Samsung plans slimmer foldables, as thin as Galaxy S models

Samsung plans to make its foldables as thin as its Galaxy S flagship smartphones. TM Roh, the company’s head of mobile division, has reportedly tasked engineers with developing an ultra-thin foldable with a similar thickness as the Galaxy S24 series. It is already readying a 10mm Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra/Slim for later this year.

Samsung aims to make foldables as thin as other smartphones

At 12.1mm, Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Fold 6 is substantially thinner than the Fold 5 (13.4mm). It also weighs 14 grams less, down from 253 grams to 239 grams. However, it is still too thick in front of the competition. HONOR recently launched the Magic V3 with a thickness of just 9.2mm, making it the world’s slimmest foldable phone yet. When unfolded, the HONOR foldable is just 4.35mm thick, against Fold 6’s 5.6mm.

Other Chinese companies have also launched slimmer foldables than Samsung. The Korean firm plans to combat those with its Galaxy Z Fold 6 Slim/Ultra. As stated above, it’s expected to measure around 10mm when folded. The company might launch it only in China and its home country South Korea. For the rest of the world, the Fold 6 is its only big foldable this year. Those who prefer a clamshell foldable have the Galaxy Z Flip 6.

Samsung made the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra/Slim slimmer by removing the S Pen digitizer from the display assembly. In other words, it dropped S Pen support. It also made the device wider to fit sizeable batteries and bigger displays. Rumors say the new foldable will feature better cameras too. However, its main USP is its slim profile. The lack of S Pen support is a bummer but Samsung had to make a compromise somewhere.

However, in the future, Samsung’s regular foldables might be as thin as the Chinese versions. According to the Korean media, the company is in talks with component suppliers to slim down everything, from the batteries and cameras to displays and the hinge. The ultimate goal is to reduce the thickness to Galaxy S levels. This year’s Galaxy S24 Ultra is 8.4mm thin, while the Galaxy S24 is 7.6mm and the Galaxy S24+ is 7.7mm thin.

Curated content for foldables, including optimized games

Samsung aims to make foldables mainstream. The foldable category accounted for only 1.6% of the global smartphone market last year, and 16% of the premium segment (priced $600 and higher). The goal is still too far and maybe achievable only with a slimmer design and curated content. Samsung is already working with game publishers to optimize existing games and develop customized games for the Fold and Flip screens. Hopefully, durability improvements are also on its agenda for future foldables.