Samsung Galaxy Z Flip: All the rumors in one place (Updated Jan. 31)
by Phillip Prado
Update: January 31, 2020 (10:55 AM ET): The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip passed through the FCC recently, giving us some more information about connectivity details. See the roundup below for more!
Original Article: January 13, 2020 (3:20 AM ET): Samsung’s upcoming foldable smartphone — the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip — will take the Galaxy Fold vertical. This clamshell design harks back to flip phones of old, competing toe-to-toe with the upcoming Motorola Razr reboot.
Samsung apparently confirmed the device at a secret meeting during CES 2020. We expect the company to announce the Galaxy Z Flip February 11, 2020 at its Unpacked 2020 event alongside the Galaxy S20 series of devices.
With that being said, here are all the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip rumors we’ve seen so far. We will update this post accordingly as soon as we know more information about the device’s price, specs, design, and other features.
Samsung Galaxy Flip Z name and launch date
The device was first believed to be called the Galaxy Fold 2. Then Samsung referred to the device as the Galaxy Bloom in the aforementioned secret CES meeting. We thought this seemed like a codename more than an actual marketing name for the device, and a tweet by leaker Ice Universe affirmed our suspicions. The tweet revealed the possible new name and a self-made logo for the device.
The name gives us some insight into Samsung’s branding plans for its new smartphones. It’s entirely possible that this Z moniker is a one-off name for the flip-open foldable phone, or it could represent a new series of devices, though, this is not the first time Samsung has released a Z series of devices.
The company used to launch Tizen-based smartphones under that name up until 2017. However, the Galaxy Z title is brand new, as the older series was prefixed only with the Samsung brand name (Samsung Z3, Samsung Z4, you get the drift).
As far as a release date is concerned, we believe Samsung will announce the Galaxy Z Flip at its Unpacked event February 11. According to Korea’s Yonhap News outlet, this new foldable will be available for sale “immediately” after the event. On the other hand, both a recent tweet by tipster Max Weinbach and a report from WinFuture claim the device will launch February 14. Neither source says when Samsung would initially unveil the device, though we assume it would still be at Samsung’s Unpacked event.
Either way, we will be happy as long it doesn’t follow the footsteps of the Galaxy Fold. If it does, who knows when we will get the device in our hands.
Design
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip will tout a vertical folding design, akin to old school flip phones, as the name alludes. Samsung Mobile chief DJ Koh explained that the phone’s design is inspired by Lancome’s makeup compacts. The company thinks this design choice will help it reach its target market — 20-something women.
We also expect Samsung to build the device out of premium materials such as glass and metal. On Twitter, teen leaker Ishan Agarwal claimed the device would sport a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED screen, and a few leaked photos posted on Weibo (h/t Ice Universe) seem to back that up.
The photos above reveal a few things about the device, including a centered hole-punch selfie camera, a uniform bezel surrounding the display, and a tiny display near the dual rear-facing cameras that’s visible when the device is closed. They also reveal a USB-C port and speaker grille at the bottom, though there doesn’t seem to be a headphone port on this device.
That tiny display up front measures just one inch, according to a recent rumor, and can be used to check charging status and battery info. You’ll also presumably be able to use it as a viewfinder for the camera.
Not too long ago, tipster Max Weinbach claimed the display would feature an ultra-thin glass layered with a plastic layer to prevent scratching, unlike the Galaxy Fold’s entirely plastic display. This rumor first surfaced all the way back in October and has popped up a few times since, so it has some weight behind it.
We initially heard rumors that the device will come in two color variants — black and purple — but until recently we had only seen the black variant. Thanks to WinFuture, we have a new set of renders showing off the possible purple colorway.
Apart from the light purple finish, these photos don’t reveal anything else we didn’t already suspect. But, accompanying these renders was some of Samsung’s leaked marketing materials which suggest the company will use the term “Influencer Ready” for the Galaxy Z Flip — whatever that means.
Following the WinFuture leak above, SamMobile reported that the Galaxy Z Flip would actually be available in four color schemes at launch. These colors are said to be Black, Gold, Purple, and Silver. The outlet adds that the Silver option will have a “football-like” pattern, but it’s unclear what’s meant by this.
For what it’s worth, SamMobile also reported that Korean carriers will get the phone in Blue, Pink, and Red color options. Samsung has a reputation for launching additional colors in the months after launch, so hopefully these particular options launch internationally down the line.
All-in-all, the Galaxy Z Flip looks like just another high-end Samsung device that happens to fold, not that we are complaining about that. The premium, yet familiar chassis looks like it will give us something unique to look forward to while still maintaining the company’s design language.
Max Weinbach, in a recent tweet, claimed the Galaxy Z Flip will also come with a side-mounted capacitive fingerprint sensor.
Samsung Galaxy Flip Z specs and features
Though the Galaxy Flip Z may look premium, we don’t suspect it will tout premium specs. An unconfirmed report from MySmartPrice claims the Galaxy Z Flip will feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 SoC.
No matter how much we would love the device to rock the latest Snapdragon 865, this decision would make sense for a couple of reasons. First, Samsung has been working on the device for several months, so the 855 could have been the latest offering when development began. Second, according to tipster Max Weinbach, the Galaxy Z Flip is expected to come with a rather lackluster battery capacity — as small as 3,300mAh.
Another tweet by leaker Ishan Agarwal claims the battery could actually come in at 3,500mAh, but that’s not much better.
Max Weinbach also claims it’ll come with 15W charging support, as well as wireless charging and reverse wireless charging.
Agarwal’s tweet also reveals a few other possible pieces of information about the device. The Galaxy Z Flip’s primary shooter should come in at 12MP, while the second rear camera should sport a 10MP sensor.
Unfortunately, that means you shouldn’t expect 8K recording if it is indeed equipped with these specs. On the other hand, we can expect other Samsung camera features to land on the device, though, such as 4K/60fps recording and a night mode.
A conflicting rumor from Max Weinbach claims the Galaxy Z Flip will come with dual 12MP rear-facing cameras (one wide, one ultra-wide). A recently leaked specs list by WinFuture backs Weinbach’s claim up, also stating the device could come with the Snapdragon 855 Plus SoC, 256GB of unexpandable storage, and 8GB of RAM.
It also looks like the Galaxy Z Flip will sport a 6.7-inch 2,636 x 1,080 AMOLED display, a 10MP dual-pixel selfie camera, and a side-mounted fingerprint reader. As far as software is concerned, we expect the Galaxy Z Flip to come with Samsung’s latest One UI 2.1 atop Android 10.
Another interesting feature we could see on the device is the ability to lock the display at a 90-degree angle, meaning you might not need a kickstand or tripod if you want to use Skype, watch videos, or take a picture/video hands-free. This handy little gimmick seems silly at first, but it could open up a whole new realm of possibilities for the device.
At the end of January, the Galaxy Z Flip passed through the FCC. The filing confirms that the phone will not be 5G-ready, but it will support nearly all 4G LTE bands around the world. It will also come with NFC and Samsung Pay MST onboard, which is certainly nice (but not surprising).
Pricing and availability
Rumors for the device price seem very inconsistent at this point. A Bloomberg report claims Samsung wants to make the new foldable cheaper than the Galaxy Fold, but given the Fold’s $2,000 price tag, that shouldn’t be too hard.
According to Korea’s Yonhap News outlet, the handset could come in around the “mid-$1,000 range.” A recent report by WinFuture and a tweet by tipster Max Weinbach reiterate this rumored price point. Weinbach also claims the device could even be a timed AT&T exclusive, though it should still be available unlocked.
On the other hand, the Korea Herald claims the device will come in at ~$845. Either way, we can expect the price of the Galaxy Z Flip will land well below its predecessor.
We expect the Galaxy Z Flip to be revealed on February 11, 2020, alongside the Samsung Galaxy S20 series. We expect those devices to go up for sale on March 6, but we’re not sure if that’s when we would also see the Galaxy Z Flip hit store shelves.
As far as availability is concerned, all signs so far point to the company wanting to make the handset more accessible than the Galaxy Fold. We expect Samsung will release the handset worldwide, though that’s just speculation. We can at least safely assume the Galaxy Z Flip will be available in South Korea and the US, though it’s likely it won’t be limited to these markets.
That’s all we’ve got when it comes to rumors related to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip release date, design, specs, features, and pricing. Be sure to bookmark this page as we will update it with new rumors as they pop up.