The real issue is that anyone who has watched a dozen unboxing videos of the same device has, in their own mind, graduated to expert status. Owning a foldable in India (or aggressively aspiring to one) comes with a specific social identity: you now explain to people why regular phones are limiting. Gifting them anything phone-adjacent feels patronising. They know more about UTG glass and hinge tolerance than you do. What they actually want is acknowledgment for their taste, not just for being "the tech wala dost." Most gifters miss this completely.
The move is to gift into the ecosystem, not the device. This person's foldable spends half its life propped open as a mini-screen for YouTube and Reels. A pair of TWS earbuds with active noise cancellation makes that experience genuinely better without stepping on their turf. A compact GaN fast charger is practical: foldable batteries are large and the stock charger that came in the box is usually underpowered. Third option: a slim power bank. Foldables eat battery faster than conventional phones and they know it. These three categories say "I get your world" without requiring you to know which hinge variant they actually bought.
Do not buy a phone case, a screen protector, or any device-specific accessory. They already have opinions about which brand fits their exact hinge model, and yours will be wrong. Also avoid anything with "for foldable phones" in the product title. It reads as trying too hard. The goal is to look effortlessly useful, not like you searched "foldable phone gift" at midnight the night before their birthday.