The hardware is now compelling, sales are rising, and there's the chance to create a new experience

hands on Folding smartphones have been with us for six years without winning much market share, but after two weeks using Samsung's latest model, and recent reports of surging sales in the category, it feels to me like dual-screened devices are something developers now need to consider.

For those who came in late, Samsung set one standard for foldables with 2019's Galaxy Fold, a device that looks like a conventional smartphone but which opens like a book to reveal the double-width display inside. The device was hefty – 15.5 mm thick and 276 grams – and chewed through battery life when driving its 7.3-inch internal screen.

In the same year, Motorola rebooted its Razr range with a phone that started life as a little square-ish block with a small display on one external surface, and which opened up into a conventional rounded rectangular Android. Samsung followed that template ...