Until now, most foldable phones have come in two forms. They either open wide like a book, or they’re smaller squares that open vertically like an old flip phone. The Huawei Pura X is something different, a small phone that opens wide like a wallet. W
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Motorola Razr+ (2024)
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$300The Motorola Razr+ powered gives you new ways to interact, capture, and create. Featuring the largest, most intelligent external display of any flip phone, you can do it all without flipping the phone open.
hile I don’t want this exact phone, I deeply wish I could purchase one like it.
The Huawei Pura X doesn’t run Android. Instead, it’s Huawei’s first phone to run Huawei’s in-house HarmonyOS Next. It’s not coming to the US. It remains to be seen if we ever get a phone like it, but I personally hope we do.
A Small Phone That Opens Like a Book
I am writing these words on a Galaxy Z Fold 6 that’s currently connected to a lapdock as my laptop replacement. I buy Samsung phones to make heavy use of DeX, but I bought this phone in particular because I love the experience of opening a phone as though it were a book.
My Z Fold 6 feels like holding a Moleskine notebook made of glass. Sometimes I even leave it slightly bent while reading, to further replicate the feel of a book. There’s something about the tactile experience that sparks joy for me.
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Why Having a Book-Shaped Phone Means I Read More Books
I like reading books on my phone, but only if it folds.
A small device like the Pura X is slightly more compact, like a Galaxy Flip or Moto Razr, but it opens in a way I find more satisfying. I know many enjoy the nostalgia of an old-fashioned flip phone, but I was never particularly a fan. I prefer the sideways motion of opening a novel.
A Super Compact Way to Enjoy Video
The Pura X opens to an unconventional aspect ratio for phones but one that’s common elsewhere. At 16:10, this phone has the same ratio as many laptops and monitors. That makes it better proportioned for watching movies and TV shows, which tend to be 16:9.
This means that while you will still experience some letterboxing along the top and bottom, there will be less.
A device like the Pura X is one of the most compact ways to enjoy a widescreen experience, even if the end result isn’t much larger than that of a traditional phone.
Multi-tasking Could Feel a Little Less Weird
Android has had the ability to display two apps at the same time for years. On most phones, two apps typically appear one above the other. It’s awkward.
I, like most people, use apps on my PC side-by-side, which is also why multi-tasking feels much more natural on a book-style foldable, where you can essentially use two full-sized apps next to each other. On my Galaxy Z Fold 6, I can even manage app windows like on a PC
Apps on a phone like the Pura X have the space to appear side-by-side. They’ll still be short and squat, but the change in aspect ratio alone does nudge me toward using splitscreen more than I otherwise would. I already use splitscreen all the time on my foldable, and I’ve learned from experience that apps like the calculator or clock don’t need much vertical space to be useful off to the side.
The Form-Factor’s Still Great When Rotated Vertically
You do not have to hold the Pura X horizontally. There’s nothing stopping you from rotating the phone 90 degrees and using it vertically instead. And even in this direction, I still think it would lead to a better experience.
When I pick up a flip like the Moto Razr, I’m put off by the unusually tall aspect ratio of the internal screen. I’ve never been a fan of using a tall, narrow touchscreen to do things, and flip phones tend to be even taller and more narrow.
The Pura X is a little shorter and wider. This is enough to make a notable difference when reading eBooks. If Samsung released a version that supported the S Pen, then this shape would make the phone feel more like a notepad. Even just browsing the web looks better on a wider display. It wouldn’t be as nice as a foldable for reading comics, but the might be enough width to be legible.
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This Is Actually Something New
Most smartphones now feel the same. They may offer different software and slightly different specs, but your choices largely come down to slabs in a few different shades and your choice of camera bump.
Foldables offer not only novelty, but a new way to do things. Thing is, foldables aren’t all that new anymore. The Galaxy Z Fold series is now half a decade old. I’m using the sixth generation of this device. I remember the era of the iPhone 6, and smartphones no longer felt new anymore. Six years is a long time in tech.
The Pura X shows that there is still room to play around and explore. It’s the kind of experimentation I liked about early book-style foldables, where the Z Fold was tall and narrow on the outside (but very comfortable to hold with one hand on the inside), the Pixel Fold was short and squat (but opened more like a tablet inside), and the OnePlus Open was shaped most like a conventional smartphone. Sadly, that experimentation is already going away. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is now shaped like the OnePlus Open, and signs suggest the Galaxy Z Fold 7 will be closer to that size as well. The Pura X shows that something fun can still appear to give us a different choice.
Foldables haven’t displaced traditional smartphones in any corner of the world, but there are still far more options outside of the US than we have here. That hasn’t bothered me too much, since the Galaxy Z Fold 6 remains my favorite of the lot. After seeing the Pura X, I really wish we had more choices. I hope someone makes it happen.
