Ai+ NovaFlip launching in India in Q1 2026, marking brand’s jump straight from budget phones to foldables
Ai+ is getting ready to take quite a leap with its next smartphone. The young brand, led by former Realme India CEO Madhav Sheth, has confirmed that its first foldable phone, called the NovaFlip, will launch in India in Q1 2026. There’s no exact date yet, but it’s not too far off.
What makes the launch interesting is how early it’s coming in Ai+’s journey. The brand only entered the smartphone market in July with two budget phones, the Ai+ Pulse and Ai+ Nova 5G. Both were built for first-time buyers and users shopping at the lower end of the price spectrum. Jumping straight from that segment to a foldable is not the usual route most brands take.
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Ai+ has been teasing the NovaFlip’s design for a while now. It’s a clamshell-style foldable and looks a bit like the Nubia Flip2. The back features a rectangular secondary screen alongside two cameras, and there’s a red-accented power button that adds a bit of character. Beyond that, Ai+ has kept the details fairly limited so far.
The company is also teasing another product alongside the foldable. The NovaPods Pro wireless earbuds are listed as “coming soon”, which hints that Ai+ may launch them around the same time. That suggests the brand is trying to build out a small ecosystem early on.
To put it in context, Ai+’s first phones were very basic by design. The Nova 5G offers a 6.7-inch HD+ LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate and runs on a Unisoc T8200 chipset. The Pulse steps down to a 90Hz panel and a Unisoc T615 processor. Both phones share features like a 50MP rear camera, expandable storage, a headphone jack, FM radio, a 5,000mAh battery, and 10W charging, with prices starting at Rs 7,999 and Rs 4,999 respectively.
Software has been the brand’s main differentiator so far. Both phones run NxtQuantum OS, based on Android 15, with an emphasis on privacy and data being stored on Indian servers. That messaging works for a regular phone, but with a foldable, there are higher expectations regarding polish, reliability, and long-term support.
Instead of slowly moving up through the mid-range, Ai+ seems to be using a foldable to make a statement. A foldable gets attention in a way another mid-range phone wouldn’t, and it puts the brand in conversations usually dominated by Samsung and Motorola. Even if sales are limited, the visibility would help.
For buyers, the NovaFlip is likely a phone to watch carefully rather than rush into. Foldables are still niche in India, and things like hinge durability, service support, and software updates matter a lot more here. If Ai+ prices the NovaFlip aggressively, it could appeal to curious users looking to try a foldable for the first time.
