Ever since I reviewed the Honor Magic V3 back in September 2024, I’ve been a big believer in the book-style foldable smartphone form factor. The added display canvas is hugely beneficial for both content consumption and productivity, proving far more flexible than a traditional slab-style handset.
One key area where book-style devices excel at is in the domain of reading. Whether it be Kindle, Kobo, Google Play Books, or otherwise, reading apps look and feel excellent on an inner foldable display panel. Much like on a tablet, there’s simply far more room for text to breathe, with enough words per line to feel comfortable.
For the longest time, I wasn’t much of a reader, but I recently downloaded the Kindle application from the Google Play Store and set it up on my Pixel 11 Pro Fold. Within a few minutes, I was sold on the experience, so much so that I think I prefer it over an actual e-reader, even if I’m giving up on E Ink display technology in the process.
- Developer
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Amazon
- Offline downloads
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Yes
- Ads
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Yes
- Downloads and background play
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Yes
Amazon’s first-party Kindle app is best known for letting you download and read all your favorite ebooks across your mobile devices, but it can also transfer files to your e-reader.
Book-style folding phones live up to their name
The ideal format for reading Kindle books
Once I set up page turning animations and adjusted the page color to a warmer setting, the Kindle app on my Pixel 11 Pro clicked for me. The silky-smooth refresh rate, the high pixel density, and the large inner display make for an incredibly pleasant reading experience, and one that surpasses that of a dedicated e-reader for everything outside of eye comfort and battery life.
The one snag in the e-book flow — and it’s a big one — is that I have to turn my Pixel 11 Pro Fold sideways to get a dual-column reading view. This is unfortunate as the phone doesn’t bend vertically in this orientation, meaning I can’t slightly bend the display for a more book-like physical feel.
Of course, newer wide-style foldable phones like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 and the iPhone Duo solve this by unfolding into widescreen by default, and so your mileage will vary based on your individual foldable’s make and model.
…the charm of using a book-style device as an e-reader can’t be undersold.
Even with this gripe in mind, I’m enamored by the book reading experience on my Pixel 11 Pro Fold. The device’s thinness and lightweight build are ideal for extended reading sessions, and the bright OLED screen is genuinely visible even in direct sunlight. Plus, the entire unit folds up and fits right into any pocket.
Of course, dedicated e-readers remain the more pragmatic choice on the whole. They’re far less expensive, they’re ruggedized, and they feature E Ink displays that hardly sip any power and that look and feel like real, genuine paper. That being said, the charm of using a book-style device as an e-reader can’t be undersold, at least from where I’m coming from.
Two screens are better than one
The Surface Duo was the ultimate Kindle machine
Wide-bodied foldables in particular are ideal for all things reading-related, but there’s one mobile form factor that manages to excel to an even greater degree: the dual-screened form factor. The Microsoft Surface Duo featured this kind of layout, with two distinct screen panels connecting together with a central hinge.
When ‘spanned,’ each book page filled up one of the Surface Duo’s screens, making for an even more book-like reading feel. These panels also benefited from being glass as opposed to soft plastic, while offering far more actuation for granular bending and posturing. Where the display hinge is a hindrance when viewing videos, it’s a benefit when reading books.
…sifting through pages of Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein feels exemplary.
I’ve written about this before, but I feel as though Amazon should build its own dual-screened Kindle. This would be much more pragmatic than making a single-screened book-style foldable device thanks to the added durability of the former design. A Surface Duo-esque device with E Ink display panels and a high IP rating for resistance against the elements would be my ideal Kindle form factor through and through.
Circling back to book-style foldables like the Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold, I’m still happy with the reading experience it provides. There are compromises, to be sure, but sifting through pages of Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein feels exemplary and rather futuristic at that. There’s something really compelling about the form factor that I can’t quite put my finger on.
Of course, I wouldn’t go out and purchase a foldable phone solely for the purpose of reading, but, considering I already own more than one model, it just makes sense to leverage their hardware prowess where it counts. I’ve always been a firm believer in foldable phone technology, and now, against all odds, I’m also an active e-book reader who doesn’t own a standalone e-reader device.
