Foldables opened the door to a whole new world of smartphones just a few years ago, but somehow the entire Android market has settled into just two forms – clamshell flip phones and book-style devices that open to double the screen width of a regular smartphone. However, as the inevitable “iPhone Fold” approaches, Apple seems to be trying to revive the form factor that Android brands, including the Google Pixel, once tried and failed to maintain, and there’s a clear reason why.
Pixel Fold, Oppo Find N and the form factor we lost
There were several key form factors in the early days of folding devices. The Samsung Galaxy Fold had a tall outer display that opened to a vertically oriented inner display. Huawei and others are playing with foldables that open from the outside and are wider when folded, much like a standard smartphone.
But Oppo took a different route with its original foldable Find N.
This device was a short and small booklet. It was thick, but it provided a pretty awesome hardware experience. The phone’s outer display was wider and shorter than most smartphones, so the inner display was much wider and more tablet-like. It wasn’t necessarily the perfect 16:10 ratio for media consumption, but the wider aspect ratio left the door open for some fun experiences. Oppo stuck with it for the Find N2 a year later in 2022, which was a truly amazing piece of hardware.
Fast forward another year and we got Google’s first foldable device, the Pixel Fold.
While the device was inherently flawed in a few key ways (which only got worse with age), the Pixel Fold still delivered a pretty incredible experience.
It took the same design used by Oppo – a short and low external display that opens up to a wider screen – and just made it a bit bigger. This really opened the door to the whole idea of putting a tablet in your pocket. Google’s aspect ratio made it a better media device compared to the Galaxy Z Folds of the time, and also left a larger horizontal canvas for apps to stretch out into a tablet layout.
It was just ahead of its time.
Samsung led the charge, but apps created today’s reality
This lost form factor was a great idea, but it didn’t stop Samsung from moving forward with the tall and narrow design of the Galaxy Z Fold, which was often criticized for the lack of usability of the external display.
But as I discussed in a post in 2022, the problem with the form factor used by Oppo at the time and later with the Pixel Fold was about apps. The simple fact of the time was that while many Android apps were really good on larger displays, the aspect ratio often caused a lot of problems. For every app that worked well on the wider canvas of a wide foldable device, there were several others that bordered on unusable.
It was then clear to me that the Galaxy Z Fold setup was better for the apps that existed at the time, and it stayed that way for a while. In my later Pixel Fold review, I talked about how Google optimized many of its apps for the Fold’s wider display, but how third-party apps left a gap in how you’d use the phone.
A taller, slightly squarer internal display might not be ideal for some things, but the inherent truth was and still is that these displays perform better for apps on average. When an app tries to fit a larger canvas, it’s usually a horizontal layout. Unless it’s a full-fledged tablet screen, a lot of Android apps just don’t know what to do with the wider Pixel Fold form factor setup. But a wider canvas that’s still portrait-oriented? This is much more forgiving. Don’t get me wrong, as a Galaxy Z Fold 7 owner I’m constantly experiencing weirdness in apps, but the experience is pretty solid these days on average.
If we could go back, I think there are a few things that could be done differently, but it’s mainly about timing. Google has made a big push in Android over the past few years to make apps better suited to different screen sizes. This is important for foldable devices and all the other form factors that Android runs on today and in the future – glasses, desktops, etc. If Google had made the same push 5 years ago, before The Pixel Fold made its debut, I think the transition from a “waistband” shape to a Pixel 9 Pro Fold/Pixel 10 Pro Fold shape just wouldn’t happen.
Google confirmed 9to5Google that the reason for the change was enabled applications both displays, because Google eventually had to admit that Android apps at the time—not too long ago—were not ready for this design.
Apple is changing the game in a way that only it can…
But now that wider form factor is making a comeback.
Apple’s iPhone Fold is coming, and all leaks point to it reviving the form factor that the Pixel Fold first tried and ultimately failed.
iPhone Fold as you can read about it 9 to 5 Macit is said to have a wider aspect ratio with a 5.3-inch outer display and a 7.7-inch inner display. Compare that to the original Pixel Fold — 5.8 inches outside and 7.6 inches inside — and it helps to imagine what’s to come.
It really sounds like Apple is just trying to make an iPhone that becomes an iPad. Compared to the form factor we’re used to with foldable Android devices, it looks a bit funky, but that’s not really a bad thing.
So why can the “iPhone Fold” succeed where the Google Pixel failed?
Application.
Where Google tries to implement sweeping changes to the Android app ecosystem, developers tend to accept changes from Apple immediately. That’s not to say Android developers aren’t looking at what’s new, of course, it’s just that it usually takes a lot longer for big new changes to hit everyone. As such, Android devices must be built on top of apps where the script is flipped for iOS – apps are forced to adapt to the devices. Not every new change that Apple unleashes on the world finds mass adoption by developers, but form factor changes in particular are generally taken quite seriously, as we’ve seen in the past with new iPhone and iPad sizes.
…and as usual everyone tries to copy it
Despite the challenges mentioned with this form factor and Android apps, Apple’s push is on this market Of coursepushing a lot of brands to copy it immediately.
Samsung is working on a “Wide Fold”. Honor is also said to be working on its own version. And Oppo, the brand that essentially came up with this form factor, is expected to launch the wide-aspect Find N7 later this year after three generations of Galaxy-like devices.
It’s almost comical to be honest.
Android brands came up with this form factor a few years ago, quickly ditched it with seemingly zero interest in bringing it back, but now they’re rushing to make their own just because Apple is getting into the game.
Will it work this time? Maybe! Android apps, as mentioned, have improved significantly on foldables over the past few years since the Oppo Find N2 and Pixel Fold were in the game. These improvements should translate quite well to this new series of devices. I think there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing some of these “wide” folding devices for some time to come.
But having two variants is simply not sustainable. The foldable device market, while growing, is still a niche market and it would be simply ridiculous for each foldable device brand to produce two such devices every year. In the long term, I believe some brands will stick with the current setup, while others will focus on the new form factor.
It’s just very reactionary, isn’t it?
Then again, this has been the go-to guide for many Android brands over the past few years. Just look at Samsung. In 2025, the company pushed out the slim Galaxy S25 Edge only to beat Apple to market, with the device eventually flopping. Now, the Galaxy S26 series has given up all the delayed upgrades that were supposed to arrive only in the name of matching the prices of the Apple iPhone 17.
what do you think Are you looking forward to these wide folding devices? Do you think Android brands will stick with the new form factor? Do you think the applications are ready? Let’s discuss in the comments below!
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