Samsung’s folding phones have made quite an impact on the market. Samsung was one of the first and has certainly been one of the most prolific manufacturers in the folding phone space, most recently launching fifth-generation devices in 2023.
But the market is rapidly changing. Having seen a few generations of devices launch, other manufacturers are joining the party: Google launched in the Pixel Fold in 2023 and OnePlus the Open – which also won our Folding Phone of the Year Award at the Pocket-lint Awards 2023.
This should all ring alarm bells for Samsung: folding phones are being taken more seriously and considered outside early adopters. They’re moving into the mainstream. They might not hit the big time until Apple joins the fray, but the market is certainly changing.
Hasn’t a cheaper folding Samsung been mentioned before?
Yes, there was talk of a cheaper folding phone from Samsung back in 2020. At the time, there were references to a Z Fold E or Z Fold Lite, although it might be that Samsung would now rather use Galaxy A or FE branding, to indicate that the model falls into a different category.
But importantly, Motorola made an important move in folding devices in 2023. It announced the Razr and the Razr Ultra (called the Razr 40 and the Razr 40 Ultra outside the US), meaning there are two folding devices to choose from – one premium and one slightly more affordable.
And that’s what many expect Samsung to do with the Z Flip in 2024.
What leaks and rumours suggest a change of direction for Samsung?
A prominent leaker on X (formerly Twitter) known as @Tech_Reve suggested that Huawei planned to launch a cheaper folding phone before following up and saying that Samsung would “follow this movement”. For many that was the starting point for this latest interest in a more affordable version of the Z Flip.
A more recent follow-up from the same source was more explicit, going as far as mentioning a price. This perhaps goes a little further than expected, because this would be a really cheap price for a folding phone. This puts a really aggressive price on a folding device, something that analysts at TrendForce say is evidenced by supply chain sources.
The closest that we’ve got to confirmation from Samsung that there could be a movement towards cheaper folding devices comes from an interview with Tom’s Guide, where Drew Blackard, VP of mobile product marketing at Samsung America, said: “…over time, as the technology evolves, we’ll continue to see innovation and hopefully bring it down in price point at a future time.”
That doesn’t take us much further than TM Roh’s statement to Bloomberg News in July 2023: “We are trying to make a leap in our price positioning.”
Those elements alone might suggest that Samsung is looking into cheaper devices, but the most recent comments from the company suggest otherwise, flat out denying the claims made on Twitter: “We don’t plan to manufacture foldable smartphones that are priced in the midrange, and the latest rumors are groundless,” a Samsung spokesperson told Korean title JoongAng Daily. Such denials aren’t uncommon, but this is a pretty substantial statement to make.
Interestingly, JoongAng Daily then goes on to tribute another quote “There’s nothing decided on the matter,” to Samsung later in the piece. Of course such denials are open to interpretation and the easiest reading is that Samsung doesn’t plan to launch in the mid-range or at that suggested $400-$500 price. But that’s not to say that Samsung won’t launch a cheaper device and there’s good reason for Samsung to do so, which we’ll examine now.
What does the Z Flip 5 suggest to us about a cheaper folding phone?
Leaks, sources and vague company statements are all well and good, but to me, the real indicator about repositioning for a cheaper version of the Z Flip comes from the most recent launch device. The Z Flip 5 is the best of the line so far, mostly because of the expanded external display that fills the exterior of the phone.
It does two important things (well, it offers a load of functionality, but you can read our review if that’s what you’re interested in); firstly, it draws a big distinction between the Z Flip 4 and the Z Flip 5. The larger screen clearly makes for a more attractive, more premium, device over the older model. But the second thing is that it better competes with the aforementioned Motorola Razr Ultra.
The battleground is the external display. You can see that this logically leaves a space in Samsung’s offering where it’s not competitive: that cheaper segment with a smaller external display. If you want that device, you’ll have to buy an older phone.
So there is an opening here that Samsung could fill: it’s not necessarily mid-range – but premium at a lower price would still suit a folding phone’s positioning.
What could you expect from a Galaxy Z Flip FE?
If we’re cutting down on costs, there are several areas that Samsung can target. As folding displays become more mature, the relative costs associated with development are reduced, and the prices naturally become lower. Sticking to a smaller external display again reduces costs both in design and materials. I’d predict that the external display on a device of this type would be between first-gen (1.1 inches) and the subsequent 1.9-inch display that followed.
Then there’s the core hardware. Moving to Samsung Exynos hardware could make the device more affordable and move away from top-tier flagship hardware. This isn’t unheard of: the first-gen Razr (ok, not the first-gen, but the relaunch in 2019) was announced on Snapdragon 710, which was considered mid-range hardware. Comparable step-down hardware these days is much closer to a flagship experience.
I wouldn’t expect the main display to be any smaller on a cheaper Flip model because it would fundamentally downgrade the device’s experience. So, a compromise could be made on cameras, but again, the Z Flip already limits the camera experience compared to the Galaxy S; I’d expect the cameras to be on par with the Galaxy A instead. With an inevitable move towards more overt AI, the camera hardware may be less important if Galaxy AI is doing some of the heavy lifting instead.
When will Samsung’s next folding phones launch?
Samsung’s launch cycle is well established. We’re expecting the Galaxy S24 models to launch in January 2024. That date has been creeping forward in the calendar over the past few years.
And the launch window for next-gen Galaxy Z Fold and Flip devices would be August 2024, where a cheaper device might naturally fit in. That, again, is an established cycle for Galaxy Unpacked devices. Samsung won’t confuse the Galaxy S launch with a cheaper folding phone, so my leaning would be towards later in the year, if it happens at all.
Summing up
There’s very little evidence for a cheaper Samsung phone, but the case is definitely building for one. The competitive gap between Samsung and Motorola is significant, and with other brands (Huawei, for example) looking at releasing cheaper folding devices, Samsung will have to compete for that market share.
Samsung has denied that it’s going to happen, but there’s a competitive demand and space in its line-up for it to happen. Until we see the first big proper hardware leak, we’re in the realms of speculation for now, so you’ll have to make up your own mind.
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