Compact, cute, and fairly cheap, Nubia’s Flip 5G could be your first foldable, but the software lets it down.

Folding phones are no longer new, and they are getting more affordable. The market is split between booklike foldables that open to become small tablets and flip phones that fold in half from regular size. The former will still cost you at least a grand. The Nubia Flip 5G is the latter, and it sets a new low by launching at $500.

If you are hankering for a foldable, the Nubia Flip 5G could be right for you. It sports a super-cute design with an eye-catching circular cover screen. It unfurls to 6.9 inches, sticks close to stock Android, and has no deal-breaking omissions. On the other hand, the performance, camera, and battery life are all distinctly average. It also runs Android 13 and is unlikely to get more than three years of software updates.

There’s no question you can get a better ...