SAMSUNG fans may have just had their first peek at the new “multifold” phone just days before the Korean tech giant is due to reveal it.
Animations in an update on the latest One UI 8 software – which Samsung devices run on – has inadvertently exposed the new device, according to Android Authority.
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They show what the trifold Samsung flagship might look like.
The three-panelled phone has a dual-hinge folding mechanism, which allows it to fold up into a Z-shape formation.
The leaked design also shows a large triple-camera setup on the rear, located on the right-hand panel when fully unfolded.
Onlookers reckon the device will be called the “Galaxy G Fold”.
Although Android Authority noted that it is labeled as the “Multifold 7” in the One UI 8 animation files.
Samsung first teased the new foldable at its Unpacked event in January, alongside a basic illustration of what looks like a triple-screen phone.
The illustration matches up with the design in the leaked animations.
The middle panel appears to be the cover display, with a front-facing camera that can be used even when the device is folded shut.
When unfolded completely, the front-facing camera is on the right side, and is the same panel that houses the rear triple-camera on its reverse.
Samsung is set to host a Galaxy Unpacked event on 9 July, where it is slated to reveal its next generation of foldable phones, likely the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7.
The design closely resembles rival Huawei’s Mate XT trifold phone.
A brief timeline of the Samsung Galaxy Fold
Here’s all the major things to happen in the controversial phone’s history so far…
- May 2011: South Korea’s Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology announces its researchers have made a folding smartphone prototype
- November 2013: Samsung promises to bring folding display devices to the market
- Spring 2016: Engineers start working on what we now refer to as the Galaxy Fold
- Otober 2018: Samsung officially confirms its foldable phone is on the way
- February 20, 2019: The Samsung Galaxy Fold is unveiled with May 3 release date and a staggering £1,800 price tag
- April 15, 2019: Journalists with early access to the phone complain its screen breaks after a couple days of use
- April 22, 2019: Samsung announces it’s postponing the Fold days before release to address and fix durability issues
- May 31, 2019: All pre-orders of the Fold are cancelled by Samsung, with no new release date in sight
- June 18, 2019: Samsung Display Vice President Kim Seong-cheol claims “most of the display problems have been ironed out”
- September 18, 2019: Samsung relaunches the Fold following a hasty redesign
- Samsung has since released several foldable smartphones without further major issues
