- Samsung may release a Galaxy Z Flip with 5G support in 2020.
- It’s not yet clear if the new Galaxy Z Flip will also support mmWave 5G.
- Foldable smartphones haven’t taken the world by storm, but Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip remains the best we’ve seen to date.
- Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.
Samsung’s initial foray into the world of foldable smartphones was nothing short of an embarrassment. If you recall, the company in 2019 was forced to delay the Galaxy Fold launch after nearly every single unit provided to reviewers broke down during testing. Even when the Fold did arrive in stores, it seemed to present more usability issues than it solved.
Fast forward a few months and Samsung managed to really step things up with the Galaxy Z Flip. In stark contrast to the Galaxy Fold, the Galaxy Z Flip opens up vertically instead of horizontally and, as a result, provides users with a much more natural user experience.
I’ve had a chance to use the Galaxy Z Flip extensively in recent weeks and, much to my surprise, I came away impressed. While I’m still not convinced foldable smartphones provide a fundamental advantage over current smartphone designs, the Galaxy Z Flip is truly an impressive piece of engineering.
Looking ahead, Samsung is naturally planning to iterate on the design and add some additional features to the next-gen version of the Galaxy Z Flip. To this point, a new report from SamMobile relays that the next-gen Galaxy Z Flip will incorporate 5G functionality. While it was initially surprising to see the Galaxy Z Flip launch without 5G connectivity, it’s likely that Samsung was looking to keep the price point down and battery life reasonable.
There’s not much detail in the report, but it does note that Samsung has been working on a 5G version of the Galaxy Z Flip and that it could launch as early as this year.
Assuming the report is accurate, it remains to be seen if the Galaxy Z Flip will support mmWave 5G which provides faster data speeds than sub-6GHz bands. The 5G standard encompasses both frequency ranges but not every device will support both right out of the gate. To this point, the regular Galaxy S20 does not support mmWave 5G while the Galaxy S20+ and the Galaxy S20 Ultra do.
All that said, Samsung’s commitment to 5G makes it a safe bet that we’ll see a Galaxy Z Flip with 5G connectivity sooner rather than later. Recall the remarks made by Samsung’s Drew Blackard at the company’s recent Unpacked event:
Our vision for the next decade of Galaxy all starts with 5G. And we’ve engineered new 5G chipsets that are smaller, cheaper, and power efficient. 5G will completely change how we communicate, how we game, and how we keep in touch with the world around us.
So is it possible we’ll see a 5G Galaxy Z Flip this year? Well, the original Galaxy Z Flip launched in February, but it’s not unprecedented to see Samsung roll out a next-gen version of a device less than 12 months later.
