Samsung’s latest leak shows off the Galaxy Z Fold 6 design

Updated June 5: article originally posted June 3

The next Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event in early July will see the official unveiling of the Galaxy Z Fold6, but thanks to a new leak, we have our best look yet at the upcoming foldable flagship and Samsung’s plans to support its foldable devices.

Update: Wednesday June 5th.

Confirmation of new Galaxy Z Fold 6 design cues has come from a surprising source: Samsung itself.

Although it was only briefly online, some marketing images of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 were posted on Samsung’s Kazakhstan website. The boxy design with narrower corners of the Fold and Flip is clear. What can’t be seen is the Fold 6’s flip screen and how much wider the display is.

These marketing photos clearly echo those of the Galaxy S24, S24+ and S24 Ultra. As Samsung pushes its foldable phones to a wider consumer market, bringing it significantly closer to “standard” Galaxy smartphones will normalize the idea of ​​a foldable for many people. This will also be helped by a common feature… Galaxy AI branding is also on display.

Update: Tuesday June 4th. While bigger screens will be welcomed by all, Samsung seems to be testing another reassuring change: the cost of repairing a foldable screen is set to drop.

Samsung has announced that it is distributing the various components of the foldable screens on the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5. Consumers will now have the option of replacing a damaged component instead of paying for a full replacement. With fewer parts to replace, the costs of repairing a damaged screen should come down, with savings of up to 36 percent cited by the company.

Along with changing the pricing structure, Samsung has also expanded the number of repair centers in South Korea from 13 to 32.

While this change is currently limited to South Korea, the perceived fragility of the foldable screen along with the high cost of repair is a global concern. With Samsung addressing this in the current Z Fold and Z Flip models, the community will be hoping this trial becomes a worldwide option with the launch of the Zfold 6 and Z Flip 6 in July.

Images of a non-functional Z Fold 6 model have surfaced online. These dummy units are generally distributed to peripheral manufacturers who need “consumer-ready” devices to test the fit and functionality of accessories such as cases and brackets. After launch, you can expect to see these units as point-of-sale devices where retailers don’t want to put a functional unit.

The unit showcases the new design of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold series. The design has remained consistent over the past three generations, and while it’s being updated, the changes are more evolutionary than revolutionary. The two main visual changes are focused on the screens.

The former can be seen when the device is open and closed, but it will make the biggest difference when using an open Z Fold 6. The corners are squared off for a slimmer look to the smartphone. It is not a sharp 90 degree angle; there’s still a curve, but the radius is significantly smaller than the Z Fold 5’s corners.

While this should increase the diagonal size of the screen, it means that more information can be pushed to the corners – something that will be noticeable when using videos or taking pictures.

The second noticeable change is in the lid display, which becomes the traditional candy-shaped display and is used when the Z Fold 6 is closed. Due to the foldable nature of these phones, bezel displays have been taller and thinner than the usual smartphone display. Samsung has increased the width of the cover screen to accommodate the traditional look.

It still lacks the wider look of the Galaxy S24 family, but it’s an improvement over previous models and should help the Z Fold 6’s usability when closed.

Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy Z Fold 6 along with the Z Flip 6 and the Galaxy Ring on July 10 during the latest Galaxy Unpacked event.

Now read about the feature Samsung is holding back from the Galaxy Z Fold 6…