The first Samsung foldable phone is available in stores in select markets, and while it may represent a valiant effort from the company — hey, someone had to make one of these for us to realize the technology just isn’t there yet — it’s still a phone you should avoid. No matter how careful you might be with it, the Galaxy Fold is just too fragile, and you may end up ruining that foldable display without too much effort.
Samsung isn’t going to give up on making foldable phones just because of the initial Fold failures, though, and the Korean vendor is already expected to launch a Galaxy Fold 2 at some point next year. A brand new leak indicates the device might also deliver a completely different design.
The Galaxy Fold has two displays: the primary foldable screen, as well as a secondary screen on the outside. The handset looks like a tiny book, featuring two distinct halves connected by a hinge.
Next year’s Fold successor, or one of them, is expected to look a lot like flip phones of the past. Rather than folding out into a tablet-like device, as is the case for the Fold, the Fold 2’s foldable screen would look like a regular Galaxy S10 display when opened. When closed, an external display would sit on the outside, as was the case for the iconic Motorola Razr flip phone. Speaking of, Motorola will soon unveil a foldable phone of its own.
A Bloomberg report from early September revealed Samsung’s design for this Fold 2 device, and we now have a second leak that seems to confirm it.
Dutch-language blog GalaxyClub found evidence that Samsung is readying two new batteries for the handset. These are codenamed EB-BF700ABY and EB-BF701ABY and are going to be inside the same device.
What’s interesting is that the BF701 has a capacity of just 900mAh. That’s a lot smaller than you’d expect, and indicates the two batteries won’t have the same capacity, as was the case with the original Fold. One explanation for that is the rumored Razr-like design. The smaller battery could sit in the half that features two displays – one on the exterior and one on the interior of the phone – while the bigger battery would sit in the part that features the other half of the foldable screen. An illustration from a Motorola patent shows what such a foldable design would look like:
GalaxyClub says the new Samsung foldable might be launched as early as 2020, shortly after the Galaxy S1, and could cost less than the original Galaxy Fold.
