The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 could bring a major design change

This July, we’ll see the Galaxy Z Fold 5 announcement at Samsung’s Unpacked event. While the Z Flip 5 looks like a significant upgrade with a larger cover screen, new internals, a better hinge, and a larger battery, the Fold 5 doesn’t look too different from the Fold 4. The Flip’s upgrade seems bigger because the outer screen’s usability improves.

There are two ways companies fold these displays. One is a waterdrop-style fold, and the other is a sharp V-shaped one. Historically,  Samsung presses the foldable screen in a sharp V shape, which doesn’t fold fully flat; there’s also a much more visible crease. The waterdrop style holds the display in a “waterdrop” style and doesn’t squeeze it entirely shut.

This also reduces the amount of visible display crease. You also can’t feel it as much because this is the more practical folding mechanism. Thankfully, Samsung is moving to this with the upcoming Z Fold 5.

This new design leaves no gap even in its folded state. This means dust can’t enter and damage the internal components. With the earlier foldable designs that left a gap when folded, it was very easy for dust and particles to enter. Since these foldable phones use mostly plastic screens, the gap left a wide-open potential for scratches and marks.

The Z Fold 5 will bring this new crease and 8 Gen 2 chip. We’ll also get a slight upgrade to the under-display front camera. However, there’s no change to the design or aspect ratio of the foldable phone. According to a famous leaker, Revegnus, the Z Fold 6 might finally change this. The leaker doesn’t have an accurate track record, so take this leak with a massive dollop of salt.

The aspect ratio of the Fold 4 isn’t very friendly to use when it’s folded. That’s because 23:1:9 is too tall for an outer screen and bad for typing or social media. The tweet says nothing specific but mentions that the Fold 6 will retain the same camera sensors.

This is disappointing since the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and 4 have a tiny 1/1.57″ main, a mediocre 1/3″ ultra-wide, and a tiny 10MP 1/3.9″ 3X telephoto. Oppo and Vivo use much larger sensors, and the zooming capabilities on Samsung’s foldable are weak thanks to tiny sensors. A periscope camera or a 50MP sensor, like the JN1, would be welcome. Since these are just leaks, we hope Samsung improves the camera hardware on the final product.

Back to the aspect ratio, the Pixel Fold has a 17:4:9 aspect ratio, which isn’t as tall. This makes the outer screen much more usable. Samsung will probably make the cover screen smaller in dimensions to make the outer screen better for typing and social media. Some people like tall outer screens, which unfold into a much larger rectangular shape when unfolded. This crowd will be disappointed if this happens.

If Samsung goes the Google route, the Z Fold 6 could get a wider outer screen. This means the phone will have a square shape when unfolding it. The phone won’t be as small as the Oppo Find N or N2, but it’s a good balance. This resembles the upcoming OnePlus Fold or Vivo’s foldable phones.