Foldable smartphones have come to dominate the high-end device market, with four of the five most expensive handsets available in South Africa now belonging to this hardware category.
The design seeks to combine the sleek, pocket-friendly form factor of traditional smartphones with the enhanced display and functionality of tablet computers.
Smartphone manufacturers are in the early stages of solving some of the tough technical challenges foldables present: displays need to be flexible but durable, avoiding a plasticky aesthetic while minimising the visibility of a crease where they are folded. Batteries need to be thinner and yet produce more power while still lasting all day. Meanwhile, other components, including the cameras, need to be organised tightly into a smaller space so the devices are not too thick when folded.
Korea’s Samsung Electronics pioneered foldable devices worldwide with the launch of the first-generation Galaxy Z Fold phones in 2019. When TechCentral curated this list a year ago, the Galaxy Z Fold5 was the most expensive device in the country.
This year’s list-topper is made by Chinese device manufacturer Huawei and features a tri-fold design that allows for three form factors in one phone. The name tri-fold should perhaps be tri-screen, considering the device has two hinges and not three.
Despite the “extra” screen, the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate design is also one of the thinnest folding phones on the market, measuring 12.8mm when fully folded and only 3.6mm – with a 10.2-inch diameter screen – when fully open.
The Mate XT Ultimate design boasts 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage and costs R70 000. The two-screen version of Huawei’s foldable, the Huawei Mate XT, is the third most expensive device on TechCentral’s list at R45 000.
Foldable fashion
The sixth generation of Samsung’s foldables, the 512GB variant of the Galaxy Z Fold6, costs R46 000 and is the second most expensive smartphone available in South Africa. The 256GB variant of the same phone is fourth on the list at R43 500. Samsung is expected to unveil its successor, the Galaxy Z Fold7, as soon as next month.
Fifth-placed Apple is the only high-end manufacturer not to produce a foldable device. At R43 000, the 1TB variant of the iPhone 16 Pro Max is the first “traditional” design to feature on the list. There has been speculation that Apple will include a foldable in its 2026 or 2027 device line-up.
Huawei spin-off Honor’s Magic V2 is the last foldable to feature on the list, at number 6. When the Magic V2 was launched in South Africa in April 2024, it was touted as the world’s thinnest and lightest foldable, at only 9.9mm when folded. Honor released an updated Magic V3 in China in July 2024. The Magic V3 is even thinner, at only 9.2mm thick when folded, but the newer device is yet to be launched in South Africa. The Magic V2 costs R40 000.
The rest of the list is dominated by variants of the iPhone 16. Interesting to note is the price difference between the 1TB iPhone 16 Pro Max (in fifth place) and 512GB (tenth place) variants, with the former costing R43 000 and the latter R37 000 – the R6 000 difference showing that storage attracts a hefty premium in the Apple universe.
Ninth on the list is Samsung’s flagship device, the 1TB Galaxy S25 Ultra, which costs R36 000. The S25 Ultra is the only non-folding phone – other than the iPhone – to feature on the list, further highlighting the shift in approach towards foldables at the ultra-premium end of the market. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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