Is This the Galaxy Fold 2? Samsung Reveals Foldable Flip Phone

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The return of the clamshell phone

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Samsung's struggles in getting the Galaxy Fold to retail shelves this year isn't dimming the phone maker's enthusiasm for foldable devices. At its annual developer conference here today (Oct. 29), Samsung stressed that it's continuing to explore a new range of foldable phone factors, even teasing a new look for the future.

During a presentation on the company's updated One UI interface, Samsung executive Sally Hyesoon Jeong talked up the company's commitment to pursuing foldable designs. And one of the images in her presentation that got the biggest reaction was a concept animation that showed a Galaxy phone folding like a flip phone of old.

That would be a departure from the Galaxy Fold's design. That phone, which started shipping in September after a delay of several months, opens up to reveal a larger screen. The design teased by Jeong would give users a vertical screen with extended real estate.

Samsung isn't the first phone maker to contemplate such a design — and it may not be the first to bring a foldable flip phone to market. Motorola is reportedly working on a foldable Razr phone, and the company has a press event slated for Nov. 13 where it's expected to show off the foldable device.

As for Samsung, it provided no further details on foldable phones, such as tentative launch dates for future products. Rather, today's presentation was a reminder for developers in attendance to work on apps that take advantage of new form factors — and to remind everyone else that the Fold won't be Samsung's last word on foldables.

Philip Michaels
Philip Michaels

Philip Michaels is a Managing Editor at Tom's Guide. He's been covering personal technology since 1999 and was in the building when Steve Jobs showed off the iPhone for the first time. He's been evaluating smartphones since that first iPhone debuted in 2007, and he's been following phone carriers and smartphone plans since 2015. He has strong opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics, old movies and proper butchery techniques. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.