Samsung Galaxy Fold 2: Rumours, release date and everything we know so far
Rumours are regularly appearing about an update to the Galaxy Fold - which we think might be called either the Galaxy Z Fold or Galaxy Fold 2. It's also been referred to as Project Champ and Winner 2, so there are plenty of monikers in play and there could be a number of different versions. We believe the Fold 2 will have the model number SM-F916.
Here's what we've heard about the Galaxy Fold 2 so far.
Release date and price
- 5 August launch rumoured, September availability
- Might be a little cheaper than original Fold
The Galaxy Fold was originally unveiled at Mobile World Congress it's been suggested it will launch along with the Note 20 series on 5 August 2020 at an online event, with availability from September.
As for the pricing, guide pricing has been suggested as $1780-1980, looking to make it a little cheaper than the original Fold. There has also been talk of a Fold 'e' and Fold Special Edition, priced around $1100, which might present and entry-level offering rather than the premium we're expecting from the Fold 2.
- Stainless steel frame, ceramic option
- Might come with a brown colour option
- Waterproofing design measures suggested
We're expecting Samsung to stick to the book-style vertical fold like the original Galaxy Fold. Leaks early on speculated on the inclusion of the S Pen, although its thought that this isn't going to happen because the display surface can't withstand the pressure of the stylus, as it can in the Galaxy Note devices.
Rumours from Max Weinbach suggest that there will be a stainless steel and ceramic version, we're assuming that there will be regular aluminium and glass versions too, just to keep the price under control. It's said to come in blue, silver, gold, pink and black colours, although we've seen more recent leaks saying that it will come in black or brown colours. We suspect it will be copper or bronze rather than "dirty" brown.
With the suggestion that the awkward notch of the original Galaxy Fold might be replaced with an in-display camera, the design could be cleaner than the current version, although we suspect it will use a punch hole camera instead. This is said to have a 4.8mm hole.
It's also said that the bezels have been reduced to 3.8mm.
In late May 2020, a patent was filed showing Samsung's intent to waterproof a future folding phone. So we also expect the Fold 2 to come with an IP rating and be waterproof.
Display and hardware
- Infinity-V 7.7-inch AMOLED display with UTG expected
- 4.23-inch AMOLED external display
- Snapdragon 865 + 5G?
Early reports suggest that the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 might come with an 8-inch display; since then we've seen mention of a 7.7-inch display, both of which are bigger than the original 7.2-inch. The 7.7-inch size has been mentioned several times, along with the Infinity-V name. With a 120Hz refresh rate on the Galaxy S20 series, it looks like the Fold 2 will have 120Hz too.
When Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Flip, one of the interesting points was that Samsung has used what it is calling Ultra Thin Glass to protect the display. This is still flexible, but should be more resistant to damage than plastic, although it appears that it's still covered with a plastic layer on the top. It's been said that Samsung has ordered supplies for the UTG, but it's still developing the technology for future products.
However, there's now a suggestion that the Fold 2 might feature an elongated notification display instead. This long strip will be used to show notifications, so that the phone can be partially or fully unfolded to reveal content on the main display. On the flip side of this, there's also the suggestion that this notification display is, in fact, a feature activated by a wrap-around cover instead.
Talk of an entry-level Fold 'e' model has hinted at a model with no external display to reduce the price and it might be that a more affordable Fold model has the elongated display.
On the hardware front there have been few leaks. We'd expect Samsung to use flagship-grade hardware, perhaps Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 and keep this as a 5G phone. It's thought that the Fold 2 will start at 256GB storage with 512GB as an option.
Cameras
- Similar camera load-out as Galaxy S20+
- Punch hole front cameras
The original Galaxy Fold had a lot of cameras, but it's clear that Samsung needs to reduce the front camera notch in the display. There's been the suggestion that Samsung could use an under-display camera on the Fold 2, or failing that, a punch hole camera like the S20 family, which we think is more likely.
A reliable leaker has suggested that the Fold 2 will have the same rear camera setup as the Galaxy S20+. That would see a 12-megapixel main camera, 64-megapixel 30x zoom camera and 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera, along with a DepthVision sensor. We've subsequently seen a tweak to these figures, suggesting a 16-megapixel ultra-wide camera instead.
