Updated February 25: article originally posted February 24.
The Galaxy Z Fold family is built around the revolutionary folding display; with the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 6, Samsung is planning a redesign.
Update: Sunday February 25: A recent report on the foldables market by Trendforce offers Samsung both good and bad news for Samsung. The first is the increasing sales of foldable devices, with a 25 per cent year-on-year increase in unit sales across all brands, although Trendforce does note that 2024’s projected increase will be just eleven per cent. There is consumer demand for foldables.
The biggest fear for customers is one that has dogged foldables in particular since they launched… the durability of the displays. By their very nature, they are key parts of the overall package and a significant part of the price. It’s also a source of worry for those who have tried previous foldable devices; as the report says, “…consumer retention is low due to frequent maintenance issues faced by first-time foldable phone users, leading to a lack of confidence in the product.”
Add to this the hints that Apple has tested the various foldable devices on the market and has decided the technology is not ready for Apple’s plans yet, and you have an air of a product that isn’t quite ready for someone to invest in the latest model.
Perhaps the recent certification of Samsung’s foldable displays by the US Department of Defence to the MIL-STD-810G will help counter that?
The reported details of the new dimensions of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 will be welcomed by many. Folding phones have traditionally been the same depth as regular smartphones, but only when unfolded. Close up the device and you have a chunky phone that feels like 2003 called and asked for its brick back.
Since the Galaxy Z Fold 5 launch, foldables from Oppo, OnePlus and Honor have all debuted with different form factors, including user interface-friendly screen ratios and thinner designs. Placed next to the competition, the Z Fold 5 is rather chunky.
Thankfully, Samsung looks to be addressing the physical size of the flagship foldable, with the 16mm depth of the Z Fold 5 set to be cut by 25 per cent to 11mm. That would make it the thinnest of any Samsung foldable and thinner than devices from Oppo and Open.
That doesn’t match the 8.6mm depth of the Galaxy S24 Ultra (and, of course, all these measurements handily ignore any camera island jutting out the rear of the phone), but the impact of this change when holding a foldable will be noticeable. The direct comparison between the first and second generation of Honor Magic foldable, with the second device just 10.1mm, helped the newer device feel ready to meet a regular smartphone audience.
A thinner Galaxy Z Fold will take care of one of the potential stumbling blocks to a sale.
Another change to the Z FOld 6 design previously reported should also contribute to a more mainstream feel to the foldable. Previous models have seen a tall and thin cover display. While Android can lay out most apps in this space, it can feel cramped for the user. Thankfully, the new aspect ratio of the inner display will also impact on the space available for the cover display, which is now expected to be closer to the standard size expected by many.
The original Galaxy Z Fold came with many compromises to achieve the magical hinge. As the foldable market welcomes new manufacturers, Samsung’s changes to the design are set to make the Z Fold series more acceptable to consumers and help it find mainstream success.
And if price is an issue, Samsung has a plan for that as well.
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