Samsung Electronics is gearing up to unveil its next-generation foldable smartphones, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6, on July 10 in Paris, France. While both products are not expected to have significant design changes from their predecessors, Chinese companies are leading the way in innovation by increasing screen sizes and reducing thickness.
According to the IT industry on July 3, almost all information related to the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6 was leaked even before Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event in Paris. As always, IT tipsters released product photos and specifications before the launch event.
Based on the information revealed so far, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6 appear to have improvements in camera and battery, but contrary to expectations, their design will not be much different from their predecessors.
While the screen crease seems to have reduced somewhat, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is expected to maintain the same size as the previous product, with a 3.4-inch cover screen and a 6.7-inch internal screen. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is also expected to have a cover screen of the same size as before, at 6.3 inches.
On the other hand, Chinese companies have recently been increasing the cover screen size, stepping ahead of Samsung. The Motorola Razr 50 Ultra under China’s Lenovo and Honor’s Magic V Flip are both clamshell-shaped flip smartphones like the Galaxy Z Flip, and their cover screens reach 4 inches, filling almost all parts excluding the bezel and camera lens.
Furthermore, Honor is focusing on a slim design for its foldable phone Magic V3, inspired by the Galaxy Z Fold series. It hinted at introducing an ultra-slim product thinner than the previous model, Magic V2, which was 9.9mm thick when folded.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 5 is 13.4mm thick when folded, and even its successor, the Galaxy Z Fold 6, is expected to be 12.1mm thick when folded, indicating that Honor is ahead in terms of thickness.
However, simply having a larger screen and a thinner design does not necessarily make for a better product. As the original foldable phone pioneer, Samsung has a clear advantage in durability over Chinese manufacturers. Nevertheless, with Huawei overtaking Samsung as the leader in the global foldable phone market in the first quarter of this year, there are opinions that Samsung should pay more attention to form factor innovation.
IT tipster Evan Blass (@evleaks) also evaluated, “Chinese foldable phones are leading the innovation in this field.”
Samsung Electronics is at the forefront of developing next-generation form factors like rollable and slidable phones. Roh Tae Moon, the head of Samsung Electronics Mobile Experience (MX) Division, mentioned at the regular shareholders’ meeting in March regarding the launch plans for rollable and slidable phones, “We prioritize product completeness and consumer value. We are continuously developing ahead to commercialize these products at a time when there are enough usable content, services, and a mature ecosystem.”
