Samsung versus Apple: ah, yes, we'll get to enjoy another round of El Clasico soon. And I'm not talking about screen durability and the Crackgate phenomenon Apple's foldable iPhone is going through.
This time, the battle could be on the UDC front, as in, under-display camera.
Risky moves
Two passport-sized foldables, but one has more experience. | Image by PhoneArena
2026 is almost over, which means we will be getting a whole new galaxy of multicolored mobile handsets. First—most likely in Q1 of 2027—we'll enjoy the Galaxy S27 series (if it's good enough to be enjoyed, but something tells me those prices will rain down on our picnic). The Galaxy S27 Ultra is rumored to be finally moving away from the dreaded 5,000 mAh capacity battery cell that's been plaguing Sammy's S Ultra models for seven consecutive years, starting with the S20 Ultra.
We might welcome a new member to the family, too: the alleged Galaxy S27 Pro.
But, fast forward to July; next year's Galaxy Z series might be an equally critical battle to win. Samsung is on top of its foldable game right now:
What's your take on the importance of selfie cameras?
2 Votes
How important is that?
Personally, I'm not being put off by cutout punch-holes on foldables. Yes, it gets in the way a bit. But if it's placed in the corner—the Oppo Find N6 does this trick—it looks better.
And, as a matter of fact, inner-display selfie snappers on foldables aren't really there for taking your coolest selfies. The big advantage of a foldable is that you can use its much better rear cameras while still seeing yourself on the cover screen. This lets you frame the shot properly and get the kind of image quality the small front-facing camera simply can't match. The selfie camera is still useful for video calls and quick photos, OK, but when you actually want a good picture of yourself, the rear cameras are the real deal.
So why would Samsung go back to the UDC? Samsung fans know that older Galaxy Z Fold units had such a camera, but the Galaxy Z Fold 7 put an end to this practice, as the photo results weren't truly inspiring.
It's because Apple's iPhone Duo has an under-display camera, that's why. And if Samsung manages to school Apple on this front too, it would be a great win for us, the end users. But that means Samsung's under-display camera must take convincing photos and videos.
Sebastian is one of PhoneArena’s senior opinionators. A veteran news writer with almost 20 years of experience in media and technology, he not only covers all the hot news about Galaxies and iPhones, but often provides hot takes on industry trends. He’s fascinated with camera-focused flagships from the likes of Oppo and Vivo, as well as foldable phones.
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