Samsung Teases Thinner Galaxy Z Fold/Flip 5, Tablets And Smartwatches Ahead Of Unpacked

Samsung's next Unpacked event will take place on July 26, at which time we'll finally get to see the company's newest foldables, smartwatches, and tablets. In advance of that, Samsung's head of mobile experience, TM Roh, has published the company's customary Unpacked teaser. It focuses mostly on the foldable elements of Unpacked, but it doesn't include photos, not even shadowy ones that obscure details. Instead, Roh talks about the effort that has gone into making the Z Fold 5 and Flip 5 just a little bit thinner.

Roh begins by explaining Samsung's approach to design and how that affects its foldables. There are a lot of corporate-speak platitudes, but anyone interested in design will appreciate hearing about Samsung's "design identities." According to Roh, Samsung builds all its products to be "Essential, Innovative, and Harmonious."

Roh says that his career as an engineer has taught him that the best designs are often "intertwined with technological innovation." There is no better example of that, he claims, than Samsung's folding smartphones. Foldables have many of the same components as traditional flat phones, but it's a monumental engineering effort to create a touch-screen phone that can fold without breaking or looking terrible.


Perhaps the juiciest detail in the post is when Roh discusses thinness. He says Samsung has raised its standards for foldable ergonomics and succeeded in making the 5th-gen foldable even thinner. This would be a welcome change after little to no change in foldable design for the last several cycles. Although, you should not expect miracles. Roh makes sure to point out that even shaving a single millimeter or gram off of a foldable requires "an engineering breakthrough."

Given Roh's exultation of small improvements, that's probably what we can expect. A millimeter thinner here and there, and a few grams lighter, which jives with a recent leak. The improvements might come from the hinge, which has made Samsung's extant foldables thicker and more tapered than some of the competition. Although, seeing the issues Google had with the Pixel Fold, it's understandable that Samsung has been slow to flatten its foldables. Keep your eyes peeled for a thinner, flatter family of foldables at Unpacked next week.