As the Samsung Galaxy S23 series nears its launch, the focus of the rumor mill is now shifting to other products further down the timeline, which include the Galaxy Z Fold model. While Samsung has played it safe over the years with its Galaxy Z Fold range, there are now more players in the foldable space, with brands like Oppo and Vivo also benefiting from devices with foldable displays. A new leak now suggests that Samsung will change the design of the Galaxy Z Fold 5’s hinge, which should lead to further improvements – both for the overall cosmetic design of the phone and for the display.
A new leak from the trusted tipster Ice Univerce (@UniverseIce) indicates changes to the hinge design of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. according to source, Samsung will soon adopt a new “teardrop” hinge design galaxy Z Fold 5. Internally, the South Korean company refers to the new hinge as the “dumbbell hinge.” While it sounds unique, the tipster points out that all other smartphone brands have recently switched to the new waterdrop hinge design and that Samsung would be the last to adopt the same. The source also states that we would see a waterdrop hinge for the first time when the next Galaxy Z Fold was launched, which is also waterproof, indicating an IPX8 rating.
More recently introduced devices such as the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2the Vivo X Fold+and the Oppo Find N2 have used the new teardrop or waterdrop hinge. The new design allows the display to occupy more space within the hinge, resulting in less wrinkling. This hinge design also allows both halves of the device to lie flat against each other (with no gaps) when folded, preventing dust and dirt from entering the inner display.
While most manufacturers have adopted this hinge, they have done so without an official IP rating. It will be interesting to see how Samsung rolls out this feature, which has been a standard on recent Galaxy foldables. The latest from Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 have an IPX8 rating, which means that they are adequately protected from water but not from dust.
A recently report also revealed that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 will feature a standard S Pen holder, which could also be the reason why it is expected to be thicker (6.5mm when unfolded) and heavier (275 grams) than previous models will be. The upcoming device is also said to pack something previously unheard of Qualcomm Snapdragon 985 5G SoC, the noisy GizmoChina, to be announced. The chipmaker hasn’t revealed any details about this particular processor, which also has an odd naming convention considering Qualcomm’s recent SoCs. The same report also states that the Galaxy Z Fold 5 should ship earlier with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2 processor. However, there is no official word from Samsung on this and as such the information should be taken with caution.
