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The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6's rumored cheaper version may lose out on a significant feature seen on previous Z Folds, according to ETNews' industry sources.
ETNews' report claims that the cheaper model will not offer S Pen support, apparently removing the digitizer (a display layer needed to track a stylus' position) to reduce the phone's cost.
To date, the Galaxy Z Fold series hasn’t offered an S Pen stylus in the box by default, despite offering compatibility with specific versions of Samsung's stylus. So having a Z Fold without S Pen support at may not be as big a difference as it sounds for most users.
Cost cutting tipped for other features too
There will potentially be other downgrades for the cheaper Galaxy Z Fold according to the report, but it doesn't specify that those would be. Considering how Samsung positions its Galaxy S flagship phones to its cheaper Galaxy S FE and Galaxy A models, the most obvious components to scale back would be the cameras, chipset and RAM and storage.
The question remains of how cheap this cheaper foldable will actually be. With the Galaxy Z Fold 5 going for $1,800, and the Galaxy Z Flip 5 for $1,000, we're hoping for at least a $1,400 price. That way the cheaper foldable would be roughly aligned price-wise with the $1,300 Galaxy S24 Ultra, giving buyers happy to pay for a fully-equipped non-foldable phone the option to go for a Z Fold model without spending too much on top.
We are anticipating the Galaxy Z Fold 6, its cheaper version and the Galaxy Z Flip 6 to launch in July or August of this year. Offering a cheaper large-format foldable could be exactly what Samsung needs to compete with phones like the OnePlus Open or the Google Pixel Fold, as these foldables are still on the expensive side.
We're also curious to see if reducing the price will entice more phone buyers to try a Samsung foldable instead of a standard smartphone. However, there are perhaps other considerations, like durability, that Samsung may have to address before it sees more users take the plunge.
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