Indeed, Samsung's next efforts should be aimed at reducing that price
2023 is going to be a very exciting year for the tech enthusiast. It could be the first (and who knows – only?) year that we may get a foldable phone from all the major, mainstream brands we love and trust.
Because so far from the major leagues we've had only Samsung to thank for folding phones getting to where they are now – basically mainstream. Not mainstream, as in – everybody owns one, but mainstream, as in – everybody knows about the Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip, and has the option to go ahead and buy it from the nearest tech store.
And with Samsung's only competition as of today being smaller, less reputable Chinese brands, releasing phones that are hard to get a hold of in the west, the Korean giant has been able to get a firm, tight grip on the folding phone market, and dominates it with an iron… hinge…
But is Samsung's foldable phone market dominance about to crumble this year, when Apple and Google are expected to join in on the fun, or does the Galaxy company have nothing to worry about?
Let's try to find out, and simultaneously, let's see who the upcoming folding phones from all three companies are for!
Galaxy Z Fold 5: The ultimate 2023 productivity phone?
CES photo allegedly showing the upcoming Z Fold 5 (right) next to the current Z Fold 4 - Z Fold 5, Pixel Fold and iPhone Fold: Is the perfect foldable phone already here, or is Samsung's dominance about to crumble in 2023?
CES photo allegedly showing the upcoming Z Fold 5 (right) next to the current Z Fold 4
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is almost certain to make its debut this August, and we're expecting some great changes for it, over its predecessor. As we can see from the photo above, allegedly showing a Z Fold 5 prototype (right) next to the current Z Fold 4, the new one is both slimmer, and notably wider.
We also recently came across a wild rumor that said Galaxy Z Fold 5 will feature a 108MP camera and creaseless screen – so even if just the latter is true, that would be a major step towards perfection, in my book.
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is already my favorite phone right now, and not just because it has stylus support and it's the perfect size for both sketching and touch-typing. Not only because it's also the perfect size for web browsing, mobile gaming, and not only because it has superb multitasking features, like split screen app support, a fixed taskbar, windowed apps…
The current Galaxy Z Fold 4 - Z Fold 5, Pixel Fold and iPhone Fold: Is the perfect foldable phone already here, or is Samsung's dominance about to crumble in 2023?Not only because it has Samsung DeX, which can turn it into a PC the moment you connect it to an external display… And not only because it has great stereo speakers and is perfect for binge-watching 90s TV shows filmed in the kind of aspect ratio that almost fills the phone's big, foldable display edge-to-edge.
Oh wait, yes, those are all exactly the reasons I love this phone. Which tech enthusiast wouldn't be happy with all that?
Well, there's room for improvement, as always, and if what Samsung supposedly showcased at CES is true – improvements there shall be. The current Z Fold 4 remains bulky, with its Snickers bar shape, and it's a tad heavy too.
So doing some engineering magic to make the Z Fold 5 thinner – that'd be a huge win. Even more so if Samsung's engineers can abra cadabra it to be lighter too.So who's the Galaxy Z Fold 5 going to be for, then? At an expected price of nearly $2,000 – not your average smartphone user, that's for sure. Only a true, diehard tech enthusiast can justify coughing up that kind of money even for what's likely to be 2023's most feature-packed foldable phone.
Indeed, Samsung's next efforts should be aimed at reducing that price, especially now that legitimately threatening competition may be coming. Let's start with the more likely challenger, before we get to the wildly hated and loved fruit-logo one, that's seemingly still on the fence about foldables anyway.
