OPINION: To me, foldables are the most exciting thing in the smartphone world at the moment. Why? It’s still at that exciting stage of its evolution where each new device really does improve on those that have come before it.
It’s a stark change to the regular candybar smartphone market, especially at the premium end of the market, where the phones are great but, y’know, a little same-y.
However, this fast-paced nature of the foldable smartphone market means that it’s really easy to make a wrong decision and end up with a foldable that’ll be replaced by a much improved, faster model in the near future.
While smartphone releases are usually scattered throughout the year, online whispers suggest we could be getting a whole host of new foldables from multiple manufacturers in a relatively rare release alignment – and that means it’s probably worth holding off on buying a foldable in the next month or so.
More specifically, foldable powerhouses Motorola and Samsung are both said to be gearing up for next-gen foldable releases in the next few weeks.
The Motorola Razr 50 and Razr 50 Ultra, as they’re unofficially known, are somewhat of an open secret at this point. Both models have leaked heavily over the past few months, giving us a good idea of what to expect, both in terms of overall design and internal upgrades.
It’s the more affordable Razr 50 that’s rumoured to get the more significant upgrade, going from a small strip-shaped cover display to a full-screen experience akin to that of the top-end model. That’ll bring a massive improvement to usability, as one of our biggest complaints with the Razr 40 in our review was that the cover screen experience was comparatively limited compared to most of the competition.
The Razr 50 Ultra has also leaked in a pretty official-looking teaser video, giving us a look at the overall design – one that resembles the Razr 40 Ultra, albeit with what looks like a slightly larger cover screen – with new features like full IPX8 water resistance and “AI-powered telephoto zoom”.
What’s more, Motorola has this week teased an event taking place on 25 June 2024 with glimpses of what seem to be foldables, so it’s safe to say we’re not too far from next-gen Motorola foldable tech.
That would be exciting enough, but it seems that Samsung won’t let Motorola steal the foldable limelight with rumours that its yearly foldable launch has been moved up a few weeks from its regular mid- to late-July reveal to one that’s said to take place earlier in the month.
In fact, it’s way earlier in the month if true, with various leaks and rumours pointing towards a reveal on 10 July 2024, though Samsung has yet to officially confirm its release plans.
That said, like Motorola, Samsung hasn’t done the greatest job keeping its next-gen foldables, the Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6, under wraps.
The Z Flip 6 is rumoured to continue on the journey of expanding its cover display, with rumours again pointing towards an expansion of the cover screen, though the overall design is said to be similar to its predecessor. It’s rumoured to be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 worldwide, and it’s likely to again boast a combo of 50MP main and 12MP ultrawide cameras.
The Z Fold 6, on the other hand, is rumoured to offer a slightly more angular look to bring it more in line with the top-end Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and it could also boast a redesigned rear camera housing to refresh the look. What’s more, rumours point towards a change in aspect ratio for the book-style foldable, though it’s said to still be pretty long and thin when folded.
Samsung and Motorola aren’t the only foldable manufacturers, of course, and other new foldables from brands like Google, Honor, OnePlus, Oppo and Huawei are also expected in the relatively near future.
Take Honor for example; the company revealed its first clamshell-style foldable, dubbed the Magic V Flip, in China earlier this month. Given that Honor tends to release most of its foldables in the Western world a few months later, it’s safe to assume that it’ll also happen with this new foldable, possibly to coincide with IFA in September.
It’s where the company initially announced the book-style Honor V2 last year, even if it didn’t end up releasing in most markets until months later in January 2024. And, given that Honor is on a yearly upgrade cycle for its book-style V series, we could also see an upgraded Honor V3 at the same time – though this one hasn’t even been announced in China yet, so take that with a pinch of salt.
What I’m trying to say is that it’s an exciting time in the foldable market with a number of releases due in the next few weeks, if not the next couple of months, so it might be a good idea to hold off on that foldable purchase for a bit in case something newer, shinier and all-round more capable appears.
