The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6 could be cheaper than expected
Thanks to a new type of bezel
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Samsung’s foldable phones are among its most expensive handsets, with theSamsung Galaxy Z Fold 5costing even more than theSamsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, but with this year’s models we could see the prices drop.
This is according to a report inThe Elec(viaPhandroid), which claims that Samsung Display is considering using inkjet printing to make the bezels on this year’s foldable phones – presumably meaning theSamsung Galaxy Z Fold 6and theSamsung Galaxy Z Flip 6.
Currently the company uses a ‘micro dry process decoration’ (or MDD) to make the bezels on its foldableOLEDpanels, and while it doesn’t sound like this change in process would affect the quality of the display or the size of the bezels, it would apparently reduce production costs, and those savings could potentially be passed on to buyers.
A cheaper process
Of course, Samsung could just pocket the savings, but we think it would be keen to reduce the prices of its foldable phones to give them a better chance of becoming truly mainstream.
Exactly how much cheaper inkjet printing would be is unclear, but for reference the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 starts at $1,799.99 / £1,749 / AU$2,599, and even the relatively affordableSamsung Galaxy Z Flip 5starts at $999.99 / £1,049 / AU$1,649, so any reduction in price would be desirable.
The upcoming models are still sure to be expensive phones of course, but we’ve previously heard thatSamsung might be working on a Galaxy Z Fold FEfor launch this year too. This would be a mid-range model with a potentially much lower price tag, and if Samsung does switch to inkjet printing, then this phone would likely benefit from that cost saving too.
We’re not expecting to see any new foldable phones from Samsung until at least late July though, so it’s going to be a while before we see any potentially cheaper options.
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James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.
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