Digit Zero1 Awards and Best Buy Awards 2023: Best Performing Foldable Smartphone

Year 2023 was a pivotal era in the folding smartphone saga. A market once dominated by a single player blossomed manifold this year. Smartphone manufacturers such as OPPO, OnePlus, Google, Motorola, and Tecno got into the foldable race – showing off their versions of the form factor to the world. For the first time in years, Samsung felt the threat looming over its head – the threat of no longer being the defacto option for users wanting to dabble in foldables.

Also read: Digit Zero1 Awards and Best Buy Awards 2023: Best Performing Camera Smartphone

A lot of these brands actually achieved milestones that had Samsung flummoxed – Tecno provided a more palatable aspect ratio for the outer screen, Motorola raised the bar with better native third-party app support, OPPO introduced some of the best cameras in a Flip form factor, and OnePlus changed the game with excellent foldable user interface. Up until last year, we didn’t have a dedicated foldable category due to the lack of competition. Now that said competition has arrived, naturally, we took a deep dive into the foldables of 2023. Let’s find out which one reigns supreme when it comes to performance alone… 

Digit Zero1 Award 2023 Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 (Buy now)

Price: ₹1,54,999

Despite having competition in droves this year, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 still managed to come out on top. The overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy SoC crushed its challengers in every. single. benchmark. The phone scored a whopping 1.5 million+ in AnTuTu and over 5.3K in the Geekbench Multicore Test, all of which is extremely impressive. The Galaxy Z Fold5 is fluid and blazing fast whether you’re taking photos, editing videos, gaming, or simply scrolling through social media. It also houses the latest standard of RAM and storage, making for a complete flagship foldable experience. The UI has been nurtured and perfected over the years – things just work.

Also read: Digit Zero1 Awards and Best Buy Awards 2023: Best Performing Premium Smartphone (Over ₹50K)

Although this foldable doesn’t utilise the foldable form factor to the maximum for multitasking like the OnePlus Open does, one cannot deny its polish and ease of use. The phone also has excellent battery life, although charging speeds are on the slower side. The screens are some of the brightest and most vivid on foldables making for an immersive content viewing experience. Last but not least, the cameras are reliable in most scenarios; even challenging ones like low light. All of this makes the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 the best-performing foldable smartphone in India right now.

Digit Best Buy Award 2023 Winner: OnePlus Open (Buy now)

Price: ₹1,39,999

While the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 won the performance race, the OnePlus Open won hearts because of its novelty. It is my favourite foldable of 2023 and although the performance isn’t as speedy as the Z Fold5, it is nothing to scoff at. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset can handle pretty much anything you throw at it. Performance aside, the OnePlus Open’s main differentiators are its user interface and cameras. OnePlus Canvas is the single biggest step in foldable software development since the inception of this category. It expands the ‘canvas’ and opens up additional avenues for multitasking that power users would love. You can read about the OnePlus Canvas multitasking feature in our full review of the device on digit.in. The ability to keep up to three full-screen applications open and running simultaneously is a true game-changer.

Additionally, you also get the most powerful set of cameras on a foldable that performs exceedingly well in most scenarios. The phone also outperformed our winner in terms of battery life; it lasted a whole 100 minutes more than the Z Fold5 in our 4K video loop test, which is excellent. The OnePlus Open also has the brightest screen on a foldable with rated peak brightness all the way up to 2,400 nits. Given the powerful multitasking capabilities, class-leading cameras, bright displays, superb battery life, and impressive performance, it goes without saying that the OnePlus Open truly deserves the Best Buy title in this blossoming category.

For more information on Digit Zero1 Award winners across various categories of products, please visit: https://www.digit.in/zero1-awards

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Dhriti Datta

Perpetually sporting a death stare, this one can be seen tinkering around with her smartphone which she holds more dear than life itself and stuffing her face with copious amounts of bacon. View Full Profile