As the Samsung Galaxy S23 series nears its launch, the rumour mill’s focus is now shifting to other products further down the timeline, which includes the Galaxy Z Fold model. While Samsung has played it safe with its Galaxy Z Fold lineup over the years, there’s now more players in the foldable space with brands like Oppo and Vivo cashing in on devices with folding displays as well. A new leak now hints that Samsung will change the design of Galaxy Z Fold 5’s hinge, which should lead to other improvements — both for the phone’s overall cosmetic design and its display.
A new leak by reliable tipster Ice Univerce (@UniverseIce) points to changes to the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5’s hinge design. According to the source, Samsung will adopt a new ‘droplet’ hinge design on the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 5. The South Korean company internally refers to the new hinge as a “dumbbell hinge”. While it sounds unique, the tipster points out that all other smartphone brands have switched to the new water drop hinge design lately and that Samsung would be the last one to adopt the same. The source also states that when the next Galaxy Z Fold is launched, it would be the first time we would be seeing a water drop hinge that is also waterproof, hinting at an IPX8 rating.
More recently launched devices like the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2, the Vivo X Fold+, and the Oppo Find N2 have utilised the new droplet or water drop hinge. The new design allows the display to occupy a larger space within the hinge, which leads to less creasing. This hinge design also lets both halves of the device sit flat against each other (with no gaps) when folded, which prevents dust and dirt from entering the inner display.
While most manufacturers have adopted this hinge, they have done so without an official IP rating. It will be interesting to see how Samsung goes about delivering this feature, which has been a standard on recent Galaxy foldables. Samsung’s most recent Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 have an IPX8 rating, meaning that they are sufficiently protected from water but not dust.
A recent report also revealed that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 will feature a standard S-Pen stylus holder, which could also be the reason why it’s expected to be thicker (6.5mm when unfolded) and heavier (275 grams) than previous models. The upcoming device is also said to pack a previously unheard of Qualcomm Snapdragon 985 5G SoC, which, according to GizmoChina, is yet to be announced. The chip manufacturer has not yet shared any details regarding this particular processor, which also has an odd naming convention, keeping in mind Qualcomm’s recent SoCs. The same report also states that the Galaxy Z Fold 5 was earlier set to arrive with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2 processor instead. There is, however, no official word from Samsung on the same, and hence, the information should be taken with a pinch of salt.
