Samsung is officially confirming the most upgraded Galaxy smartphone in history. In addition to a Galaxy 10, CEO DJ Koh says the company is developing a Galaxy with a folding display and is in a race to get the phone to the market.
The company acknowledges rivals are trying to beat Samsung to be the first with “folding phone” technology. Koh stresses Samsung is “focusing on developing innovations that will be genuinely accepted and liked by consumers.” This game-changing folding phone is not a one-off concept but, the beginning of a series explained Koh. “We wouldn’t have started [the project] if it was a going to be a one-time thing.”
Golden Bridge Investments confirmed previous leaks of the folding Galaxy F, stating they will have a massive 7.3-inched OLED display. When the display is folded, it will be reduced to just 4.5-inches. Samsung expects to use “artificial muscle” technology to provide the components to move in sync with the screen for protection. Kim dropped the price bomb of nearly $1,850 for the Galaxy F.
Samsung believes it can keep pace with Apple as well as other innovative Chinese phone makers like Vivo and Oppo. The timing of Koh’s comments could not have come at a more crucial time. Both Vivo and Oppo produced bezel-less, notch-less phones this year.
While the Galaxy Note 9 Bezel was leaked several times and had a curious design choice, it is believed to mark the end of an iterative year for Samsung. The company is looking ahead to releasing the Galaxy S10, which comes with several massive upgrades and will be the first to highlight the company’s new innovation drive. Although with the Galaxy F generating most the attention, it will take some work to get the S10 the same amount of hype.
Samsung’s most important partner confirmed the smartphone’s largest upgrade. Chip designer, Qualcomm, has formally announced its next generation system-on-chip, which is expected to be named the “Snapdragon 855.” Qualcomm revealed in an official statement it will bring 5G to “premium tier smartphones” for the first time. Samsung’s buying power has led the Galaxy S range to always market these chips first, often forcing rivals to use older hardware in the past.
Qualcomm says the secret behind the new chip is its 7nm manufacturing process, which enables the phone to run cooler, faster and deliver the most superior battery life. The process is also what Apple is projected to use in its a12 chipset for its new iPhones. Qualcomm also confirmed that the chipset can be paired with its Snapdragon X50 modem.
Qualcomm hproved smartphones can deliver speeds of up to 1.4Gbps through public tests with its X50 modem. “The upcoming platform will transform industries” according to Qualcomm. The idea that carries will begin launch of 5G later in 2018 as well as through 2019 may not be as far-fetched as one once believed.
Samsung is determined to have a part of this technology, although Apple has decided to shun Qualcomm modems, possibly foregoing 5G-compatiable iPhones for several more generations.
Koh already plans on launching a 5G phone before the Galaxy S10 and suspect that the 5G plan will be limited to the Asian market but will ensure Samsung takes the “World’s First 5G phone” award.
Although Samsung splits their Galaxy phones between Qualcomm and Snapdragon chips, but the former is primarily sold in the United States. So the announcement guarantees a 5G Galaxy S10 in the United States as well. Qualcomm promised more details on the chip, including a performance breakdown and of course, a name for the chip “in the fourth quarter of 2018.”
There are several design changes planned for the Galaxy S10. While the inclusion of 5G seems to be the most significant and most anticipated upgrade, we can be sure to see several others.
