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Surprising new rumor calls for Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Slim release in Q4 2024 with 'bigger display'

Published: May 23, 2024, 1:58 PM

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Surprising new rumor calls for Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Slim release in Q4 2024 with 'bigger display'

Inaugurated in 2019 with the eventual goal of revolutionizing the mobile industry, Samsung's foldable lineup has become rather predictable in the last few years in terms of both upgrades (or rather refinements) brought to the table by new models and the release schedule of said new models.

But with the company's market segment supremacy threatened all of a sudden by a raft of (primarily China-based) rivals, Samsung was always likely to get the Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip families out of their recent rut in 2024. What remains unclear is, well, exactly how that will come to pass, with budget-friendly FE versions expected by a number of insiders and a super-premium Fold 6 Ultra by others.

As if the rumors weren't already convoluted or confusing enough, Ross Young is today adding an entirely new name into the equation.

What is the "Samsung Fold 6 Slim"?

According to the generally reliable and highly experienced display industry analyst, the world's top smartphone vendor is currently working on a larger foldable device than the Galaxy Z Fold 6 (and Z Fold 5) with "no pen input."

This never-before-heard product could be called Galaxy Z Fold 6 Slim in an attempt to preempt the popularity of an iPhone 17 Slim model Apple is rumored to be preparing for a 2025 launch, and if Young's assumption is correct, its price point will "probably be similar to the Fold 6."

Will you miss the S Pen support if the Z Fold 6 Slim ditches it?

The "regular" Fold 6, in case you're wondering, has previously been tipped to retain the 7.6-inch size of its predecessor's primary display while increasing the cover screen slightly from 6.2 to 6.3 inches. Impressively, the overall product weight is likely to go down from 253 to 239 grams, and the Galaxy Z Fold 6 could also be significantly thinner than the Z Fold 5 both in folded and unfolded form.

While it's definitely hard to believe that a "Fold 6 Slim" could further reduce the non-Slim Fold 6's 12.1mm thickness, an expansion of the 7.6 and 6.3-inch screens is clearly possible. If materialized, that would greatly help Samsung better compete against giants like the OnePlus Open or Vivo X Fold 3 Pro.

Of course, rivaling Vivo's aggressively priced foldables may not be very easy if the Galaxy Z Fold 6 starts at the same $1,800 as the Z Fold 5, which could mean this Z Fold 6 Slim will also cost a whopping one thousand and eight hundred US dollars at launch.

What about the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra and Z Fold 6 FE?

That, our friends, remains the million-dollar question no one is able to answer with any reasonable degree of confidence at the moment, although Ross Young does not rule out the possibility of the Fold 6 Slim and Fold 6 Ultra being one and the same device.

With the product name currently classified as "TBD", Samsung could still end up labeling perhaps its most exciting 2024 foldable as the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra for marketing purposes. Whatever the final name, this is almost certainly the device known internally by the Q6A codename, which noted X leaker Roland Quandt tweeted about as recently as two days ago.

Seeing as how both its name and codename were notably absent from that "reliable" list of upcoming Samsung devices published by legendary leaker Evan Blass on the same social network, we fully expect the "normal" Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 to go official in July, followed by this Slim or Ultra super-flagship later in the year.

That leaves our hopes of seeing the elusive Fan Edition versions of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 unveiled at some point during the final quarter of 2024 intact as well, although we will definitely need people like Blass, Quandt, or Young to share more information about those soon to not give up said hopes eventually.

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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.