Samsung Galaxy Z Flip (Bloom) specs, price and release preview
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip (Bloom) design and display
Remember those rumors that the Galaxy Fold successor will be a flip phone with a horizontal instead of a vertical crease? Well, despite the OG Fold hiccup, Samsung plans to release it according to schedule, but not under the Fold moniker, and under an entirely different Flip category in its portfolio. Makes perfect sense, as clamshell designs have simply been called flip phones for a good while before smartphones were even a twinkle in Steve Jobs’ eyes.
The codename of that clamshell design is reportedly “Bloom,” signifying plans for general expansion of the foldable phones’ market share, as opposed to OG Fold’s “Winner” moniker, as it was meant to bring people around the bendy phone camp in the first place.
Some of Samsung’s phone execs have reportedly been deliberating over a larger screen, arguing (rightfully) that this is the whole point of foldable phones – to give you much more extra canvas to work on when unfurled than regular phones. Given the 6.5″ iPhone 11 Pro Max is 6.8″ Note 10+ we have now, a 6.7-incher won’t have a “wow” factor when announced, no matter the screen aspect ratio used.
Ultimately, however, cooler heads have prevailed, and the Z Flip will reportedly ship with the original 6.7″ display intention, rather than the 8″ panel that has also been considered. Thus, the latest rumors peg it to be as big as a phone with a 3″ display when folded, making it a godsend for pockets, palms, or purses, and Samsung has been filing patents with its eventual design for a good while now.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip – from patent through concept to alleged reality
While Samsung fixed the problem by extending the PI cover over the corners of the upgraded Fold, so as it doesn’t look like a screen protector, it has apparently decided to move away of such films in the future, replacing them with… ultrathin glass cover.
Apparently, the notorious rigidity of a glass structure isn’t as valid for glass that is 100 micrometer thin or less, and for the Z Flip, Samsung has wiggled its way into an exclusive long-term contract with a local manufacturer called DoInsys that can go down to 30 micrometer even. DoInsys just so happens to have developed an ultrathin tempered glass that can be applied to bendy handsets last year.
The so-called Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) is, needless to say, tougher than the “regular” polyimide protective film that the Galaxy Fold now uses. How can glass bend without breaking, though? Well, the key word is thin, apparently, as the DoInsys creation has proved surprisingly durable and the company, which planned to start mass production in 2020, has been getting better yields than planned, removing one more hurdle before Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip plans.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip (Bloom) leaked processor, camera and charging specs
| Samsung Galaxy Z Flip (codename Bloom) | |
|---|---|
| Display and design | 6.7″ 1080p Premium Hole Infinity Flex Display Small external screen for notifications/date/time About the size of a 3″ display phone when folded |
| Processor | Snapdragon 855 |
| Camera | Dual 12MP rear camera 10MP front-facing selfie shooter |
| Charging | 15W charger in the box |
| Modem | 4G LTE connectivity |
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip (Bloom) price and release date
All eyes may be on the Galaxy S20 series for Samsung’s February 11 Unpacked event, but what the company means by tipping “innovative devices that will shape the next decade of mobile experiences,” won’t be just the S-line phones about to be unveiled then.
Long story short, Samsung is prepping something along the RAZR 2019 vein, and we can only commend its efforts, as, let’s face it, only a sliver of users want to lug around a pocket Bible of a phone with a visible crease in the middle that costs two grand to begin with. The eventual Galaxy Z Flip may turn our foldable display phones pricing notion on its head, too.
Just as we heard being claimed in another report out of Korea a month or so ago, it is arriving for the equivalent of about $857 in local currency, which is a Benjamin shy of half-the-RAZR-price here in the US. That isn’t stopping a larger share of our visitors to prefer the nostalgia-laden Moto razr (2019), though, as you can see from our poll results below.
In any case, there may be a bit more than six months between the original Galaxy Fold release, and the Z Flip successor, but not because Samsung was planning on bi-annual bendable phone model refreshes in the first place, rather because the OG Fold was launched way later than planned. Color us excited for Samsung’s clamshell, especially if its rumored sub-$900 price materializes indeed.