The best foldable phones have matured over the last five years, but there’s one problem. They’re still a nuisance for left-handed folks. Whether it’s the latest Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 or the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, all big-screen foldables are troublesome for lefties. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold, with its double-bezel cover screen and left-sided hinge, represents a step backward. It’s the hardest foldable for lefties to use. I spent a week trying to acclimate to it.
It’s a problem you only think about if you’ve been affected by it. Left-handed people represent a tenth of the world’s population, making them a sizable minority. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold was designed without lefties in mind, and phone manufacturers could do more to consider southpaw users. Smartphones cater to the right-handed majority. Let’s unpack why the foldable form factor can be particularly troublesome and what can be done about it.
Why are foldables tricky for lefties?
The hinge, fingerprint sensor, and buttons are optimized for right-handed users
Foldables have hinges. For book-style models, those hinges are on the phone’s left side. That pushes the volume rocker and power button to the right side. The sensor is on the power button because mainstream folding phones don’t feature under-display fingerprint readers. It’s great for righties. The right thumb can unlock the screen or reach the volume rocker on a Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, OnePlus Open, or Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. It’s possible and easy to do so whether the phones are closed or unfolded.
Now, picture the reverse. A lefty like myself wants to hold their smartphone in their left hand, especially when it’s a foldable. These devices are thicker and heavier than the average phone. Holding them one-handed with your non-dominant hand might not be the best idea. Additionally, the left and exposed hinge digs into your palm in a way that puts the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra to shame.
That’s when the phone is closed. When you open a foldable, the situation gets worse for lefties. After opening the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 6, I found it impossible to unlock either device with the phones solely in my left hand. Using the foldables right-handed wasn’t an issue. My thumb reached the power button, whether the devices were folded or unfolded. When using my phones as a lefty, I had to choose between using two hands or switching hands to unlock them or press the buttons.
This might not sound like a big deal, but think about how often we go through life with full hands. The odds that I casually have two hands free while on the go aren’t good. I usually have keys, a wallet, a drink, or a bag in one of my hands and a phone in the other. As a lefty, I want to keep my foldable in my dominant hand. That isn’t plausible with the state of book-style foldables.
If you check social media sites like Reddit and Threads, you’ll notice that this sentiment has been around for as long as foldables have existed and still continues. However, I’m writing about it now because I spent a week with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. It’s the worst foldable for lefties, and it exaggerates the existing problems between foldables and left-handers in the worst ways possible.
If you look at the Pixel 9 Pro Fold cover screen, you’ll notice what I call the “double bezel.” This phone has a thick display bezel around the actual edges of the screen. It also has an aluminum bezel lining the glass. All phones have this, in a way. Check out how much thicker the aluminum border is on the left side of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold versus the right. If you’re left-handed, you’ll reach across the hinge, the abnormally thick aluminum chassis, and the glass display bezel to get to the screen.
This design choice exacerbated the reachability issues we have using most Android phones. Reaching the corners of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, even when it’s closed, is a tall order for left-handed users. By comparison, the slimmer bezels on the right side of the phone make it a somewhat easy task to perform the same actions with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold in your right hand.
There has to be a better way
It’s time to think of how we can make foldables better for lefties
What can be done to improve the experience of using a foldable as a lefty? I think it’s worth addressing how unlikely it is that phone manufacturers will design phones for left-handers. Most people are righties, and left-handers are used to living in a right-handed world. Growing up as a lefty, I learned to play the drums as a righty because I didn’t know there was another option. My father, born in the 1970s, was forced to convert to being right-handed in school.
However, companies can do small things to improve the situation. Perhaps allow an option to flip the entire orientation of Android, like the one for smartwatches. Sure, it would be wonky, but at least I could reach the buttons with my left hand. From a technology perspective, slimming down the hinge and bezels would make foldables more reachable for people of either handedness. Finding a better solution for biometrics and button control could help, too.
With a bit of refinement, the first suggestion could be shipped in an OTA update. I want to call on phone manufacturers to start thinking of lefties when designing foldables because the experience isn’t up to par. Samsung might have the best foldable for lefties due to the narrow and squarish shape of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, but it’s only marginally better than OnePlus or Google.
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