The easiest foldable to recommend thanks to excellent design, despite its sky-high price and 2019 internals.

Great design; Nippy performance; Novelty factor

Front screen too small; Main screen is fragile; Mono speaker

When it comes to real-world recommendations, the Galaxy Z Flip is our top foldable pick. Unlike the Huawei Mate Xs or Motorola RAZR, its screen isn’t exposed or sliding, so is less prone to damage. Meanwhile, the durable Gorilla Glass clamshell protection on the outside is as hardy as we need it to be. While the Flip doesn’t pack the utility of a phone that turns into a tablet, like the Galaxy Fold, when it comes to wow-factor, the Z Flip still has it in spades. Is it worth the hefty asking price? Definitely not if you want maximum bang for buck; but if you can afford it and crave a compact clamshell that unfurls into a full-screen smartphone, it’s the only phone worth considering right now.

Great design; Nippy performance; Novelty factor;

Front screen too small; Main screen is fragile; Mono speaker;

Great design; Nippy performance; Novelty factor;

Front screen too small; Main screen is fragile; Mono speaker;

It's easy to get carried away and lose sight of just how far we've come in the smartphone world. Apple's iPhone 14 is 7.8 millimeters thick but can communicate directly with satellites, boasts photographic talents that eclipse dedicated cameras and action cams, and does so starting at just $799.

Improved low-light camera performance, Clever safety features (you hope you won't need)

Improvements feel evolutionary, eSIM may prove a headache, iPhone 13 offers much the same for $100 less

“The iPhone 14 isn't a huge upgrade compared to its predecessor. But with a great design, screen, performance, and cameras, that's far from a bad thing at all.”

Comfortable, high-end build, OLED screen looks fantastic, A15 chip performs great, Good camera upgrades, Dependable battery life, Helpful safety features

60Hz display, No telephoto camera, eSIM might be a pain for some

Apple has given select media outlets and YouTubers access to the new iPhone 14 ahead of when it begins arriving in customers' hands on Friday, September 16. There are two models of the ‌iPhone‌ 14, the standard 6.1-inch ‌iPhone‌ 14 and the larger 6.7-inch ‌iPhone‌ 14 Plus.

The iPhone 14 isn’t much of an upgrade over the iPhone 13, but it’s still a great device and an upgrade for anyone coming from the iPhone 11 or older.

Great camera, Good battery, Emergency features are cool, Still excellent performance

Display could use some upgrades

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip isn’t just the latest foldable phone to hit store shelves -- it’s also the least expensive, and the one we enjoy using the most. The main draw here is the design: The Z Flip feels like a perfectly normal smartphone while open and folds down to half size when closed.

Flip phone form factor is practical and fun; Great all-around performance; Solid camera quality; It feels like a standard smartphone when open; It’s the least expensive foldable out there

Inherently more fragile than other phones; External screen is too small to be helpful; The main glass screen is still prone to scratching; Flex Mode is pretty limited; Less future-proof than more traditional rivals

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is particularly convincing with its folding concept, which is much easier to handle in everyday life than other smartphones with such a large display. Besides, it's simply a joy to fold the smartphone with one hand.

fancy and compact foldable mobile phone; bright and color-accurate OLED panel; fast Snapdragon SoC; good cameras; dual-SIM via eSIM; broad frequency range

no storage expansion possible; Wi-Fi should be faster; moderate call quality; sliding properties of the display surface could be better

Samsung’s second stab at making a foldable smartphone has a killer form-factor that sets it apart from almost everything else out there. Unfortunately, by most metrics, it also lags behind everything else you could possibly buy for the premium price-tag. It’s also missing a lot of the things you’d usually take for granted in a smartphone that costs this much.

When spending less money gets you a better display, longer battery life, sharper optics, 5G connectivity and less worries, being able to fold a 6.7-inch screen in on itself doesn’t seem nearly so tempting.

Ultraportable; Clean software;

Lacks flagship features & camera; Durability concerns; Too expensive;