Samsung will unveil the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Flip 4 next month. New rumors claim the Unpacked press conference will take place on August 10th, which is in line with expectations. Everything but the price has leaked, so we know what to expect from the upcoming Samsung foldable flagships. New Galaxy flagships usually leak several months ahead of their launches, including new foldables. But, in an unexpected twist, the Fold 5’s key specs have leaked with more than a year to go until it’s ready for release. These include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC that should be launched later this year and a 50-megapixel camera.
What to expect from the Galaxy Z Fold 4
It’s easy to speculate on a foldable Android flagship like the Galaxy Z Fold 5. The handset should deliver a familiar design. Moreover, the Fold 5 specs will be on par with other 2023 Android high-end phones.
We don’t expect significant changes for the Fold 5 design, given what Samsung is doing with Fold 4. The handset has appeared in various leaks, and we know it’ll look just like its predecessor.
Samsung is changing the aspect ratio so users can operate the Fold 4 better when folded. The phone should also feature a new hinge mechanism that will help Samsung reduce the overall weight. The Fold 4 will also be at least as durable as its predecessor, despite the weight and size changes.
As for the specs, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 will run on Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon System-on-Chip (SoC) flagship, the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1.
Thankfully, there reportedly won’t be an Exynos 2200 variant of the phone. Therefore, buyers don’t have to worry about performance issues similar to the Galaxy S22.
The Fold 4 should also deliver an improved camera experience with a 50-megapixel primary camera, 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens, and 10-megapixel telephoto camera. The Fold 4 will also feature a 4-megapixel selfie camera hidden under the foldable display. A secondary 10-megapixel selfie camera punches through the outer display.
Other specs include 12GB of RAM, 128GB of base storage (going up to 1TB), 4,400 mAh battery, and 25W fast-charging.
The Fold 5 specs leak
With that in mind, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 will likely pack the same overall design as its predecessors, although it’s probably too early for design leaks. But a Korean report mentions the phone’s main specs about a year earlier than expected.
According to The Elec, the Fold 5 specs will include the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC that Qualcomm will launch later this year. That’s the kind of guess any Android fan can make, however. The report also mentions specs details for the cameras.
The Fold 5 will reportedly pack Samsung’s Isocell GN3 50-megapixel wide camera. The GN3 sensor features 1.0μm pixels. Meanwhile, the selfie camera will feature a 12-megapixel sensor. These should both be upgrades over the Fold 3 and Fold 4 cameras. But this year’s model will also have a 50-megapixel primary camera.
The report doesn’t mention additional Fold 5 specs, focusing instead on Samsung’s overall strategy for the 2023 foldable market.
The Elec says Samsung is aiming to sell 10 million Fold 5 and Flip 5 units next year. Only 2 million of those are expected to be Fold 5 units. That seems like a healthy figure for the company, which continues to be the primary beneficiary of foldable phone sales after the success of the Fold 3 and Flip 3.
But the 10 million figure is actually lower than this year’s expected Samsung foldable phone sales. Samsung apparently wants to sell 15 million foldable phones this year. But the company expects demand to drop significantly in 2023.
Also, the ongoing war in Ukraine will continue to impact the prices of commodities. Plus, the resurgence of COVID-19 is another thing to worry about. Combined with worries about the economy and a recession, these factors might reduce demand for all sorts of goods, foldable phones included.
