Foldable mobile phones will be new.
With the end of July, fall is fast approaching, and it’s time to launch the technology. One of the first big companies this year is Samsung. They collect the press and arouse interest in it August 10 at 15 Norwegian time.
As usual, the launch is called Unpacked, but this time with the slogan “Unpack your world”. It is a strong hint of what is to come; New foldable mobile phones.
Already now, two weeks before the furore, a lot has been leaked about the new mobile phones. It mainly concerns the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4. The sequel to last year’s foldable mobile phones from the manufacturer.
The Fold series are large mobiles that turn into larger tablets, while the Flip are small mobiles that fold down to life size with a 6.7-inch AMOLED display.
Additionally, a small glimpse of the launch was posted on Twitter – apparently early on:
Until last year, foldable cell phones were mostly a gimmick. Few companies made them, and a few consumers also bought them. Phones have a history of delays, turbulent launches, and uncertainty about duration and qualities. All topped off at a hefty price.
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 changed that. With a price below the cost of many of the higher models, around 11,000 NOK, a reasonable size as well as build quality and an ever-improving ergonomics, Samsung has sold buckets of them. It has been speculated whether the sales success is the reason behind delaying other Samsung phones.
Thus, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is particularly associated with the excitement of August 10th.
From the outside, the changes in the Z Flip 4 are expected to be moderate and relative barely visible. Waterproofing is supposed to be included from last year, while many websites are wondering if dust insulation might also be a thing for this year’s model.
Namely, there is talk of changing the hinge between the two parts that make up the phone. But the leaked images show a phone that at first glance looks a lot like today’s Z Flip 3.
Of course, there is always the question of how realistic these images are, but they fit perfectly with the images that Samsung itself released to spark interest around the launch.
Moreover, there are rumors that the external display may increase somewhat in size.
The Z Flip 3 was Samsung’s first “affordable” foldable mobile phone, and it was positioned one way or another precisely to become a best-selling phone. It doesn’t have the craziest cameras or the craziest features – aside from being foldable. Thus, the price is likely to be important for the sequel as well.
The trend has been down so far, and there are rumors that the Z Flip 4 will also become a “buyer’s” phone – possibly “affordable” as it’s called in English. But there were rumors about it It might be a little more expensive than last year. What this means is not concretely known.
The question is where the uncertainty about what is the new form factor for many meets the price sensitivity of mobile buyers. If you have 12,000 smoldering NOK in your pocket, you can after all buy the Galaxy S22 Ultra, one of the best camera phones on the market and a very versatile phone. It’s questionable if a mid-range phone with foldable hardware is its main strength should be more expensive than that.
The update is likely to be even bigger on the inside. According to rumors, the battery is said to be 10-20 percent larger than before. That’s a good thing, because while the Z Flip 3’s battery life wasn’t exactly bad, it was among the phone’s weakest points.
Unfortunately, there are strong rumors about it The cameras will be the same Three as in the previous edition. So a 10MP selfie camera is inside the phone, as well as a main camera and an ultra-wide angle of 12MP each.
Compared to the current Galaxy S series and iPhone series, these were pretty weak. But there is room for some improvements with the help of better image processing than new processors and other devices.
As for the Galaxy Z Fold 4, there are persistent rumors of a larger camera device on the back.
Currently, new Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processors are making their way to phones, promising to make Android phones more competitive against the latest generation of iPhones in pure performance. This is believed to be the processor that would end up in both the Z Flip 4 and the larger Z Fold 4.
In this country, Samsung’s foldable mobile phones were almost alone in the manufacturer’s choice to get the Snapdragon and not the Samsung Exynos processors. It was basically a feature, as Samsung struggled a bit to get consistent performance on the Exynos chips in the Galaxy S series.
Otherwise, it will be interesting to see if a number of Jokers are addressed in the new version. For example, there is glass in the screens of the Z Flip and Z Fold, but they have a curvature in the screen where phones are folded. In the right light and with dark content on the screen, you can see this curvature. It is possible to make foldable screens without visible curvature, and it will be interesting to see if Samsung makes changes to this point.
Last year’s Z Fold 3 Samsung also had a selfie camera under the in-display. There has been some speculation that the Z Flip 4 could get the same camera this year. But here the quality seemed a little below average for the solution we’ve all seen, and it might sound as though it’s hard to keep the price “inside” so we can’t see the more extravagant specs up on this year’s model.
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is likely to be too Easier than before. If so, this point would have had to be improved – because size is one of this phone’s biggest enemies. The pocket is marked.
In addition, there is talk that it may have a more powerful camera than its predecessor. This is also the phone that is not usually focused as a price driver or the phone that will bring foldable cell phones to most people. Thus, it may also be easier to use the specs from the more expensive regular top models in the fold than in the heart.
Currently, we only know the fold and inversion series. But on August 10, we may also see third phone. The product is referred to as “Diamond”, and may have a completely different form factor than other products, with a retractable screen or the like.
However, it is unusual to get close to the launch date two weeks earlier, without this big news being known by more than the name. So we allow ourselves a good deal of hope for the prospects here – but it would still have been an interesting bonus. We know Samsung’s Chinese competitors have been playing around a bit with alternative form factors.
Rumor has it that pre-sales will begin the same evening as the launch, while the products will be available on August 26.
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