The world’s biggest smartphone maker just sprung a surprise on us all, effectively announcing that it was working on a Samsung Galaxy Fold Ultra.
Who says that there’s no such thing as a surprise launch in the leaky world of smartphones? Samsung, not renowned for maintaining a tight ship when it comes to leaks and rumours, just hit us with one.
Over on the company’s newsroom, Samsung just issued a post titled ‘Meet the Next Chapter of Ultra’. The post explains that there’s the demand out there for “an Ultra-experience that goes beyond a simple list of upgraded features in a smaller and more portable form factor.”
If there was any doubt as to the kind of thing it’s referring to (and it’s slightly odd that Samsung doesn’t name the Fold series at all), it then supplies a little animation of a mystery Galaxy Fold device, in silhouette, opening out. It’s worth noting that this GIF is labelled as a Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Flip 7 “pre-tease”.
Samsung
Samsung Galaxy Fold Ultra spec hints
What would such a premium follow-up to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 be able to do? Samsung doesn’t go into any details on specs, but it does drop some hints.
It mentions AI a couple of times, of course, because Samsung’s all about that right now. But it also mentions a “powerful camera to commemorate your night out”.
Foldables famously tend to have somewhat compromises camera systems, even if they’ve gotten better in recent years. Perhaps a Galaxy Fold Ultra will go all-in on camera tech.
Luke Baker
Another intriguing insight into the Galaxy Fold Ultra is that Samsung says it will be able to do all this “without weighing you down”. If that isn’t confirmation that the Samsung Galaxy Fold Ultra will be much skinnier and lighter than previous models, I don’t know what it is.
At this point, I’d suggest that reducing the size of Samsung’s next premium foldable is nigh-on essential, with the likes of the Honor Magic V3 and the Oppo Find N5 providing extremely skinny rivals over the past 12 months or so.
Samsung’s big foldable plans
In summary, Samsung promises “industry-leading hardware, cutting-edge performance and seamless AI integration optimised for the foldable format”, and a phone that unfolds “into a more immersive entertainment hub, a spacious workspace, or a multitasking powerhouse”.
Samsung’s next foldable phones are expected to launch at an event in New York City in early July.
We’ve been expecting a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7, but now it seems we should add a Samsung Galaxy Fold Ultra to the roster.
Author: Jon Mundy, Contributor, Tech Advisor
Jon is a freelance journalist who got his start covering mobile games at the dawn of the App Store. He has since covered everything from smart home tech and laptops to food and culture, but always seems to return to his fascination with smartphones.