Samsung is set to detail its second-gen foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Fold 2, next week but we are already hearing reports of an affordable foldable phone being in the works. The Korean giant will soon take the wraps off the ‘Galaxy Z Fold Lite,’ which is not an official name and just a calculated guess at this point.
Galaxy Z Fold Lite will offer a familiar smartphone-cum-tablet form factor, as per the reports. This device is said to carry the model number SM-F415F. It looks similar to the model number of other Galaxy Fold devices, where the first F refers to its foldable form factor. The lower value between the two Fs suggests that it will be a lower-end variant of the existing foldable phones.
A Samsung device with the said model number recently showed up in a Wi-Fi Alliance certification listing. Now, your next question must be – how do we know that Samsung will launch this affordable foldable phone in India?
Well, as seen in the screenshot above, a support page with the said model number has been spotted on Samsung’s website in India. The ‘DS’ moniker in the model number seems to refer to the India-specific variant of the Galaxy Z Fold Lite. The support page does not reveal anything substantial about the device and merely confirms that it will come to India whenever it goes official.
Some reports suggest that Galaxy Z Fold Lite will arrive with the Snapdragon 865 SoC under the hood. But, Samsung will not offer 5G connectivity onboard to lower costs. It would also lack the innovative Ultra Thin Glass protection found aboard Galaxy Z Flip. Not much else is known about this ‘Lite’ variant at the moment, except for a speculated price tag.
Galaxy Z Fold Lite is expected to arrive at $1,100 (around Rs. 80,500), which is way less than the exorbitant price tag of Samsung’s existing foldables. A recent SamMobile report further reveals that the company could also unveil two other foldable phones, namely Galaxy Z Fold S and Galaxy Z Fold 3, before the end of this year. It, however, seems highly unlikely as several original launch plans have been pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is still a bit less expensive than other Samsung tablet cum smartphone devices