Since their inception, foldable smartphones are estimated to have reached 11.5 million unit sales by the end of 2021, which in all honesty, doesn't sound like much. As a (random) reference point, Apple is believed to have shipped more than 40 million iPhone 13-series devices globally just in the final three months of last year.
But with around 9 of those 11.5 million units pushed to early adopters in 2021 alone, the foldable fad definitely looks to be morphing into an enduring trend. The fast-growing market is unsurprisingly expected to continue expanding throughout 2022 (and beyond), with Samsung looking to consolidate its absolutely towering position by putting all its H2 flagship resources into the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4.
Unlike last year, we're 100 percent certain these bad boys will fly solo to worldwide stores sometime in late summer or early spring rather than joining a new member of the defunct Galaxy Note family to market. And as it happens, one rock-solid Twitter tipster is today "100% sure" of a key Z Fold 4 and Z Flip feature that was previously rumored with a much smaller degree of confidence.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is dead, long live the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus
As the (somewhat confusing) name suggests, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 was envisioned as a fresh start for Qualcomm's long-running and highly successful line of ultra-high-end smartphone chipsets.
Fortunately, these didn't exactly spread like wildfire (pun intended) when the SoC made its way into more and more phones around the world, but the raw Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 performance also failed to impress in many benchmarks, proving inferior not just to the Apple A15 Bionic but the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 as well.
With all of this in mind, it's certainly not shocking to hear about the Motorola "Frontier", which is likely to become the first device powered by a hot new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus processor relatively soon, and we're also not terribly surprised by the prospect of Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 launches with the same chip on deck.
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While that name is obviously not etched in stone yet, its manufacturing replacement for Samsung and unchanged 4nm fabrication process are themselves "100%" certain. We also don't really know how much faster this thing could prove compared to its somewhat underwhelming predecessor, but something (else) seems certain as well.
Specifically, that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus will be a bigger deal than last year's Snapdragon 888 Plus, which didn't change much about the "regular" 888 and was used on a relatively small number of Android handsets, including no Samsung models whatsoever.
What else do we "know" about the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4?
Quite a lot of stuff, actually, given that we're probably still several months away from a big joint Unpacked announcement. While it's generally wise to treat all early rumors and gossip with caution, the Z Fold 4 will almost surely carry a built-in S Pen as a key selling point and upgrade over its forerunner, which only supports the stylus as an optional add-on.
Perhaps even more importantly, especially for folks who don't care that much about styluses, Samsung reportedly plans to debut something called Super UTG (Ultra-Thin Glass) on the Galaxy Z Fold 4, thus aiming to improve the long-term durability, general scratch resistance, and even the S Pen functionality.
This is more or less how the Galaxy Z Fold 4 will look.
As far as the Z Flip 4 is concerned, today's rumored Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus upgrade over the Z Flip 3's Snapdragon 888 processor could prove especially important, with no Super UTG, S Pen support, or even under-display camera in the cards after all.
On the bright side, the size of the cover display is expected to jump from around 1.9 to 2 inches or so, with no change whatsoever tipped for the 6.7-inch primary foldable screen. The Z Fold 4, meanwhile, is likely to sport a 7.56-inch main panel and 6.19-inch cover screen, which is almost identical to what the Galaxy Z Fold 3 currently has to offer.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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