Vote now: Inward vs outward fold

Welcome to the battle of the foldables! Once a technological peculiarity, now these gadgets have earned their place at retail stores, and most importantly - in people’s pockets.

There aren’t that many models out there, to be honest, and when it comes to form factor, there are two, basically. One that folds a normal phone in half, making it a thick square (your Motorola RAZR and Galaxy Z Flip fall into this category), and the other that takes a normal phone and unfolds it into some kind of a small tablet (Galaxy Fold, Huawei Mate X, etc.)

There is however another criterion by which these gadgets can be categorized - inward vs outward fold. And while we don’t have any flip foldables that fold outward, there’s at least one brand that persists in pursuing the outward fold design.

That’s right, I’m talking about Huawei and the Mate X series. I had the chance to lay my hands on a pre-production Mate XS2 unit before the official launch, and my impressions were quite conflicting. On one hand, there’s no crease - the radius at which the phone folds is big enough to allow a completely flat screen when the device is unfolded.

On the other hand, folding a screen outward means you’re leaving it exposed and unprotected. Granted, there are cases for the Mate X series but trust me, the experience with them is not something you want in your life on a daily basis. Another advantage of the outward fold is that you don’t need a secondary display - you’re using a part of the folded main screen.

Looking at the other design solution - the inward-folding phones, the obvious drawback is the crease in the screen, and the gap between the two folding parts. Both are intrinsic parts of the design. Yes, your precious flexible screen is protected and nicely tucked in but when unfolded, you can see the crease and you can feel it too. You also need a secondary screen for when the device is in a folded state.

So, which foldable design do you prefer? I kinda lean toward the inward fold for pure practicality but man, that Huawei Mate XS2 looks amazing… Vote, vote, vote! And share your insight and personal experience in the comments below.