The End of the Foldable Compromise

For years, the crease has symbolized everything foldable smartphones promised but never quite delivered. Now, a system-level design breakthrough suggests that era may finally be over.

People instinctively try to eliminate creases from daily life. We iron our clothes, protect our documents and smooth our skin because creases signal wear, compromise and imperfection. This raises a simple but overdue question: if creases are unacceptable everywhere else, why have we learned to tolerate them on our screens?

As consumers keep their smartphones for longer, replacement cycles have slowed across the industry. Incremental upgrades are no longer enough to motivate change in a market that has largely plateaued.

Foldables have emerged as one of the few form factors capable of resetting expectations. According to IDC, the category is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 17% through 2029 and represent more than 10% of total smartphone market value, far outpacing growth in traditional devices.

For all the promise of foldable smartphones, one issue has consistently limited their appeal. The visible and tactile crease has become a symbol of compromise, reminding users that the technology is still unfinished. Early adopters tolerated it. The mass market has not.

The problem is not cosmetic alone. The crease cuts through the very experience foldables are meant to elevate. It interrupts the illusion of a single, expansive display. Light catches awkwardly at the fold. Fingers hesitate as they pass over a subtle ridge or dip. What begins as curiosity can become a distraction.

Jiao Cheng, Director of Innovative Product Development at OPPO, describes a near-universal reaction. “When users handled a foldable phone for the first time, even if they were told before that ‘a crease is normal’, the very first thing they’d do was run their finger across that middle section,” he says. Users would tilt the device, fold and unfold it repeatedly, searching for the flaw.

The instinct is revealing. As Cheng puts it, “It’s like looking at a flat lake; naturally, we prefer a perfectly calm and undisturbed surface.” A crease, however slight, breaks that calm.

Data suggests the issue still matters. According to a Bloomberg Intelligence survey of 1,000 consumers in China, the crease remains the third-biggest issue preventing them from buying a foldable phone following price and weight. In a category fighting for mainstream relevance, that remains a meaningful barrier.

Eliminating a crease is not a matter of refining a single component. Every fold places stress on layers of glass, adhesives and structural supports. Each layer responds differently. Over thousands of folds, even microscopic inconsistencies can surface.

“Foldable phones use flexible OLED screens, which consist of a complex multi-layer structure,” says Xisheng Shao, Vice President of Jiangsu Lidao Technology, a subsidiary of LEAD Intelligent Equipment, which collaborates with OPPO on the “zero-feel” crease. “When the screen bends, each layer deforms differently due to its material properties.”

For OPPO, the challenge was never isolated to the display itself. Earlier hinge redesigns across the industry reduced crease depth but stopped short of eliminating it. Manufacturing tolerance emerged as the hidden constraint.

Hinges are assemblies of dozens of parts. Small variations accumulate. Tiny bumps in support structures press back against the display. Over time, adhesives creep.

“Even a minor flaw in the manufacturing process can cause the crease issue to be magnified exponentially,” Shao says. The result is a problem users notice immediately, even if they cannot explain why.

OPPO approached the crease challenge from a different starting point. In 2021, OPPO introduced the Flexion Hinge. A distinctive water-drop hinge addresses key challenges in foldable devices by increasing the fold radius and cushioning the display as it closes, reducing the crease so it is up to 80% less visible than on competing devices, setting new standards across the industry.

The latest breakthrough will set new standard again. Unlike previous industry attempts that only focused on improving hinges or screens alone, the company reframed it as a system-level manufacturing problem—one that required new processes, materials and equipment working in concert.

The turning point came during an internal prototype review in mid-2024. “The instant the engineering prototype was unfolded, the entire conference room went silent,” Cheng recalls. “From any angle, that iconic crease was virtually invisible. Then we touched it—the screen surface felt completely flat and smooth.” The reaction, he says, was “love at first sight, shock at first touch.”

The solution combined several advances. OPPO introduced 3D Liquid Printing to build ultra-precise support layers on complex curved hinge surfaces, flattening microscopic irregularities. Thicker Auto-Smoothing Flex Glass helped internal adhesives rebound after folding. A redesigned hinge created a wider, more balanced folding arc.

The ambition went beyond first impressions. “They did not settle for the mindset of ‘just being better than the previous generation,’” Shao says. “They defined excellence as being visually almost imperceptible, extremely flat to the touch, and with no significant deepening of the crease after long-term folding.”

Achieving that required deep collaboration across the supply chain. OPPO shared hinge designs, material data and testing standards early in the process. Multiple technical paths were explored in parallel. The most difficult route was chosen, even though it demanded more time.

“Their goal was to win a marathon, not a short-term sprint,” Shao says. The upcoming release of OPPO’s next-generation foldable – Find N6 crowns this approach.

By removing one of the foldable category’s most visible compromises, OPPO is helping reset expectations for what these devices should deliver.

“Eliminating the crease doesn’t change the core target audience,” Cheng says. “It lowers the barrier to adoption.” Foldables move, in his words, from being “usable,” to “good,” and finally to “a reliable daily driver.”

That shift comes as the category gathers momentum. Global foldable smartphone shipments grew 14% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2025, according to Counterpoint Research, marking the highest quarterly volume on record. Multiple major smartphone manufacturers are expected to launch significant foldable products this year.

Shao sees the moment as a sign of maturity. “If previous foldable phones proved the feasibility of the folding form factor,” he says, “core process breakthroughs like this are proving that it can possess durable and excellent experiential reliability.”

For consumers, the change is subtle but decisive. A screen that looks calm. A surface that feels uninterrupted. A device that no longer asks users to accept a flaw in exchange for innovation.