The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip was introduced to Samsung Unboxed in February alongside the Galaxy S20, taking up the foldable slot that the original Galaxy Fold had occupied the year before, and there was no sign of the phone's supposed successor, the Galaxy Fold 2. We're still waiting for a Samsung Galaxy Fold 2, with a similar form factor to the original but with a collection of improvements and new features to make it a high-end foldable phone. We're still a long way from its planned launch (we're now thinking about August along with the Galaxy Note 20), and so far there haven't been many leaks and rumors, but instead we can turn to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip to show us some of the changes it's coming. Samsung could do in the Galaxy Fold 2.
super size me
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The Samsung Galaxy Fold (Image credit: TechRadar) One of the biggest reasons for existing foldable phones is to make the devices more compact and portable because they shrink when folded. This includes both tablet-sized phones that can shrink to a reasonable size in your pocket and full-size phones that can become small when folded. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip fills the latter need, so Samsung has already covered this base, and now you just need a phone for the former. The original Galaxy Fold was to a degree, but when closed, the phone was smaller, or at least narrower, than your average phone. So Samsung could bump up the sizes a bit to have a very large tablet that closes into a fairly large (but not heavy) phone. That would keep the promise of the original Galaxy Fold, a smartphone that opens into a tablet, but scales up to deliver that big-screen experience.
Functional when folded
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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip in Flex mode (Image credit: Future) One of the most popular features of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip was Flex mode, which allows you to fold the device in half at a right angle, place it on a surface, and interact with certain apps and features of different modals For example, the horizontal part of the screen works as a trackpad in the gallery, while on YouTube this part of the screen will show comments, while the video will play on the other half. It also allows the phone to function as a handy tripod when taking photos. This gives the impression that Samsung sees the semi-folded phone as an important part of the experience and a way to showcase features and functions that you might not otherwise be able to use. Since the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 will fold in a different way than the Galaxy Z Flip (if it retains the original form factor), we could see a whole new host of features semi-folded: perhaps another photo mode, or a gaming feature, or a different way of viewing the content.
Perforated front camera
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Samsung Galaxy S20 with a hole-punch camera (Image credit: Future) When the Samsung Galaxy S10 with its hole-punch camera launched, Samsung said it wasn't looking to stick with design functionality for so long, but all its high-end phones in 2019 and 2020 have used it, including the Galaxy Note 10, Galaxy S20, and Galaxy Z Flip. So it seems that the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 will probably have a perforated patch on the front, to reduce the amount of screen space taken up by the lens. We've heard rumors that the device has an under-display camera, but frankly, it doesn't seem likely as this technology hasn't been installed on any smartphones so far. There could be more than one front camera, but we expected all of them to be cut off, probably next to each other.
An ultra thin screen
![El Samsung Galaxy Z Flip]()
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip (Image credit: Future) One of the most touted features of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip was its ``Ultra-thin Glass'' display, a thin, foldable glass screen. This is in contrast to previous foldables, including the Galaxy Fold, which used plastic screens. The transition to glass is notable because it is theoretically much more difficult than a plastic screen. That said, subsequent durability tests have suggested that the ultra-thin glass contains much less glass than you might expect, but it's still an important aspect of the device. On the other hand, Samsung was very quiet on the Galaxy Fold's plastic screen, partly because it would break. The Z Flip's screen doesn't seem to shatter all that much (although it's probably less robust than a typical smartphone), so it sounds like the ultra-thin glass is a hit on Samsung's books. Therefore, we expect Samsung's future foldable devices, including the Galaxy Fold 2, to take full advantage of this display technology. We're delighted, too, because the Z Flip is solid to use and you never feel like you might accidentally punch holes in the screen.