never recaptured the way it felt to thwack your phone closed at the end of a phone call or the badassery of flicking it open as you bring it to your face.
Ironically, the only real downside of the current crop of flip phones is that they can’t replicate this feeling, either. Because they’re bigger, thicker, and heavier than the waif Razrs and Nokias of the early 2000s, the only way to flip them open with one hand is to shimmy your finger between the two parts and then pry-slash-wiggle the device until it opens up. After a few minutes, you figure it out. But it never seems cool.
That’s okay, though. There are lots of other good reasons to get a flip phone because a flip phone is better suited to what people actually want from their smartphone in 2023. Slowly but surely, thanks to devices like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Motorola Razr Plus and the Oppo Find N2 Flip, we’re finally getting to see how good the flippy future can be. But we need more.
You may not like it, but this is what peak phone design looks like. Photo by David Pierce / The Verge
In time, I suspect we’ll come to see the candy bar phone as not the final form of the phone but rather a waypoint in the journey, dictated more by the limits of glass manufacturing than the actual user experience. Foldable phones — which transform from a normal-sized smartphone slab into something much more like a tablet — will have their place. But flip phones should be the norm, and they should be the norm starting right about now.
For starters, a flip phone can be dramatically smaller than a slab phone. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, for instance, has a 6.7-inch main screen — bigger than the S23 Plus, the Google Pixel 7, and roughly identical to the iPhone 14 Pro Max — but when closed is only 3.3 inches tall by 2.83 inches wide. That’s about half as tall as your average top-end smartphone, and it feels more like holding a deck of playing cards. Sure, it’s still as heavy as those other devices and is thicker when it’s closed than other phones, but that smaller surface area means it’ll fit better in a tight pocket, a workout armband, even your hand. A phone that isn’t constantly trying to slide out of your hand; imagine!
A flip phone is also two devices in one. It’s not a tablet and a phone, like a foldable; like The Verge’s Allison Johnson says, it’s more like a phone and a smartwatch, a combo I like even better. Closed, its external screen shows you some handy information at a glance, and you can maybe even tap out a quick text reply or chat with your virtual assistant. Open, it’s… a smartphone.
A flip phone is not a tablet and a phone, like a foldable; it’s more like a phone and a smartwatch
I’ve always loved the idea of those intentionally dumb phones, like the Light Phone or the Punkt, but those come with way too many sacrifices. Smartphones are great precisely because they do everything, and giving that up is hard. But I don’t want to see all my notifications or that ultra-enticing TikTok icon every time I just want to check the time. A flip phone offers just enough friction in opening the thing up that I’m much more likely to keep it closed. It’s like the world’s most crackable lock, which is actually sort of perfect.
Having that bigger, brighter, higher-res, inevitably more fragile screen tucked away has a couple of other benefits as well. The first is durability — you’re just not going to scratch the screen as easily when it’s clamshelled closed in your purse or pocket. The second, and maybe more important, is battery life. Because you’re using the smaller screen some of the time rather than lighting up all six-plus inches of display, all that incessant checking of your phone won’t kill the battery so quickly.
The Razr Plus has a bigger outside screen, which is a big improvement. Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
Honestly, that’s all enough for me. Virtually everything I want from a smartphone, flip phones do better than slab phones. Because lest you forget, when you open it up, it’s still a slab phone! It just… also closes.
But there’s one other, less obvious feature that makes flip phones great: they make much better picture-takers. You can flip your phone open halfway, prop it up on a table, and take video with no hands. It opens up lots of new angles, too. Here’s how Allison described it in her Z Flip 4 review: “I can also pop the phone open in Flex Mode, move the image preview to the lower half of the screen, and shoot from the hip — that way, I can get more natural candid shots because I’m not making the obvious ‘I’m taking a picture’ move of putting the phone in front of my face.” I mean, heck, if you’re feeling really feisty, you could drape the half-folded phone over a tree branch and snap a whole new kind of nature shot.
Okay, so I’ve convinced you, right? Flip phones forever! Here’s the problem: none of the flip phones currently on the market live up to this promise. There aren’t even many to choose from. The Z Flip 4 gets a lot of things right, but it’s held back by a too-small front screen and a just-fine camera setup. The new Razr Plus looks really promising, particularly because of its larger front screen, though its processor and durability ratings aren’t particularly impressive. It also gets the software wrong, I think; letting me run full apps on the front screen isn’t just silly — it runs against the whole appeal of a flip phone.
What we need is competition. That’s going to take the rest of the smartphone world, from Apple and Google to Huawei and Oppo to Nothing and OnePlus, to all decide that flip phones are the future. They can and should keep working on slab phones and foldables because those have their place and their users. But we had it right in 2003: the best kind of phone is a flip phone. Phones got smarter, and their shape got worse. It’s time for us to finally get the best of both worlds.
And if someone could figure out how to make that open-and-close motion feel as satisfying as it used to, that’d be super. I’d pay extra for the thwack.