Galaxy Z Flip 5G leaks with familiar next-gen look

The next Samsung Galaxy Z Flip foldable (foldable display) smartphone was leaked today from several angles. This device looks exceedingly similar to its predecessor, and for good reason. The first Samsung Galaxy Z Flip was part of Samsung's (rather sizable) test run for foldable displays. Now it's time to get the devices out into the world en masse.

The first Galaxy Z Flip had a 6.7-inch foldable display inside – and the 5G version shown here seems to have that same display, per Tenaa via TechnoSports. The same size cameras seem to be in place, right near the external display (a "cover display" at 1.1-inch). The biggest differences might just be relegated to the innards of this next-gen device.

Where the first Galaxy Z Flip had a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+, the Galaxy Z Flip 5G is tipped to have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC. That'd make way for an Adreno 650 GPU and the ability to roll with 5G connectivity. While it was sort of inevitable that Samsung would begin adding 5G connectivity to all their mobile smartphones and similar devices, it would seem here that Samsung's making a bigger deal of it than almost any other feature in the mix.

This situation might remind you of when Apple first launched a 3G version of the iPhone. It was back then that the device was just called iPhone, then the 2nd version was called iPhone 3G. The third was called iPhone 3GS, then iPhone 4, and so on. From that point on, Apple didn't include the 3G, 4G, etc in the name of the device – but Samsung's never been one to shy away from devices with extensive and/or massively convoluted titles.

At the same time, using 5G in the name sort of flies in the face of Samsung's current efforts to simplify their portfolio by making their foldable devices all fall into the "Z" category. The 2020 Galaxy Fold device will be called Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2, rather than just Galaxy Fold 2. If what we're hearing today is true, the Galaxy Z Flip won't be replaced with a Galaxy Z Flip 2, but a Z Flip 5G, not actually a replacement at all.

We'll just have to wait a while to get an actual substantial upgrade. That'll work out well if Samsung is, actually, going to split their year up into four parts like we've heard rumored earlier this year. One quarter each for the Galaxy S, Galaxy Z Flip, Galaxy Z Fold, and Galaxy Note – we shall see!