iPhone Duo vs Galaxy Z Fold8, Pixel 11 Pro Fold and Honor Magic V6

Samsung has sold foldables since 2019. Google joined in 2023, Honor in 2024. Apple's iPhone Duo arrives in October 2026 as the last major flagship into a category everyone else has spent years refining, and at launch it isn't the thinnest, lightest or best equipped foldable on the market. Starting at €2,319, it's also the most expensive.

The Guardian put it well reviewing this year's Galaxy Z Fold8: there are "many good reasons book-style folding phones evolved into candy bar shapes over the last eight years." Foldables are a mature category now, and the Duo has to earn its place against the Galaxy Z Fold8 and Z Fold8 Ultra, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, and the Honor Magic V6 on specs, not on the Apple logo.

Here's how it measures up, and why a refurbished foldable from an established brand might be the smarter buy either way.

Starting price: the Duo costs €2,319 (256 GB). The Galaxy Z Fold8 starts at €1,999, the Z Fold8 Ultra at €2,199, and the Pixel 11 Pro Fold at €1,999 on Google's Austrian store, though Google's Irish store shows €2,029 for the same phone. Honor hasn't confirmed a Magic V6 price for Europe.

Display: the Duo folds out to a 7.6 in inner screen, tied with the Z Fold8. The Z Fold8 Ultra and Pixel 11 Pro Fold both go to 8 in, and the Magic V6 to 7.95 in. Outside, the Duo's 5.4 in cover screen is the smallest of the five, just behind the Z Fold8's 5.5 in; the Ultra, Pixel and Magic V6 all pass 6.5 in.

Weight and thickness: at 254 g and 11.3 mm folded, the Duo is both the heaviest and thickest phone here. More on that below.

Chip: the Duo runs Apple's new A20 Pro. The Z Fold8 and Z Fold8 Ultra both use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold runs Google's Tensor G6, and the Magic V6 also uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

Cameras: the Duo pairs a 48 MP main with a 48 MP ultrawide and no dedicated telephoto, the same shape as the Z Fold8's 50 MP-plus-50 MP pairing. The Z Fold8 Ultra adds a 200 MP main and a 10 MP telephoto, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold a 48 MP main and a 10.8 MP telephoto, and the Magic V6 a 50 MP main and a 64 MP periscope telephoto. More on the camera gap below.

Colours: two for the Duo, Star White and Night Sky, and two for the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, Olive and Obsidian. The Magic V6 offers four.

One more thing: the Magic V6 connects to Apple's own accessories, iPhone, Mac, AirPods and Apple Watch, through HONOR Share. The Duo can't return the favour with an Android phone. Honor's CEO James Li framed the launch simply: "Foldable users should never have to compromise between design, reliability, and performance."

Line up all five foldables by weight and the Duo sits at the bottom: the Z Fold8 is lightest at 201 g, the Magic V6 comes in at 219 g, the Z Fold8 Ultra at 215 g, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold at 239 g, and the Duo at 254 g, the heaviest of the group by a clear margin.

Thickness folded tells the same story. The Magic V6 measures 8.75 mm, the Z Fold8 Ultra 8.9 mm, the Z Fold8 9.7 mm, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold 10.1 mm, and the Duo 11.3 mm, again the thickest.

Apple calls the Duo "the thinnest iPhone" at 5.2 mm open, and that's true. It isn't the thinnest foldable, though: the Magic V6 opens to 4.0 mm and the Z Fold8 Ultra to 4.1 mm, both noticeably slimmer.

The Duo's 2x zoom is a 12 MP crop from its 48 MP main camera, not a separate lens, and the Z Fold8 works the same way: a 2x crop from its 50 MP main. Neither phone has a dedicated telephoto.

The other three do. The Z Fold8 Ultra adds a 3x optical lens at 10 MP, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold a 5x optical lens at 10.8 MP with optical image stabilisation, and the Magic V6 a 64 MP periscope lens rated for 6.5 stops of stabilisation, the most advanced zoom setup of the five.

The Guardian wasn't impressed by the Z Fold8 Ultra's effort even with real optics involved: its telephoto is "the weakest of the bunch" and "falls far short of modern rivals on zoom and quality, particularly with indoor lighting." If that's the verdict on a phone with genuine telephoto hardware, a sensor crop from the Duo or the Z Fold8 has even less room to compete once you zoom past 2x.

Split View on the Duo puts two apps side by side in fixed halves. Neither can be resized, there's no floating window, and there's no desktop mode, though a pair of apps can be saved together for a quicker relaunch.

Samsung gives the Z Fold8 and Z Fold8 Ultra an adjustable divider between apps, a resizable Pop-up view for floating windows, a taskbar, saved App Pairs, and Samsung DeX for a desktop-style interface on an external display. The Guardian noted the tablet display is "big enough to allow two apps to be run at full phone size when side by side."

The Pixel 11 Pro Fold supports an adjustable split screen with drag-and-drop between apps, and the Magic V6 goes further still with Fast Flex and Multi-Flex, running three apps on screen at once. Split View is the most limited setup of the four.

Samsung confirms the Z Fold8, Z Fold8 Ultra and Z Fold7 don't support the S Pen at all, a reversal from the Z Fold6 and earlier models, which did.

Apple Pencil support, over USB-C, is coming to the Duo "later this year", Apple's own wording, with no firm date and nothing at launch. Neither the Pixel 11 Pro Fold nor the Magic V6 offers official stylus support.

That makes the Duo the only current foldable with a stylus on the way, a real point in its favour once Apple Pencil ships. A refurbished Galaxy Z Fold6 is the one place to get stylus support on a foldable today, S Pen included.

Battery capacity turns out to be one of the more telling numbers here. The Magic V6 leads by a wide margin at 6,660 mAh, the largest battery in any foldable on this list. The Z Fold8 Ultra follows at 5,000 mAh, good for roughly two days of mixed use according to the Guardian, and the regular Z Fold8 sits at 4,800 mAh. Apple doesn't disclose a number for the Duo, only video playback hours: 31 hours on the inner screen, 44 on the outer, and roughly 24 hours of typical mixed use.

Charging follows the same pattern. The Magic V6 tops both wired, 80 W, and wireless, 66 W, charging here. The Duo reaches 50% in about 20 minutes on a 60 W adapter, sold separately, with MagSafe or Qi2 wireless capped at 25 W. The Z Fold8 and Z Fold8 Ultra top out at 45 W wired and 20 W wireless, and the Pixel 11 Pro Fold charges at 30 W wired with 25 W Qi2 wireless.

Two areas the sections above don't touch are worth naming, because a fair comparison covers them too.

Storage tops out at 2 TB on the Duo, a tier no other foldable in this comparison offers; the Galaxy Z Fold7 maxes out at 1 TB. The Duo's 1.4:1 aspect ratio also earns a specific compliment from The Verge: closed, it's "closer to a passport book" than the others, and better suited to watching video in landscape.

The FaceTime camera sits under the inner display with no visible cutout, Siri carries personal context across Apple's ecosystem, and StandBy works untethered in tent mode. Early hands-on reception has been warm too: MacRumors' post on the Duo drew over 700 comments, overwhelmingly positive.

None of that changes the numbers in the sections above. It just means the Duo isn't a one-sided loss, it's a trade.

A refurbished Galaxy Z Fold7 costs €900.24 on refurbed, checked in September 2026, next to the Duo's €2,319 starting price for the same 256 GB tier, a saving of around 61%. Step down to a refurbished Galaxy Z Fold6 and the price drops to €659.99, a saving of roughly 72%, while keeping the dedicated telephoto lens and multitasking flexibility the Duo doesn't have.

Prices on refurbed move with stock, so treat those figures as a snapshot rather than a fixed number. The gap itself isn't close, and here's how the two Samsung foldables compare on the specs that carry over either way.

Get the Duo if you're already deep in Apple's ecosystem, want Apple Pencil on a foldable once it ships, or care most about the least visible crease and the 2TB storage ceiling covered above. Nothing else compared here matches that combination.

If Android and the newest hardware matter more than the badge, the Z Fold8 Ultra and Magic V6 lead this comparison on paper: more display, a real telephoto, adjustable multitasking, and in the Magic V6's case, the biggest battery of the five.

For most people, refurbished is where the savings argument gets hard to ignore. A Galaxy Z Fold7, Pixel 10 Pro Fold, Galaxy Z Fold6 or Honor Magic V3 covers most of what makes the Duo interesting, telephoto and adjustable multitasking included, for 55 to 72% less than the Duo's launch price.

Which foldable is the thinnest and lightest?

Not the Duo. The Honor Magic V6 is thinnest open at 4.0 mm, and the Galaxy Z Fold8 is lightest at 201 g. The Duo is the heaviest and thickest of the five at 254 g and 11.3 mm folded.

Which foldable has the best camera for zoom?

The Pixel 11 Pro Fold's 5x optical lens is the sharpest dedicated zoom here, with the Honor Magic V6's 64 MP periscope close behind. The Duo and the Galaxy Z Fold8 both rely on a sensor crop instead of a real telephoto lens.

Which foldable has the best multitasking?

The Galaxy Z Fold8 and Z Fold8 Ultra, with an adjustable split screen, floating windows and Samsung DeX for a desktop mode. The Honor Magic V6 runs three apps at once. The Duo's Split View holds two apps in fixed halves with no resizing.

Does any foldable support a stylus?

Yes, two do. Apple Pencil is coming to the Duo later this year, and a refurbished Galaxy Z Fold6 already supports the S Pen today. Samsung dropped S Pen support starting with the Z Fold7.

Can I get a refurbished foldable with similar features for much less?

Yes. A refurbished Galaxy Z Fold7 or Pixel 10 Pro Fold costs 55 to 61% less than the Duo's launch price and includes a dedicated telephoto lens the Duo doesn't have.