Samsung revealed its second-generation foldable, but gave minimal details while teasing a future event for the new device.
Image: Samsung
Samsung revealed five devices at its Galaxy Unpacked event, including the second generation of its vertical folding device, the Galaxy Z Fold2. Unfortunately for those wanting details about the new foldable, the Z Fold2 portion of the event was just a teaser.
SEE: Future of 5G: Projections, rollouts, use cases, and more (free PDF) (TechRepublic)
Like the webpage for the Z Fold2, the details were scant, the device was barely shown in-person, and the promises were big. To find out more, however, Samsung told watchers to mark their calendars for Sept. 1, 2020, which is when more details about the Z Fold2 will be revealed and preorders will officially begin.
The information revealed about the Z Fold2 didn’t go into too much more detail than what was predicted by TechRepublic sister site ZDNet. Several things were officially confirmed, namely the screen sizes (6.2″ external, 7.6″ internal), the 120Hz display, 5G support, the design, and the colors (mystic black and mystic bronze).
In addition to what was confirmed, Samsung presented a few new details:
- The Z Fold2 is 6mm (0.23″) thick when opened
- It has a smaller gap between the sides when closed
- The internal screen uses Samsung’s hole-in-display design for the front-facing camera
- It has a 4,500 mAh dual battery
- The Z Fold2 will be getting a Thom Browne edition styled after the fashion house’s tri-colored stripe logo
Samsung spent a good deal of the Z Fold2 presentation covering the issues that were discussed widely when the first generation of the foldable device was released in 2019. In particular, the focus was on the plastic-like quality of the screen and the dirt-trapping design of the old hinge.
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To answer those problems, Samsung briefly covered how it improved on those two problems.
To make the screen better, Samsung said it’s using a new ultra-thin glass it calls UTG to make “seeing and touching the screen more pleasurable,” according to the presentation. Not only is UTG supposed to reinforce the display to make it more resilient to folding, it’s also supposed to feel more like regular glass, which will hopefully fix problems of scoring and easy scratching. The new device also has rearranged screen layers, which Samsung said should further improve its quality.
Regarding the hinge, the Z Fold2 has a new cam-based hinge that can stay open at multiple angles, like the Galaxy Z Flip, Samsung’s other folding smartphone. The new hinge also has twice the number of cams and elastic components and a smaller, yet reportedly improved, sweeper to keep out dust and debris.
SEE: Samsung Galaxy Watch3: Everything you need to know (TechRepublic)
The Galaxy Z Fold2 presentation had plenty of recorded demonstrations of the folding and unfolding of the device, and even included video of K-Pop band BTS unboxing the device. The one physically present at the event, however, was barely touched and wasn’t folded at all.
Whether or not that spells similar problems for the Z Fold2 remains to be seen, but even the teased event on Sept. 1 may leave unanswered questions that will only be resolved once the device is actually in the hands of consumers and stress testers.
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