Samsung wants the Galaxy Z Folds to be as thick as a regular smartphone

Samsung has a very ambitious goal for its foldable smartphones: to make them as thin as a “regular” smartphone. Specifically, the directive from Samsung Electronics President TM Roh was to create an ultra-thin “foldable,” comparable to, say, the Galaxy S24. Sources KEDGlobal It is no longer specified, but we can assume that there is a device. Below the psychological threshold of 8 mm – For reference, the Galaxy S24 stops at 7.7mm, and the S24 Ultra at 8.6mm, always without the photography module.

Since the first publications appeared on the market, manufacturers have tried to do this. reduce its dimensionsSomeone will remember the Royole Flexpai, the first “foldable” that came to the market (although the quality was really bad), which when closed was more than 2 cm thick. The newly introduced Galaxy Z Fold6 is a continuation of this trend, reducing the thickness by 1.3 mm compared to the previous generation model.

But we’re still about 4mm away from the target set by TM Roh. Right now, there’s no ultra-thin foldable device, but the Honor Magic V3, which launched in China just a few days ago, comes pretty close, with 9.2 mmThe previous version, released last year, was already below the psychological threshold of 1 cm, if only by 0.1 mm. In short, the message is clear: it is possible to fold radically thinner.

Manufacturers are convinced that size and ergonomics in general are one of the main constraints to the mass adoption of foldable smartphones. Samsung is also reportedly working hard to reduce the weight of the devices. It is far from a simple task: the leaflet must inevitably have a larger “body”, which means Less space available for important components like batteries and cameras. (The motherboard can now be considered secondary.)

Does all this mean that next year’s Galaxy Z Fold7 will actually reach the ideal “physical form” that Roh wants? Very difficult. It seems like a long-term project. But never say never: already this year, at least in China, a Galaxy Z Fold6 “Ultra” or “Slim” could be launched with a closed thickness of less than one centimeter. It seems that Samsung decided to abandon the project a few months ago, but the arrival of the Honor Magic V3 should have convinced it to reconsider the idea.