UPDATE: Believe it or not, teenage leak wonder
Max Weinbach has even more info to share about the
Galaxy Fold 2 already. For starters, as if it wasn’t already crystal clear, the Z Fold 2 name is far from etched in stone. The same actually goes for the under-display camera too, which might end up being replaced with a hole punch on the main 7.7-inch screen.
The secondary, or cover, display is tipped to adopt a sleek Infinity-V design, aka a small V-shaped notch, but there are no words on this screen’s diagonal yet. Meanwhile, the camera setup could be borrowed from the
Galaxy S20+, which is pretty nice, and the Galaxy Fold 2 may even share a “new form” of Samsung’s iconic S Pen with the Note 20. As if all that wasn’t enough to drive the price point through the roof, Samsung’s third foldable device is expected to offer super-premium ceramic and stainless steel build options.
Finally, you will apparently be able to choose from blue, silver, gold, pink, and black hues, which suggests pretty wide-scale production and global distribution. For more exciting stuff, our original story follows below.
Formally unveiled all the way back in February 2019 and initially scheduled for an April commercial release, Samsung’s first-ever foldable smartphone ultimately went up for grabs in September, by which point a very large part of the excitement surrounding the Galaxy Fold had essentially dispersed.
We’re talking about a true Galaxy Fold sequel, which could be dubbed simply the
Galaxy Fold 2, or in a bid to make its family ties with the Z Flip clear right off the bat, the Galaxy Z Fold 2. Although it’s probably too early to know for sure which (if any) of the two official branding routes will be adopted, Samsung’s worst nightmare leading up to the recent Z Flip and Galaxy S20 announcements is back with a codename and some very juicy inside information on the upcoming horizontally folding device.
A bigger, stronger, and fancier “champ” than the original Galaxy Fold
Max Weinbach, the teenage leaker who uncovered almost every S20-series secret way ahead of time, claims the “Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2” is internally codenamed “Champ” and “will likely” use Ultra Thin Glass while possibly paving the way for a new bezel-shrinking industry standard with an under-display camera.
The Galaxy Z Flip uses a kinda sorta almost maybe glass display
Although Weinbach doesn’t seem very confident in a lot of that intel, even many of his educated guesses made in advance of the February 11 Unpacked event have proven right on the money, so his early Galaxy Fold 2 speculation certainly deserves our attention.
Besides, the Ultra Thin Glass part of today’s “report” feels like a simple case of common sense. While the
Galaxy Z Flip is far from perfect, Samsung remains confident its kinda sorta almost maybe glass display will stand the test of time much better than the all-plastic screen on the
Galaxy Fold, so it naturally makes sense to try to protect the latter’s follow-up similarly.
The Galaxy Fold camera cutout is definitely less than ideal
As for under-display cameras,
we know Samsung (and many
other companies) have been working on the technology for years, and we can’t think of a more suitable candidate for a commercial debut than an experimental foldable device with a sky-high price point.
If the Galaxy Z Fold 2 does
pull off embedding its camera (or cameras) in a main Infinity Flex display tipped to measure 7.7 inches in diagonal, there might be no need for bezels whatsoever, possibly allowing that screen to be squeezed into a similar chassis as the original Fold, which “only” sports a 7.3-inch foldable panel.
Galaxy Z Fold 2 and Galaxy Note 20 release window
Once again, it’s early for Galaxy Z Fold 2 certainties, and the same obviously goes for the
Galaxy Note 20 family. If Samsung sticks to its regular schedule, the latter “mainstream” high-end lineup should see daylight sometime in August, and since the Z Flip was unveiled alongside the Galaxy S20 series, the company could be starting a new tradition and simultaneously announce the Galaxy Note 20 and Z Fold 2.
Galaxy Note 20 concept render with under-display camera
But Max Weinbach believes Samsung’s third foldable device is “likely” to launch “around” July, which could be “around the same time as the Note 20.” All the “coulds”, “shoulds”, and “likelies” in the leaker’s predictions are not very confidence-inspiring, but then again, this is typically the time of year when we hear whispers about possible plans of Samsung to release a new Note-series handset earlier than usual.
Those rumors almost never prove accurate, and
Weinbach himself highlights that Samsung is merely “aiming for July” while an August launch definitely remains “likely.” Bottom line, we’ll have to wait a few more months before knowing with any degree of certainty when the Galaxy Z Fold 2 (or Galaxy Fold 2) and Galaxy Note 20 are supposed to be officially unveiled and commercially released.
