There aren't that many Korea-only phones anymore. But we found one at a cell phone shop at Samsung headquarters in Suwon, south of Seoul. The Samsung Galaxy Folder shows that it's perfectly possible to create a classy Android flip phone. Now, if it could only come to the US.
There's a small industry of Android-powered flip options in Korea and China, with the Galaxy Folder (now updated by the Galaxy Folder 2, which I didn't see) and the LG Wine Smart both out there. They don't have extraordinary specs; the model I saw was running Android 5.1.1, and the newer model has Android 6.0 on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425. The Folder I used also had one really weird design issue: the camera is on the bottom half rather than the top half, making it very awkward to use.
But while holding it in my hand, I found that the Folder has balance. We have an Android flip phone here in the US, the ZTE Cymbal-T, and it lacks balance—it's top heavy. The Folder's bottom half is heavier than the top, so it sits right in the hand. The TFT LCD screen, while not terribly high-res at 800 by 480, is also bright and punchy. And the design, overall, is classy.
This is important for the US because we have a major change coming in the world of flip phones. Our carriers are starting to require voice over LTE, which the old feature phone OSes don't support. So if we're going to continue to have flips—and we probably will, it's a niche—we're probably going to see more Android-based, or crippled Android-based devices like the two versions of ZTE's phone and the Galaxy Folder.
The remaining barrier is probably price. The Galaxy Folder isn't super cheap or an expensive curiosity; it's about $250 unlocked. That may still be a lot to swallow for US flip phone and simple phone owners, who want to spend under $200.
Still, though, I'm hoping some US manufacturers take their inspiration from Samsung's and LG's Asian flip lineups as they evolve the feature phone into its next generation.