Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 smartphones as upgrades over last year's Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3. Alongside the Fold 4 and Flip 4, Samsung also unveiled the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro earbuds and the Galaxy Watch 5 series.
Folding smartphones have been around for several years, but they remain a niche segment of the market, thanks mainly to their high prices and persistent concerns about their durability. However, that isn't stopping companies like Huawei, Motorola, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi and TCL from launching their own foldables. Even Apple and Google have long been rumored to launch folding iPhones and Pixel devices, but neither company is expected to the bandwagon soon. That said, Google's much-rumored Pixel Fold is said to be in the advanced stages of development, with a recent report even revealing some details about its probable hardware.
According to a new report by the South Korean tech blog The Elec, Samsung believes that to make its foldables more popular, they need to be not only slimmer and lighter but also have fewer creases on the screen. Towards that end, the company's executives are said to have met representatives from its suppliers in October to discuss how to implement those changes in the company's future foldables. In addition, Samsung also wants its future foldables to have better cameras and built-in S Pen like the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Samsung Planning Big Changes For Its Future Foldables
The report further claims that Samsung originally intended to have a higher-spec camera setup on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 but decided against it as that would have added even more weight and thickness to an already hefty device. Even without the high-end camera module, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a rather chunky device, weighing 263g and measuring 15.8mm in thickness.
Another feature Samsung couldn't add to the Z Fold 4 is a built-in S Pen. According to the report, Samsung wanted the Fold 4 to have a built-in stylus slot but couldn't do so in the end, probably because that would have also increased the phone's weight and thickness. Now that Samsung is looking to change these things with its future foldables, it will be interesting to see when it will be able to implement these changes.
Source: The Elec