Samsung will unveil several new flagship smartphones in less than a month, including the Galaxy S20 series, which will come in three sizes, and the Galaxy Z Flip, which will be the company’s second smartphone with a foldable OLED screen. While the S20 series appeared in an increasing number of leaks in the past couple of months, the Z Flip rumors have been a lot more scarce. Still, we did learn quite a few details in leaks covering the Z Flip, which was referred to as the Galaxy Fold 2 and Galaxy Bloom, and we now have reason to believe that one of the most exciting rumors about the handset may be true: Samsung may have fixed the worst thing about the Galaxy Fold.
We told you repeatedly last year not to buy the Galaxy Fold foldable, a phone that came with annoying warnings and instructions on how to handle the screen so it wouldn’t break. It was a piece of junk, and that’s why it had to be delayed for five months while Samsung tried to figure out how to fix the phone’s horrible design. In late April, we learned there were two distinct ways to ruin the screen. One involved the manual removal of a film of plastic that looked like a disposable screen protector, but was actually a layer of the display. The other was more passive — debris could make its way into the phone and damage it from inside.
Even after repairs, the Galaxy Fold’s screen had a huge “flaw” that Samsung couldn’t fix. The display was made of plastic, not glass, which made it prone to scratches and damage. That’s why the handset came with so many warnings in the box. Glass doesn’t bend easily, which forced Samsung to use a polymer instead.
This brings us to a recent rumor that said the Galaxy Fold 2, as it was called back then, would feature a thin layer of foldable glass on top of the OLED screen instead of plastic. Corning has been developing such glass for a while now, but it’s unclear whether it’ll provide screen covers to Samsung for the Galaxy Z Flip.
Fast-forward to this week, which is when we learned the next Samsung foldable will be called Galaxy Z Flip. Now, trusted leaker Max Weinbach says he’s able to confirm that the top layer of the screen will indeed be glass.
Samsung was very smart with the Galaxy Z Flip (just got word this is the name.)
They are using ultra thin glass and plastic. Samsung will be layering a plastic over the ultra thin glass for extra protection. If it gets scratched, it's only the plastic and not the display.
— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) January 14, 2020
According to Weinbach, Samsung is combining ultra-thin glass and plastic for the Galaxy Z Flip. Samsung will apparently place a layer of plastic over the glass for extra protection. The tweet doesn’t mention whether the glass is continuous, and therefore foldable, but that seems to be the implication. Samsung could use glass for the top and bottom parts of the screen, and the foldable polymer over the hinge, but hopefully that’s not going to be the case.
The Galaxy Flip Z has a 3300 mAh battery. Along with the Snapdragon 855, this should be pretty ok in everything. About the same battery live as the mid size S10.
— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) January 14, 2020
In a different tweet, Weinbach said the Galaxy Z Flip will feature a Snapdragon 855 processor and a 3,300 mAh battery, speculating the phone should offer the same battery life as the Galaxy S10.
