There's one reason I'd consider a Flip instead of a Fold, and it's not the reason you think

Despite being such a big cheerleader for foldable phones, my infatuation with the form factor is largely focused on book-style foldables. There's just something about the idea of having both a phone and tablet with me wherever I go that makes me swoon. That being said, I do understand the appeal of flip phones, like the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Moto Razr Ultra.

However, I have to admit that with the two aforementioned flip phones, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't at least considering one. Until recently, the last time that I had spent any meaningful time with a flip phone was the Vivo X Flip, and before that, it was the Galaxy Z Flip 3.

Leading up to Galaxy Unpacked, I've been messing around with the Galaxy Z Flip 6 off and on, trying to see if a flip phone would supplant a foldable for me. Unlike some of my counterparts here at Android Central, I don't think that's in the cards for the near future. But I did happen to find one particular use case that keeps drawing me in.

Growing up, my handheld gaming experience was limited to a Game Boy Color, which ended up getting lost while on a family vacation. After that, I had a brief stint with the Nintendo DS before moving on to the PSP and then the PS Vita. That's to say that I never messed around with a Game Boy Advance or the SP variant.

And that's where the idea of a flip phone comes, as I've entrenched myself in the world of gaming handhelds. Last year, Anbernic released the RG35XXSP, and the Miyoo Flip arrived right around the end of December. In 2025, even more clamshells have been added to my collection, with the Retroid Pocket Flip 2, Anbernic RG34XXSP, and, more recently, Powkiddy V90S arriving on my doorstep.

If you can't tell by now, I have a bit of an affinity for clamshell handhelds at the moment. With the exception of the Pocket Flip 2, the others are all custom Linux-based devices, which is great for the early days of consoles, but not so much with anything more modern. So while I was using the Flip 6, it dawned on me to see if I could replace all of those with a clamshell that was much more powerful.

The obvious benefit to a clamshell is that it's more compact, as you can just slide it in and out of your pocket with ease. Not only that, but there's less of a chance of messing up the screen as you just close it when you're done using it. I know this wasn't always the case with flip phones, but the hinge technology has vastly improved to the point that it's not really too much of a concern for most.

And while there are customization options with those Linux handhelds, your options are fairly limited when compared to Android, even with custom firmware options. With that in mind, I set out to try and turn the Galaxy Z Flip 6 into an ultimate Game Boy Advance SP.

It all starts with finding the right emulator, and thankfully, there is no shortage of those on Android. For Game Boy Advance alone, these are just a few of the options available:

• Pizza Boy A
• RetroArch
• My Boy!
• GBA.emu

While there are a few more, I really only stick to two, swapping back and forth between Pizza Boy A and RetroArch. You might be wondering why, and the answer's pretty straightforward — Pizza Boy on the main screen, RetroArch on the Cover Screen. I've even gone so far as to set RetroArch as my default "lock screen" shortcut for when the Flip 6 is closed.

And the fun doesn't stop there, as you can actually apply various skins from Pizza Boy, making the Flip 6 look even more like a Game Boy Advance SP. With a lot of research, a little bit of time, and a smidge of patience, I've practically turned the Z Flip 6 into the ultimate gaming clamshell.

Unfortunately, there is just one problem with this setup — touchscreen controls are awful. If it's anything more than playing a puzzle game, Balatro, or for testing emulators, I usually won't actually play games using the touchscreen. Instead, I had to get a bit creative, as there aren't too many solutions. Thankfully, I have a 3D printer, so it was just a matter of finding something similar to what I had in mind.

After finding the print, less than an hour later, I could ditch the touchscreen controls. Admittedly, this isn't the perfect solution, as I'd prefer something that would use capacitive buttons to interact with the screen, thus providing something more portable. That might be something I explore down the line, but it wasn't really necessary at the time.

With this 3D print, I just slot the Z Flip 6 in and attach a set of Joy Cons. Or, if you have third-party Joy Cons that support Bluetooth, those would work just fine too. No matter what you end up with, it's still going to be more enjoyable than tapping on the screen.

Once the dust had settled a bit on this project, I found myself rather torn, but ultimately decided to stick with the Galaxy Fold 7 as my main phone. That said, with the Flip 7 now available, I've been keeping a close watch on deals for either the Galaxy Z Flip 6 or one of the latest Moto Razr phones. If I play my cards right, there's a decent chance I'll end up making a more permanent decision, even if it means teaching myself how to create 3D prints and adding yet another phone to my daily carry.