The Galaxy Z Fold8 was such a success out of the gate that Samsung increased the production target for this year by 1 million units. And that’s not all – Samsung will launch two wide foldables next year, claim insiders who spoke to ETNews. This means that the Galaxy Z9 generation will have a total of five members.
No, we didn’t miscount: 1) the wide Z Fold9, 2) a second wide foldable, 3) Z Fold9 Ultra, 4) Z Flip9 and 5) a new Galaxy Z TriFold. That’s right, rumors of Galaxy Z Flip’s death have been greatly exaggerated. That said, the cheap Z Flip FE is dead and buried (whether it was killed by lack of demand or rising memory prices is unclear).
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8, Z Flip8 and Z Fold8 Ultra • Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold
The Z Fold8 is a “wide foldable” because its inner screen is wider than it is tall – it has a 4:3 aspect ratio (2,448 x 1,848px resolution). The Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, meanwhile, has an almost square inner display (its aspect ratio is around 9:10, making it slightly taller than it is wide).
According to the insiders, Samsung wants to build a second wide foldable, one that will be better-suited for watching videos. HDTV is 16:9 as standard, but movies and some TV shows use a wider, more cinematic aspect ratio – 21:9 is quite common and some go wider still.
So, unless you are watching The Odyssey on your phone (for which Nolan will judge you harshly), a 4:3 aspect ratio isn’t ideal. It’s great for photos (which still default to 4:3), it’s also well-suited for web pages and documents, books too. However, videos (and games) will benefit from a wider screen since it will reduce the black bars around the content (letterboxing). This new wide foldable is at the “inception stage”, so there are no other concrete details on it yet.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, Z Fold8 and Z Flip8
And yes, Samsung will have another go at a tri-folding phone. The Galaxy Z TriFold was basically an experimental device that had a limited commercial release. The Galaxy Z9 TriFold (or whatever it ends up being called) should get a wider availability, but we wouldn’t count on it being cheaper.