Motorola has enjoyed immense success with its re-imagined foldable Motorola Razr smartphone, which has been so popular with customers the company was forced to push-back its pre-order and release date to build-up inventory behind the scene to try to meet the demand. The huge numbers appear to have given Samsung a confidence boost around its forthcoming Galaxy Fold 2.
The sequel to the ill-fated first entry in the folding smartphone range from Samsung will now purportedly launch alongside the Galaxy S11 in February. Not only that, but Samsung is believed to be ramping up production so its next-generation pliable phone can go on sale soon after launch, reports Korean publication Yonhap.
Although the latter has a pretty solid track record when it comes to unannounced Samsung products, it’s always worth taking these reports with a sizeable pinch of salt. After all, nothing is official until Samsung mobile chief DJ Koh pulls the device from his pocket on-stage during the next hardware announcement from the company, purportedly scheduled for February 11, 2020. According to Yonhap, the initial launch will be in its native South Korea only.
The design of the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 will be very similar to the Motorola Razr, with the handset flipping open like a waiter’s notepad – rather than with the fold vertically down the middle of the screen so that it opens like the pages of a paperback, like the first-generation Samsung Galaxy Fold.
This incredibly tall aspect ratio should be perfect for running two apps on top of one another, scrolling through articles online, or lists. And when held in a landscape orientation, the screen should be ideal for watching movies without the intrusive black bars that currently plague most flagship smartphones. Sony employed a similar logic when it made all of its flagship handsets with a 21:9 aspect ratio last year.
According to the leaked images, published by Samsung-tipster-in-chief Ice Universe, who has an almost-infallible track record when it comes to forecasting unreleased hardware from the South Korean company, the Fold 2 will have a dual-camera set-up on the back. There’s also a small notification display that will give a quick glanceable view of any app notifications, text messages, alerts without having to flip-open the handset to work out what every little ding or buzz is about.
Motorola uses a similar design idea on its new Razr, too. Flip open the upcoming Fold 2 and you’ll find a cut-out for the selfie camera at the top of the touchscreen. Unlike the original Fold, Samsung has purportedly found a way to use a glass-covered screen for the folding display. That should alleviate some of the problems with scratches and dents that users had with the first-generation, soft plastic screen.
Rumour also has it that the Galaxy Fold 2 will have support for the S Pen as well as a USB-C port for charging and syncing – and listening to music, since there will be no 3.5mm headphone port. That’s fast-becoming the standard for any pricey flagship smartphone now, so while it’s still a bit of a kick in the teeth, at least it’s not surprising one.
With a rumoured release date of mid-February, we won’t have to wait long before we see the finished product from Samsung.
And what about Motorola? Well, pre-orders were originally supposed to go live on December 26 2019, but have been delayed while the company desperately tries to fill a few more warehouses with Motorola Razr handsets to meet the expected demand for the re-imagined classic. The technology firm hasn’t provided a revised launch date for the device as it says it’s “working to determine the appropriate quantity and schedule to ensure that more consumers have access to Razr at launch”.
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