Mention a foldable phone, and the first thing people balk at is the price. Even if you’re willing to take a chance on a newer concept and accept that there might be durability issues, you can understandably be put off by the thought of spending $2,000 on a phone. The thing is, you don’t have to—I didn’t. Here’s the truth about buying a foldable phone.
I’m writing this using a Galaxy Z Fold 5, a phone I chose in part because it could replace my PC using Samsung DeX. This is a phone whose launch price was $1800. I didn’t pay that much money. Take any foldable on the market today, whether book-style or flip foldable, and it’s possible to get it brand new for less money than the cost of an iPhone.
Book-style foldables may have far higher MSRPs, but it’s better to regard that number the way you would the suggested price of a new car — it isn’t necessarily the price a dealer will sell you the car for. After launch, phones quickly go on sale. Some phones, when purchased unlocked, are rarely ever available at full price. Even Samsung’s most premium phones will typically have a discount. At the time of writing, the price of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is within a few hundred dollars of the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
I’m not here to tell you that foldable phones are cheap. Rather, as a general rule, foldables are not as expensive as you think when reading the reviews. If your entire impression comes from launch events and early press, your perspective is skewed.
The reality is that if you’re willing to spend around $700 on a phone, then you can get a foldable, full-stop. The question now is which one.
In North America, Samsung spent years offering foldable phones without serious competition. The situation has gradually changed. While Motorola’s flip foldable started as a pricey phone, the Razr is now a cheaper alternative to the Samsung Z Flip. In 2023, the book-syle OnePlus Open undercut both the Galaxy Z Fold and the Pixel Fold on price.
If you want to buy a new phone at launch, going with Motorola or OnePlus will save you a lot of money compared to sticking to Samsung or Google.
Many will argue that you’re also getting a better phone. More than a few reviewers prefer the Razr+’s approach to software. You can run any app on the outer screen, turning this into a tiny phone. Meanwhile, the Z Flip’s smaller display is limited to only a handful of apps or widgets unless you customize your phone using Good Lock.
The OnePlus Open offers a foldable outer screen that is the same size and ratio as a conventional smartphone. You also get crazy fast wired charging and cameras that are just as good as OnePlus’s flagship. When it launched, the OnePlus Open was the only foldable in the US that didn’t make you settle for an inferior camera in spite of paying more money.
I got my Galaxy Z Fold 5 for less than the cost of the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Quite a bit less, actually. You see, the best deals are researched, not advertised. I stumbled across my Galaxy Z Fold 5 on eBay. It was an open-box deal, meaning I got my hands on a brand-new device.
My Z Fold 5 cost me around $950 back in February 2024, a little more than half a year since the phone’s unveiling. It’s a 512GB model, too. That means I saved $1000 off of MSRP, since the 512GB version retails for over $1900. My wife and I could both rock a foldable for that price.
I didn’t start my search on eBay. I first found a Galaxy Z Fold for around the same price on Amazon, but someone bought it while I was still debating whether or not I wanted to take the plunge. Yet, if you're thinking I simply bought at the right time, that isn’t the case at all. At the time of writing, you can still easily find a Galaxy Z Fold 5 on eBay and Amazon for around the same price when you search for open-box deals. Right now, I can even get an open-box Pixel Fold for a couple of hundred dollars less. All of this is pictured above.
The prices dip even further when you consider buying a refurbished or used device in good condition.
Again, buying a foldable is like buying a car. The value may not depreciate as soon as you take the phone out of the store, but it drops quite a bit as soon as next year’s model comes out. I could have saved myself hundreds of dollars by going for a Galaxy Z Fold 4 instead of the 5.
Phone changes are so incremental these days that a difference in processing power and the screen between last year’s model and this year’s are often barely noticeable. Since Samsung offers great software support, the Z Fold 4 can still do everything my Z Fold 5 can; it just receives major updates a few months later.
This advice is true of phones in general. Older phones cost less than new phones. This is hardly breaking news, so what stands out here? It’s that the difference is starker. You can grab a phone that launched at $1700 for around $600 only a year and a half after it hit the market. When you read or watch most reviews, the question is often posed as to whether to buy a foldable or go for the cheaper, high-end flagship. Instead, think of it this way: would you rather buy a mid-range phone or last year’s foldable for around the same price? Someone who may not pick the foldable in the first question may find it much more appealing in the second.
Foldables may not hold their value when you attempt to sell them, but that doesn’t mean they’re a bad investment. If you’re someone who likes to trade in your current phone to keep up with the newest model, foldables offer a high trade-in value. Note that this isn’t the case across all foldables. Google and Samsung won’t give you much money for your OnePlus Open. The Pixel Fold fares a bit better. High-end Samsung phones hold their value relatively well no matter who you’re trading them in with, making them the best trade-in investment in the Android world.
It’s not uncommon to get $800 in trading credit for your current foldable. That can bring the cost of a new $1600 phone down to a number you’re more willing to pay. Now, this is still spending money more often than most people are willing to do, but if you’re someone who likes to stay hyper-current, this is a perk of folding phones.
When buying a foldable phone, it’s important to realize what you’re getting. For me, a foldable phone is a bargain because it has removed my need for a separate laptop and tablet. I could easily spend another $950 each on a laptop and tablet powerful enough to feel as snappy as my phone does. This isn’t an option for everyone, and I’m not going to try to convince you that you need to trade in your laptop, your tablet, and your e-reader. But if you do, you may find that foldable you dream of quickly pays for itself.
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