During its earnings call last year, Samsung has made it clear that it will make foldable phones more accessible this year. Samsung has launched a couple of foldable smartphones over the years and the Galaxy Z Fold 2 has to be the best of what a foldable could offer. Galaxy Z Fold 2 was announced alongside the Galaxy Note 20 series back in September. However, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 was not launched this time with the Galaxy S21 series. According to Ice Universe, the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Galaxy Z Flip3 will launch together in the month of July this year. Not only that, the company is expected to launch more foldable, including some affordable ones later this year. Now, according to the same leakster and Samsung Insider Ice Universe, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 very likely to adopt UPC.
https://twitter.com/UniverseIce/status/1361264591007739907/photo/1
For those unaware, UPC stands for Under Panel Camera. We’ve first heard rumors about the Galaxy Z Fold 3 rocking an under-display camera last year. Now the same information from Ice Universe adds some weight to the whole rumor. If this turns out to be true, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 would arrive with a clean design without any distracting punch-holes or notches. Not only that, this makes Samsung stand high in the foldable smartphone game. Now that Apple is working on one, the addition of an under-display camera is definitely a bump for Samsung. But, it’s worth noting that Samsung is not the first one to adopt UPC tech, ZTE has already launched its Axon 20 flagship.
But, we have our doubts about the under-display camera tech on the Galaxy foldable phone. For starters, the technology is not fully mature and is in its initial stages, at least from what we’ve seen with the ZTE Axon 2. But then again, we are talking about the premium flagship smartphone from the house of Samsung. It would be really impressive if the South Korean giant manages to fine-tune the UPC tech and make it available on Fold 3. I mean, it is not anyone’s pleasure spending a fortune on half-bakes technology. Owners of the initial Galaxy Fold know what I mean, wink wink.
As for Samsung with its Galaxy Z Fold3, rumors have it that the device comes packed with the S Pen stylus. This could be the same stylus that sports Galaxy Note 20 series and Galaxy Tab S7 series. The design changes are also expected with the Galaxy Z Fold3’s display to get the S Pen functionalities. The company may switch screen technologies from electromagnetic resonance to active electromagnetic solutions making it a better stylus inputs.
The leaks also suggested that the Galaxy Z Fold3 might come in two variants, but the source did not disclose any key differences or changes between the two variants. But we can expect 5G onboard on both these variants. Another exciting rumor is that the Galaxy Z Fold3 will come with an in-display camera sensor making it the first Samsung device to have one. Now that the foldable are getting better each year, a rumor claims that the South Korean giant will combine the Fold series with the Galaxy Note series. While Samsung is clear that the Note series will not be discontinued, the addition of S Pen to various Galaxy devices including the Fold3 suggests otherwise.
As mentioned earlier, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is expected to launch alongside the Galaxy Flip 3 in July this year. It seems very likely as Samsung has announced the Flip 5G in July 2020. Also, this makes a lot of sense considering Samsung till now has only unveiled these foldable devices alongside the other flagships. Now that the South Korean giant is taking its Foldable devices seriously, it plans to announce its foldable portfolio in the middle of the year which makes it sit between the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note Unpacked events. This would also give Samsung some space to announce its much anticipated affordable foldable phones this year.
