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 form factors – clamshell flip phones and book-style devices that just open up to double the width of a normal smartphone screen. As the inevitable “iPhone Fold” approaches, though, it seems Apple is looking to revive a form factor that Android brands, including Google Pixel, once tried, but failed to keep around, and there’s a clear reason why that happened.
Pixel Fold, Oppo Find N, and the form factor we lost
In the early days of foldables, there were a few key form factors floating around. Samsung’s Galaxy Fold had a tall outer display that opened to a vertically-oriented inner display. Huawei and others playing around with foldables that opened from the outside and were wider when folded, similar to a standard smartphone.
But Oppo took a different route with its original Find N foldable.
That device was a short and stubby little booklet. It was thick, but it delivered a pretty tremendous hardware experience. The phone’s outer display was wider and shorter than most smartphones, leaving the inner display to be much wider and more tablet-like. It wasn’t necessarily a perfect 16:10 for media consumption, but the wider aspect ratio left the door open to some fun experiences. Oppo stuck with this for the Find N2 a year later in 2022, which was a truly awesome piece of hardware.
Fast forward another year, and we got the first foldable from Google, the Pixel Fold.
While that device was inherently flawed in a few key ways (that only worsened with age), the Pixel Fold still delivered a pretty incredible experience.
It took that same design that Oppo had been using – short and stubby outer display that opens to a wider canvas – and just made it a bit bigger. That really opened the door to this whole idea of putting a tablet in your pocket. Google’s aspect ratio made this a better media device compared to the Galaxy Z Folds of the time, and also left a bigger horizontal canvas for apps to stretch out into their tablet layouts.
It was just ahead of its time.
Samsung led the charge, but apps created today’s reality
That lost form factor was a brilliant idea, but it didn’t stop Samsung from chugging along with its tall and narrow Galaxy Z Fold design, which was often criticized for the lack of outer display usability.
But, as I discussed in a post back in 2022, the problem with the form factor used by Oppo at the time and later by the Pixel Fold came down to apps. The simple fact of the time was that, despite a lot of Android apps being 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, there were several others that were bordering on unusable.
To me, it was clear back then that the Galaxy Z Fold setup was better for the apps that existed at the time, and that remained true for a while. In my later Pixel Fold review, I talked about how Google had optimized a lot of its apps for the Fold’s wider display, but how third-party apps just left a gaping hole in how you would use that phone.
A taller, slightly more square inner display might not be ideal for some things, but the inherent truth was and still is that these displays work better on average for apps. When an app struggles to adapt to a bigger canvas, it usually comes down to the 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 in-between setup of the Pixel Fold’s form factor. But a wider canvas that’s still portrait-oriented? That’s a lot more forgiving. Don’t get me wrong, as a Galaxy Z Fold 7 owner, I run into weirdness in apps all of the time, but the experience is on average pretty solid nowadays.
If we could go back, I think there are a few things that could have been done differently, but it mainly comes down to timing. Google has made a big push in Android over the past few years to make apps more adaptable to different display sizes. That’s important for foldables, and all of the other form factors Android runs on both today and in the future – glasses, desktops, etc. Had Google made that same push 5 years ago, before the Pixel Fold made its debut, I think the switch from the “passport” shape to the Pixel 9 Pro Fold/Pixel 10 Pro Fold form factor simply wouldn’t have happened.
Google confirmed to 9to5Google that the reason for the change was for apps on both displays because, ultimately, Google had to concede that Android apps at the time – not even that long ago – weren’t ready for that design.
Apple is changing the game in a way 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 to succeed with.
The iPhone Fold, as you can read about on 9to5Mac, is said to have a wider aspect ratio with a 5.3-inch outer display and 7.7-inch inner display. Compared that to the original Pixel Fold – 5.8-inch outer and 7.6-inch inner – and it helps to picture what’s coming.
It really sounds like Apple is just aiming to make an iPhone that unfolds to be an iPad. It looks a little funky compared to the form factor we’re used to from Android foldables, but that’s not really a bad thing.
So, why can the “iPhone Fold” succeed where even Google Pixel failed?
Apps.
Where Google struggles to implement sweeping changes to the Android app ecosystem, developers tend to adopt changes from Apple immediately. That’s not to say Android developers aren’t looking at what’s new, of course, it just tends to take a lot longer for big new changes to make their way to everyone. As such, Android devices have to be built around apps, where the script is flipped for iOS – the apps are forced to adapt to the devices. Not every new change Apple puts out into the world gets mass developer adoption, but changes in form factor, especially, are generally taken quite seriously, as we’ve seen in the past from new iPhone and iPad sizes.
…and, as usual, everyone is trying to copy it
Despite the challenges mentioned with this form factor and Android apps, Apple’s push into this market is, of course, pushing a bunch of brands to immediately copy it.
Samsung is working on a “Wide Fold.” Honor is said to be working on its own version too. And Oppo, the brand that basically came up with this form factor, is expected to launch a Find N7 with a wide aspect ratio 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 threw it away with seemingly zero interest in bringing it back, but are now rushing to make their own just because Apple is stepping into the game.
Will it work this time? Maybe! Android apps, as mentioned, have gotten a lot better on foldables over the past few years since the Oppo Find N2 and Pixel Fold were in play. Those improvements should translate quite nicely to this new batch of devices. I think there’s a good chance we’ll see some of these “wide” foldables for a while to come.
But having two variations simply isn’t sustainable. The foldable market, while growing, is still a niche, and it’d be simply ridiculous for every foldable brand to produce two of these devices every year. In the long run, I think we’ll see some brands stick to the current setup, while others focus on the new form factor.
It just feels very reactionary, doesn’t it?
Then again, that’s been the playbook for a lot of Android brands over the past few years. Just look at Samsung. 2025 saw the company push out the thin Galaxy S25 Edge just to beat Apple to market, with the device ultimately flopping. Now, the Galaxy S26 series has forgone all of the overdue upgrades that were expected to arrive just in the name of matching Apple’s iPhone 17 prices.
What do you think? Are you looking forward to these wide foldables? Do you think Android brands will stick with the new form factor? Do you think apps are ready? Let’s discuss in the comments below!
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