It turns out the most mocked feature of Samsung’s Galaxy Fold could be making a comeback in the company’s next foldable phone.
I’m talking, of course, about the crease. The upcoming Galaxy Z Flip, the clamshell phone Samsung is set to unveil alongside its new S20 line, is likely to have a crease in its display, according to a new rumour.
The new detail is once again from XDA Developers’ Max Weinbach who has been leaking up a storm about the upcoming Z Flip and S20 lineup. According to Weinbach, the Z Flip will use “Samsung Ultra-Thin Glass,” instead of the plastic display used on the Galaxy Fold. Again, this is an unverified rumour, but it is in line with previous reports that the company has been developing a glass display for foldable devices. So while a screen with a visible crease may sound less than ideal, the quality of the display should be better overall if it indeed uses glass instead of plastic.
So Galaxy Z Flip. Capacitive fingerprint scanner on the side. Dual 12MP cameras, wide and ultra wide. 15W charging. Wireless charging and reverse wireless charging are supported.
It will use “Samsung Ultra Thin Glass” which has crease. It will use a Dynamic AMOLED display.
— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) January 23, 2020
Besides the crease, Weinbach also reports that the foldable phone will have a fingerprint sensor on the side of the device, as well as dual 12 MP cameras. The phone will also feature one of the cooler tricks of last year’s S10: reverse wireless charging.
Even with a crease, much of what we’ve heard about the Z Flip sounds promising. Clamshell design makes a lot more sense from a usability point of view and the ability to “lock” the phone in a 90-degree position could open up some interesting use cases. It also has the advantage of playing up flip phone nostalgia, which we know from Motorola’s upcoming launch of the Razr is still going strong.
But for critics, the crease could prove difficult to ignore. As Mashable previously noted in last year’s review of the Fold, the crease was a near-constant reminder of the phone’s imperfections. The good news, at least, is that if Samsung does end up using a new material for the Z Flip, it could potentially make the creaseless visible and, hopefully, more durable.
