Samsung is expected to unveil its first ever foldable Galaxy phone soon… for real this time. Samsung will give the phone a proper announcement this time around, and it’ll reveal all the details that it withheld from the press during its developer conference in early November, including an actual release date and pricing. The Galaxy F, or whatever Samsung ends up calling it, will be announced on February 20th, during Samsung’s San Francisco media event. Previous reports already said as much, but a Samsung exec confirmed it to Korean media, tackling the matter of pricing in the process.
An unnamed Samsung official who talked to a Korean publication said that “the folder phone will be released at twice the price of a premium phone, so a strong user case is needed” (via Phone Arena). “Premium phone” describes handsets like the Galaxy S9, Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS, so we should definitely expect a sky-high price tag.
Apparently, that strong user case means a unique form factor that allows the user to run three apps at the same time on a more prominent display, or turn it into a tablet-sized device ready for entertainment and media consumption.
Previous reports did say the Galaxy F will sell for $1,500 to $2,000, and that’s because the phone will contain a bunch of expensive technology not available on other devices. However, some other regular smartphones might be just as pricey as the Galaxy F. A report a few days ago claimed that the 5G Galaxy S10 would be twice as expensive as the cheapest Galaxy S10 version.
Samsung believes that the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy F flagships will be different enough to generate interest from buyers, the report notes. Samsung supposedly expects technologies like the in-display fingerprint sensor shipping inside premium Galaxy S10 phones to be superior to the competition. The phones are expected to make use of ultrasonic sensors, instead of the optical kind that other smartphone makers use. Reports earlier this week, however, suggested that Samsung’s sophisticated sensor might not work with screen protectors. Meanwhile, Chinese smartphone makers including Oppo and Xiaomi unveiled a new in-display fingerprint solution that offers users a bigger area for fingerprint scanning, as well as support for scanning two fingerprints at the same time.
