Black Friday deals are set to make foldable phones go mainstream

Deals
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Are foldables finally hot?

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 on dark green background, beside text that reads 'big savings'
(Image credit: Future / Samsung)

It should come as no surprise that smartphones are a hot Black Friday Deals shopping item. That's a fact confirmed in a recent Consumer Trade Association Study (the non-profit that brings you CES), which found that a smartphone is the number one gift adults want to receive this year. But then things get interesting.

Of the 50% of respondents who plan to buy one of the best smartphones this holiday season, 30% of those generous people are planning to give someone a folding phone as a gift.

This may be folding phones' moment – the Black Friday when they join ranks of everything from AirPods to air fryers as must-have items – and, Samsung, the current folding device leader, is geared up, along with its retail partners, to offer some decent Black Friday foldable phone deals.

Samsung's two newest folding handsets are juggling numerous Black Friday sales.

In the US (if you're in the UK, you'll find deals just below), the cute and very pocketable Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 is $150 off at the Samsung store, and that's paired with an up-to $600 trade-in offer. In other words, if you thought you might have to spend $999.99 for this Android 13 handset, you'll be pleased to know you can get it for as little as $249.

If you're eyeing the more powerful and significantly larger Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, you can expect to save $400 at Amazon. This is a somewhat less attractive deal, though, because it's not clear if you can combine any trade-ins, but it does bring the price down to $1,399 for the 256GB model.

The foldable deals in the UK are a bit different, and maybe a bit less compelling. Instead of pounds off, you get a free Galaxy Tab when you buy a Galaxy Z Flip 4 or Galaxy Z Fold 4 at John Lewis.

Black Friday Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 deals

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4:

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4: $150 off, plus up to $600 off with a trade-in at Samsung
The Z Flip 4 is an excellent clamshell foldable, available with a handy storage upgrade and an additional trade-in plus cashback offer of up to $750. If the Z Fold 4 is the best foldable outright, the Z Flip 4 gets out vote as the best clamshell foldable on the market and the reason why we're pushing this deal.

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 (12GB RAM, 256GB): $1,919.99 $1,649.99 at AmazonSave $270

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 (12GB RAM, 256GB): $1,919.99 $1,649.99 at Amazon
Save $270 - We described Samsung's freshest and most ambitious foldable yet as a true 'do-everything device' in our 4.5-star review. While it's still one of the most expensive phones on the market (although not the most expensive foldable out there), this Amazon discount softens the blow a little.

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4: claim a free Galaxy Tab S6 Lite at John Lewisclaim a free Galaxy Tab S6 Lite at Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4: claim a free Galaxy Tab S6 Lite at John Lewis
If you buy a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 from John Lewis or from Samsung itself, you can also claim a free Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, which would normally cost £299. The clamshell foldable Z Flip 4 is one of the more affordable foldable phones too, yet offers impressive performance in a compact form factor. And while it doesn't double as a tablet like some foldables, with this deal you won't need it to. You can also claim a free Galaxy Tab S6 Lite at Samsung

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4: claim a free Galaxy Tab S6 Lite at John Lewisclaim a free Galaxy Tab S6 Lite at Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4: claim a free Galaxy Tab S6 Lite at John Lewis
There's no discount on this Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, and this is one of the priciest phones on the planet, but right now you can claim a Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite - valued at £299 - when you buy one from John Lewis. So if you're after a tablet too then this flagship foldable is worth considering. This is one of the very best foldable phones too, with a pair of superb screens, so it's worth the money. The same deal is also available direct from Samsung. You can also claim a free Galaxy Tab S6 Lite at Samsung

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Which Samsung Galaxy Z foldable is right for you?

If I had to pick which foldable phone could be the big winner this Black Friday, I'd go for the clamshell-style Z Flip 4. In his Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 review, our Senior Phones Editor Alex Walker-Todd said, "Samsung didn't reinvent its clamshell-style foldable, but the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 does all that it needs to do for the company to hold onto its foldable crown."

The problem, though, is that foldables have been slow to break through to the mainstream. Samsung will tell you that it's shipped 10 million foldables since launching the category in 2019, but 'shipped' does not equal sold. This may be why spotting a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip or Samsung Galaxy Z Fold in the wild is about as rare as Elon Musk admitting he made a mistake.

What's held people back from adopting these versatile devices en masse? It might be the price, as both devices start at the high end of the spectrum. On the other hand, there have been solid deals on both the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 since they launched earlier this year; no one pays full price for these handsets, and Samsung knows it.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 hands on beige V angled

(Image credit: Future / Alex Walker-Todd)

Maybe it's their size. Foldable phones are, in their default, folded state, significantly thicker than virtually any non-folding smartphone. It might also be that no one knows exactly what they'd do with one of these devices.

On the plus side, there's the 'cool' factor. I know I get a kick out of taking one of Samsung's Galaxy Z phones out of my pocket as I sit on the train, unfolding it slowly, and watching the people sitting around me cast sideways glances.

Coolness aside, I'm guessing that most don't realize how much of a boost to your productivity it is to have a phone-size device that can transform into a true tablet. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, which I reviewed in August, offers a huge 7.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED screen, and it even accepts stylus input. That extra screen real estate is useful for multi-tasking with multiple apps on one screen, a feat that's hard to manage on smaller screens, and basically impossible on an iPhone.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, on the other hand, is not just about being cute. You can unfold it halfway, place it on the table and use it as a hands-free camera or a really useful video conference screen.

If the CTA's study I mentioned earlier is right, I might not need to convince you to buy a foldable phone for yourself or for a friend. But on the other hand…

There was another data point the CTA shared with me that caught my eye. Even though smartphones are the number one gadget on most people's holiday buying wish list, smartphones are only the fourth most-likely product people plan to give.

So, if you really want that foldable, you better start planting some hints now.

More US Black Friday deals

More UK Black Friday deals

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Lance Ulanoff
Lance Ulanoff
Editor At Large

A 38-year industry veteran and award-winning journalist, Lance has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases and “on line” meant “waiting.” He’s a former Lifewire Editor-in-Chief, Mashable Editor-in-Chief, and, before that, Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis, Inc. He also wrote a popular, weekly tech column for Medium called The Upgrade.

Lance Ulanoff makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Live with Kelly and Mark, the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, and the BBC.