Technologies

New Foldable Phones Convinced Me Two Screens Are Better Than One

Commentary: With the Galaxy Z Flip 5, Motorola Razr Plus and Google Pixel Fold, tech giants are closer to proving that foldable phones can be truly useful.

Foldable phones have been around for almost half a decade, but they still account for only a small portion of the mobile phone market. There are a few good reasons why: Such phones are expensive, less durable than standard mobile devices and have a visible crease running across their displays.

But most importantly, foldable phones still lack a so-called «killer app:» An app or feature that defines their purpose and is compelling enough to convince people to buy them. With new foldables like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, Motorola Razr Plus and Google Pixel Fold, tech giants are taking a step toward changing that. And the «killer app» may not be an app at all, but rather a secondary screen.

All three phones share a common theme that stretches beyond their foldable shape. Samsung, Google and Motorola are all exploring the usefulness of having two screens on your phone instead of just one. Each phone has an external cover screen that’s large enough to comfortably use apps without opening the phone. Google, Samsung and Motorola also take that idea a step further by experimenting with how those two screens can be used in tandem to enhance photography and other features.

While phones like the Z Flip 5, Razr Plus and Pixel Fold are still new, I’m already starting to see the promise behind having a phone with two screens that can serve different purposes.

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Motorola Razr Plus may be the best examples of this so far. Both devices have external screens that are roughly the same size as the display on an iPhone 4. That’s considered tiny by today’s standards, but these screens are large enough to send text messages, browse directions on Google Maps, take selfies and scroll through news headlines without opening the phone.

Flip phones with cover screens like these are a great middle ground between a smartwatch and a smartphone. After years of using phones with giant screens that measure 6 inches or larger, I appreciate having a screen that fits in the palm of my hand. And unlike a smartwatch, I don’t have to twist my wrist to read an email or check my calendar.

The Razr Plus' cover screen showing a keyboard.

The Pixel Fold’s cover screen didn’t leave as strong of an impression on me as the Razr Plus’ or Z Flip 5’s, but it’s still one of the few advantages it has over Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold line. The outer display on the Pixel Fold has a wider shape, more closely resembling a regular phone when closed. That goes a long way in making the Pixel Fold feel more natural, enabling it to strike a better balance between tablet and phone. While the main internal display on the Z Fold looks better than the Pixel Fold’s in terms of brightness and boldness, Samsung’s external display feels elongated and skinny compared with the Pixel Fold. As a result, it’s less enjoyable to use in phone form.

However, there’s more potential behind these dual-screen designs that companies like Samsung, Google and Motorola are just starting to tap into. What I’m most excited about is the way these cover displays and internal screens may work together in the future. Motorola and Samsung are starting with the camera. Both phones can show a preview of a photo before you hit the shutter button, letting friends and family see how they look before the image is captured.

Google is launching a language translation feature in Android 14 that incorporates both the external and internal displays. In practice, the external display facing the other person would show your speech translated into text in the other participant’s native language. The internal screen facing you would show the other person’s speech translated into your native language. I haven’t tried this yet, but the idea feels like a fresh departure from other software features we’ve seen arrive on foldables in recent years.

The Oppo Find N2 Flip's cover screen showing notifications

Samsung and Motorola aren’t the first to put larger cover screens on flip phones. Nor was Google the first to put a wider front display on a book-style foldable. (Chinese tech giant Oppo actually beat them on both counts.) But the fact that companies like Samsung, Motorola and Google are adopting these approaches indicates the broader foldables market may move in this direction.

And that’s good news, because previous foldables simply didn’t feel radically different enough to justify their high cost compared with cheaper, non-folding phones. These dual-display phones represent a step toward changing that, showing that foldable devices have more to offer than just a big screen that fits in your pocket.

Technologies

McDonald’s KPop Demon Hunter Meals Include Bright Purple Nugget Sauce

The Derpy McFlurry mixes popping boba pearls and berry sauce into a soft-serve dessert.

McDonald’s has seen success with themed combo meals, including its holiday Grinch Meal. Now, the fast-food chain is capitalizing on Netflix’s Oscar-winning animated film, KPop Demon Hunters, with new upcoming menu items and both a breakfast meal and a lunch/dinner offering. Let’s hope you like the color purple.

The HUNTR/X Meal, named for the K-pop girl group in the movie, is a 10-piece chicken McNuggets meal that includes a medium drink and three special menu items.

Ramyeon McShaker fries come with a small bag of soy, garlic, sesame and spice seasoning, along with regular McDonald’s french fries. You sprinkle the seasoning into the provided bag, dump in the fries, shake it all up and eat.

The meal includes two new sauces for the fries and nuggets. Hunter sauce is a sweet chili sauce mixing notes of chili, garlic and pepper. But my favorite item on this new menu is Demon sauce, a bold mustard sauce with some heat and a bold purple color. There’s just not enough dark purple food out there.

There’s also a new dessert, the Derpy McFlurry, which blends creamy vanilla soft serve with berry-flavored popping boba pearls, served with a swirl of wild berry sauce. McDonald’s named it for the supernatural feline, Derpy Tiger, from the movie.

If breakfast is your bag, the new morning meal is the Saja Boys Breakfast Meal, named for the movie’s boy band.

It includes a Spicy Saja McMuffin sandwich, which is a sausage McMuffin with egg and a spicy Saja sauce, hash browns and a small drink.

Both meals come with a photocard for one of the bands and a Derpy card. The Derpy card includes a QR code you can scan to unlock online content about the film.

The full KPop Demon Hunters menu should be available at participating McDonald’s beginning March 31.

The McDonald’s Grinch meal (and its accompanying patterned socks) sold out quickly, so KPop Demon Hunters fans may want to mark their calendars and nab a meal when they are released.

Technologies

Melania Trump Escorted by Talking Humanoid Robot at White House Tech Summit

The first lady shared the spotlight with the robot to promote the use of artificial intelligence in education.

An unexpected guest escorted Melania Trump at the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit on Wednesday: a Figure 03 humanoid robot.

During the event, the first lady pitched a future where AI-powered humanoid robots — presented as an idealized educator named «Plato» — provide students with personalized and instant access to human knowledge, including philosophy and art.

The Figure 03 robot is made by Silicon Valley-based robotics company Figure AI, which introduced its third-generation humanoid robot in October last year. The Figure 03 robot costs around $25,000, according to Forbes.

Figure 03 was designed for people to use in their homes, with demo videos showing it folding laundry, lifting eggs from a carton, using a washing machine and delivering drinks to its owners lounging by the pool. It was also shown in corporate use cases as a receptionist and a package deliverer. Using a proprietary AI engine called Helix, it can autonomously perform these tasks and respond to your voice commands.

The humanoid was seen walking slowly down the red carpet at the tech summit and then delivering opening remarks.

«I’m grateful to be part of this historic movement to empower children with technology and education,» the Figure 03 humanoid robot said. It then said «welcome» in various languages.

The first lady later said that AI-powered humanoid robots could exist in children’s homes as an aid to their education to «boost analytic skills and problem solving and adopt in real time to a student’s pace, prior knowledge and even emotional state.»

The two-day summit is hosting leaders from 45 nations and 28 technology organizations, and is intended to «empower children through education and technology,» according to a White House statement. Guests included representatives from tech giants such as Google, OpenAI, Microsoft and AI data analytics company Palantir.

The summit is part of the first lady’s Be Best: Fostering the Future initiative, which aims to help children learn using advanced technology. It was introduced in 2018 as an awareness campaign aimed at combating cyberbullying and helping children affected by the opioid crisis.

US Education Secretary Linda McMahon spoke about AI being one of the Department of Education’s main priorities on the first day of the summit.

«If we’re able to scale these resources effectively by investing in AI infrastructure and training, we can offer expert instructions across countless fields, to hire volumes of people at a fraction of the cost,» McMahon said Tuesday at a round table meeting.

According to McMahon, the Department of Education has already dedicated millions of dollars in grants to support the use of AI in schools.

The event follows criticism of the Trump administration’s 2025 executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. While the Department of Education hasn’t been officially abolished, it has undergone significant policy changes, funding cuts and workforce reductions.

The introduction of a humanoid robot at the summit sparked significant backlash among many who are wary of the technology’s role in the classroom. Critics took to social media to voice concerns that these machines could eventually replace teachers, stripping the education system of essential human connection, and leading to increased layoffs and cost-cutting.

On one Huffington Post Instagram post featuring the robot, commenters expressed deep skepticism, with one user sarcastically noting, «Nice, getting rid of educators in favor of a robot,» while another flatly rejected the concept, stating, «No, I don’t want to imagine a world with emotionless robots educating our children.»

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Technologies

Nintendo Dropped a Switch 2 Update With a New Mode You’ll Want to Turn On Immediately

This new feature is one of the best yet.

A new firmware update hit the Nintendo Switch 2 last week. Among the multitude of small changes is a new feature that will give Switch 1 games a notable upgrade.

Version 22.0.0 for the Switch 2 went live on March 16 and is available for download to the console. The big new feature in the update was Handheld Mode Boost, which will give Switch 1 games a visual upgrade when played on the Switch 2 in handheld mode.

[Nintendo Switch 2 System Update]
Version 22.0.0 adds «Handheld Mode Boost». This will make Switch 1 games think that they are in TV mode even when in handheld.
Games can run at higher resolutions in TV mode, taking better advantage of the Switch 2’s 1080p screen. pic.twitter.com/aXOKWosFAw

— OatmealDome (@OatmealDome) March 17, 2026

What does Handheld Mode Boost do?

Even though the Switch 2 supports backward compatibility with almost all Switch 1 games, there was an issue. The Switch 2 has a higher resolution screen: 1080p versus the older hardware’s 720p. When playing a Switch 1 game on a Switch 2 in handheld mode, the graphics looked blurry and jagged.

When enabled, Handheld Mode Boost makes a Switch 1 game act as if it’s docked, so it displays 1080p at 60 frames per second. This will give the visuals an immediate upgrade.

How do you enable Handheld Mode Boost?

Handheld Mode Boost has to be turned on to see the effect, and it takes a few steps:

Select Systems Settings from the Home menu
Select System
Select Nintendo Switch Software Handling
Enable Handheld Mode Boost

Is there a downside to enabling Handheld Mode Boost?

A user on Reddit tested the mode to see how it affects the Switch 2’s battery life. The test used Doom Eternal for the Switch 1 with and without Handheld Mode Boost. The test showed that the battery life decreased from 5 hours, 5 minutes to 3 hours, 43 minutes. That’s a 27% drop and should be taken into account when using Handheld Mode Boost.

How do I upgrade my Nintendo Switch 2?

If you have Software Auto-Updates enabled on your Switch 2, a pop-up window should come up whenever you start a game. If not, head to System Settings and choose to update the console from the menu.

What other features were added in version 22.0.0?

Handheld Mode Boost was the main star of the new firmware update, but there were a slew of other changes.

Changed the on-screen text and animations when you load a virtual game card in the HOME Menu.

Added the ability to save notes about friends on your Friend List. The note content is not displayed to friends.

Added the ability to invite friends to GameChat rooms you’re participating in. Some friends may not be able to be invited, such as supervised accounts.

Friends who haven’t finished GameChat’s initial setup can now be invited to GameChat. Some friends may not be able to be invited, such as supervised accounts or those who haven’t used a Nintendo Switch 2.

Added the ability to rewind 10 seconds/advance 10 seconds with the ZL and ZR Buttons when watching a full-screen video in News or Nintendo eShop.

Added the option to add the following data to «Automatic Uploads» from Album.

Text-to-Speech, under Accessibility, can now read the text in Album and during first-time setup.

Added the ability to see the breakdown of storage capacity by data type for the system memory and microSD Express card.

Added the ability to perform an audio test when «Linear PCM 5.1 Surround» is selected for TV Sound in Audio.

When Airplane Mode is activated, the previously set preferences for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or NFC while in airplane mode will be saved and applied.

Added the ability to individually enable or disable Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or NFC during Airplane Mode from the Quick Settings.

Added the ability to see a notification in the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls smart device application when the Parental Controls PIN is input successfully on the console. This can also be set up to be a push notification to your smart device.

General system stability improvements to enhance the user’s experience.