Whatever you do, don’t buy a foldable phone right now

2026 has firmly cemented itself as a critical year for foldable phones — perhaps the most important yet since 2019 when the original Galaxy Fold was released. More companies are finally joining the foldable race, and existing foldable brands are making genuinely exciting changes.

What does this mean for you? At first glance, you might assume it means 2026 is the year to buy a folding phone. And it is! But not yet.

We’re about to see some really electrifying activity in the foldable space, but the key phrasing there is “about to.” You probably should buy a folding phone this year — just not right now.

The Motorola Razr Fold is one of the best folding phones I’ve ever used. Its design, displays, cameras, battery life, and software are all among the best you can get in a foldable in the US. Motorola took its time to enter the book-style foldable market, but the Razr Fold was absolutely worth the wait.

If that’s all true, why shouldn’t you go out and buy the Razr Fold? After all, the phone has been available for purchase since May. My advice not to buy has nothing to do with the Razr Fold itself, but timing. More so than almost any other smartphone brand in the US, Motorola loves to offer steep and frequent discounts on its handsets.

Last year’s Razr Ultra is a prime example of this. The phone hit store shelves in May 2025 with a hefty retail price of $1,300 for the 512GB model and $1,500 for the 1TB version. Just a few months later in August, Motorola was selling the 1TB Razr Ultra for $1,100, not to mention an additional $200 trade-in guarantee. A few months later, you could buy a 1TB Razr Ultra for just $800 — an absurd  $700 discount.

We see this all the time with Motorola phones, and there’s no reason to believe the Razr Fold won’t follow suit. We don’t know when we’ll see the first big Razr Fold discount or how lucrative it’ll be, but if it were my money, I’d hold off on buying the Razr Fold until one of those sales comes around.

Samsung’s current foldable lineup is solid. The Galaxy Z Flip 7, while not perfect, is the best Z Flip we’ve ever seen. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is much more successful, still offering some of the most impressive foldable hardware nearly a year after its release.

But as good as the Flip 7 and Fold 7 may be, buying one at this point in 2026 isn’t a smart move. Why? Because the Flip 8 and Fold 8 are right around the corner. As confirmed by Samsung earlier this week, the new phones are set to launch on July 22.

The Flip 7 and Fold 7 aren’t suddenly bad phones because their successors are almost here, but it’s worth waiting just a couple more weeks to see what the new models have to offer. If you aren’t impressed by the new phones, chances are discounts on the Flip 7 and Fold 7 will be even better once the new models are announced. And if you do like what you see from the Flip 8 and Fold 8, your patience will be rewarded.

Based on the leaks so far, this new generation of foldable Galaxy phones has our attention. The Fold, in particular, is apparently undergoing big changes — with Samsung using a Fold 7-like design for a new Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, while the “regular” Galaxy Z Fold 8 adopts a much wider design that’s not dissimilar to the original Pixel Fold. It’s exciting times ahead, so don’t lock yourself out by buying a Fold 7 or Flip 7 right now.

Of course, we can’t talk about folding phones in 2026 without mentioning the elephant in the room: Apple. After years and years of will-they-won’t-they, it looks like 2026 is the year we’ll actually get a folding iPhone — supposedly called the iPhone Ultra.

Even if you’re an Android fan, it still feels unwise to buy a folding phone right now when Apple’s first foray into the market is almost here. Apple may not be a perfect company, and iOS certainly has its flaws. But there’s no denying that Apple’s hardware is among the best in the mobile industry.

Is it a little silly that Apple is just now launching its first folding phone in the same year that Samsung is on its eighth generation of foldables? Sure. But it’s not new for Apple to take its time entering a product category, and when it does, it’s usually worth the wait. What we’ve seen of the iPhone Ultra does look impressive, and with a rumored launch date of early September not that far off, I think anyone who’s a foldable fan or foldable-curious owes it to themselves to see what Apple brings to the table.

There’s a lot to look forward to with foldables this year. I personally can’t wait to see how heavily Motorola discounts the superb Razr Fold. As someone who’s not a huge Samsung fan, the prospect of a wider Galaxy Z Fold is something I can get behind. And even though I’m not an iPhone guy, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to seeing how the iPhone Ultra turns out.

Big things are on the horizon for the foldable market — and they aren’t years away. We should see Razr Fold discounts within another month or two, Samsung’s new phones will be announced at the end of July, and the iPhone Ultra should be here in September. At most, you have just two months to wait before the foldable world is completely different. And that’s why I think buying a foldable right now is a mistake.

Two months will be over before you know it, and with everything coming up, it’ll be time well spent.