Foldable Phones Live Q&A and What to Expect at Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked Event

all right hello hello hello good day good day good day welcome to all things mobile

i am cnet.com's director of content patrick holland also known as that cnet guy and i am

And, well, just kind of excited to talk about the topic of foldable phones

In fact, we should retitle this program All Things Foldables just for today

Because we are at an exciting point with foldable phones in 2026

We have a whole bunch of new ones that came out from Motorola last month. We got Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event next week

We should have a lot. And there's the brooding, the kind of foreshadowing

It's the Odyssey of phones, the rumored Apple iPhone foldable that might come out this September

But you're not going to have to listen to me jibber-jabber about all this by myself

I'm being joined by some lovely folks by CNET.com's mobile team. I have CNET Senior Technology Reporter, Abrar Al-Hidi

I have Senior Editor, Mike Sorrentino. I can't say people's names. I have managing editor David Lum, and we're not alone

In fact, during this broadcast, you can throw your comments, you can throw your questions in the chat

and we have our very own CNET group, executive producer Numi Persarn

to gather these comments and distribute them to us so we can answer your questions

But why don't we jump right in? And let's talk about Foldable for half a minute because 10 years ago, there was no such thing as a foldable phone

We really define a foldable phone as a phone that has, well, a screen that folds in half

And in the early days in the U.S., there were just two brands that had foldable phones, Samsung and Motorola

And over the years, for the early parts of the last seven years, Samsung was the dominant foldable phone maker

And this is kind of wonderful timing, but our very owner, Brar, got to visit Samsung's headquarters in Seoul, South Korea

and you got a peek at how Samsung tests its foldable phone displays as well as some wild

concept. Abra, can you tell me exactly what you got access to and where did you go

I absolutely can. It was very surreal. We were the first media to be invited inside of Samsung

Display's super top secret headquarters. So we got to see how they make sure that your pricey

foldable phone will not break on you once you drop $2,000 on it. So we saw a machine that can

fold the phone and make sure that it can withstand half a million folds. So, you know, rest assured

that thing should last you for a few years at least. It kind of looks like an oven and it actually

kind of operates like an oven. It can go from negative four degrees Fahrenheit to 140 degrees

Fahrenheit. So it can, you know, withstand extreme cold, extreme heat as it's being folded and

unfolded. We also saw something called the ball drop test, which is like taking a very heavy

marble ball and dropping it on a display repeatedly to make sure that it doesn't crack. It's slightly

anxiety-inducing to watch it, but we saw it drop from 30 centimeters, 40 centimeters, and 50

centimeters, and each time the display was able to survive. So those are kind of like the main

things to make sure that those displays are durable. An employee told us that even her mom

and dad had never been to that part of Samsung display. These are where like engineers go to make sure that these products are ready for your pocket

So that was really neat. And then the other thing we saw were some really cool concepts. So we saw some, it was like a vision into what could come next after the Galaxy Z fold and flip

Maybe you'll have something that's kind of like, there's one that has a display on the outside

I don't really know why I'd want a display on the outside of a phone. And there's another that kind of folds open and shut like a Z more so than the Galaxy Z trifold

And just another concept with a rollable and foldable display. So lots of things that are also looking forward further into the future

But these are still concepts. So we'll see if any of those actually see the light of day. I think Huawei would like to have a word with you about your criticism of outside foldable displays for Abrar

And it's wild that you actually got in before people's families, though

I imagine just because you work somewhere. I mean, I used to work at Starbucks, and my mom and dad would have probably loved to come behind the counter

but we didn't let them because we have standards at Starbucks. I bet they have standards at Samsung

Now, I saw that you mentioned because you wrote a couple stories for CNET.com

You have a lovely video that people can watch. But in your story, you mentioned a new thing that you got to see

It's called the, I think it's called the Titanium Flex Display, and that's going to be on the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 8

what is a titanium flex display like what does it do and why do i need it yeah so flex titanium

is designed to make the display thinner and also more durable because think about the last few

generations and especially last year's zfold seven like this guy i've got it right here

you open this thing up it is wildly thin 4.2 millimeters thin right so like how does samsung

continue to make its displays thinner uh how does it continue to make its its phones thinner you

got to slim down everything. So the display has got to slim down. So Flex Titanium, there's a

titanium plate, which the Z Fold 7 also has a titanium plate. But now there's also titanium

alloy film. And so that replaces this polymer based layer that used to be on last year's phone

So honestly, everything has been consolidated into a titanium plate, a titanium alloy film

And then you've got things like the OLED panel and the glass and all the stuff on top of it

But again, the idea is to make it thinner and more durable and hopefully make you feel better about how your phone will survive drops and things like that

And then the other very notable thing here is the crease is a lot less prominent

And that's a really big deal. That's something that a lot of people have really fixated on lately is, okay, well, it has a foldable screen, but I can still see the crease

You'd be amazed how many comments we get about stuff like that. So to see that kind of reduced is a really big deal

And also, you know, I'm sure we'll talk about this later, but it hints at all those rumors about Apple having a foldable iPhone with a minimized crease

And, you know, Samsung Display might be the company behind that. Well, wait, yeah, like what's up with the crease

I mean, we hear that a lot. I mean, but like when I fold paper, it has a crease. Books have creases and people have been able to deal with that for thousands of years

Right. Like what is that? Right. Thousands of years or hundreds of years. I don't know when the Gutenberg press is made

But what is up with having a crease on the foldable and why are people so vocal about it

I mean, you've also used quite a bit of foldables. It's funny because when I use a foldable, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this

I don't even think about or notice it because when you're actually using the screen, you're watching a video

you really just don't notice any lines down the middle or anything like that

Yeah, if the screen is off and you're in the bright sunlight, you're going to see a crease, right? But it's not really as prominent

I think people just want to see things get better. And I think that's ultimately what it comes down to

If you're buying the next generation of a phone, how much better is it going to be than last year generation And the easy thing to fixate on is that crease and to say well if it really an engineering marvel let see it Let see something where as I fold and unfold it I not noticing where that line is anymore

Okay, so I think you're right. But I also think that you and myself are to blame for people painting a crease

Because when we talk about it or we show a video of it, we have like a tight macro shot on that crease

Or we have a photo about it. And people think that it's that way like 100% of the time

So I brought two relics out from the vault here. I have the 2019 Motorola Razr, which actually came out in 2020

And I have the 2020 original Galaxy Z Flip. Both have two of the largest creases on any phone

Both have not been kept in pristine museum shape. And yet here we are, seven, eight, seven years later, or six to seven years later

I don't know. What do you guys think? Is that crease that horrible? So, wow, yeah, see, when I do it right there

if I just held it right there in that light, it looks like a garbage dumpster

Incredibly noticeable, actually. And then we've got this. This is the Z Fold 7

I mean, it's rough when the screen is off and when it's catching the light, obviously it's going to look horrific

But I promise you, if you're using it, you're not going to notice. Yeah, I think that, to quote Steve Jobs

just don't hold it that way. But let's talk about these concepts. You saw a bunch of concepts

It's from Samsung Display. First, what is Samsung Display? How is it different than the Samsung

And just give us an idea of the concepts you saw and your reactions to it

Yeah, so Samsung Display is a branch of Samsung that's focused on making displays

Not too shocking, but not just for Samsung, for Apple. You know, they don't just work on phones, but also anything like TVs or laptops

This is the component that just ensures that that display is really pushing the limits here

And Samsung Display loves to push the limits. I mean, when you go to CES, when you go to Mobile World Congress, one of the hottest booths is always a Samsung display booth because it's really cool to see what kinds of things they're cooking up

Some of them see the light of day. Some of them don't. So some of the concepts that I saw, as I mentioned, were kind of those unique foldables

Right. So a foldable that. So I actually have the trifold on me right now. Right

So this came out in January. This folds like a pamphlet. Right

But imagine if and I folded it wrong. See that. So you think after all these all these months with this phone

This holds like a pamphlet, but what about a foldable that actually folds like a Z, like an accordion, right

They had a concept like that. They had that foldable that I'd mentioned where instead of the display being just inside, like here, that display would be wrapped around the edge

I feel like I would break that within two days at most. And then they had something where it was a foldable and a rollable

So imagine you open your phone and then the screen kind of rolls out like that

You just kind of make it a little bit more portable so you're not walking with this chunky guy with three panels here

So some really cool concepts. We were the first people to see those as well. And we will see which of those may or may not make it out of the lab

I mean, so like I want to talk about that, that you talk like a rollout display or expanding display

Right. And I want to bring David Laman to this because, David, you saw a Motorola rollable phone, say that five times quick, concept called the riser a couple of years ago, which not only had a similar experimental display, but it was a working prototype phone that you got to try out

And by the way, let's just acknowledge it had the word riser on the back

And if you're watching this video and you remember the OG Motorola riser, let me know in the comments

Yeah, it came out 20 years ago, but let's go. Lam, what did you think when you saw Motorola's rollable phone concept

And what stood out to you about that? Well, it's certainly weird to have a phone unroll in your hands

So there's, I don't know, a little bit of a futurism inside a device like that

Did it move fast enough? Is it faster than flipping open a phone? Probably not

So maybe the novelty wears off quickly. And there's a concern about durability as well

Is it going to, you know, sand going to fall into this dirt

Pocket lint, right? Super futuristic. But I think there's a reason we haven't gotten this in our pockets yet in a retail device

Still, it's the future. And, you know, after foldables hit the scene in 2020, 2021, we started thinking, well, what's next

Oh, rollable phone. Why not? Because the displays are flexible. Why not just expand it

And we're still seeing some of these unrolling devices, unrolling screens, but mostly in things like laptops, PCs, right

But mostly still in the concept stage, too. So I think it's a cool device

Again, I saw it years ago, and we haven't seen much of it since. So cool, futuristic, yes, but also still got a lot more kinks to work out than your average foldable

I don't think people understand. Like, Lum, can you show us how fast it is to flip open a phone

My God, I'm glad you asked perhaps the fastest flipper in the biz

Bam. There we go. Wow. I'm going to try flipping real quick here. Are you ready

Here we go. Ready? Hello. No, you do not call me about a poll during dinner time

All right. Let me throw it to Mike. So Mike, you got to see some of the concepts that Abra had her video and her stories

Out of those concept displays, which one would you be the most excited about, Mike, to see actually become a foldable phone

And which one would you actually use? So for me, I really enjoy the Twitch action that foldable phones kind of have

Like just like doing this up and forth with the Razer Plus right here. That's fun

So the rollable idea is fascinating to me because you can kind of like watch the screen kind of unfurl from the corner

during it. But when we watch these presentations, I remember last year when Samsung's Galaxy

Z Fold 7 was being debuted, they were showing it off with business owners because these phones

are expensive. And so you're looking for the person who wants both a phone and a mini tablet

at the same time. And I am actually like wondering in many cases when Samsung tests out these

concepts, who they're envisioning and the different use cases they key for. But yeah, I would think

rollable could be the most interesting because of the idea of it going from a small thing to a big

thing um but it's interesting because like i think there's still a lot of work trying to find that

mainstream audience especially with these phones being so expensive and mike i'd be remiss to say

that you you did say that you had a very important question you wanted to ask abrar about her cryptosol

korea oh yeah i know i really want to know because google always touts their food at their

their headquarters. I'm very curious what the food was like at Samsung's headquarters. Okay. I'm

pleased to share that. Thank you for asking that question. I was hoping somebody would. I'm pleased

to share that the food was really fun. I think fun is the word I would describe because they have a

massive cafeteria area where you get to pick what you want. And I settled on ramen. And so you pick

out your packet, you add your toppings, and then you go to the little ramen cooker. You select the

time it puts the right amount of water. It takes care of it all for you. It's really great. I had

I got banana milk, as you can see on the tray, because I was like, when in Korea, right? We got to do the whole thing

But they had the other options. They had Indian food They had pizza They had just like kind of more standard protein dishes But I just felt like ramen was the right idea and the thing that sold me is they have bibs because I didn

want to have ramen and make a mess of myself so they had a bib which you could see I was wearing

as I was making my ramen I think I put it on a little too early but I just want to make sure I

wasn't going to be a mess the rest of the day and I was wearing a white shirt so so yeah I highly

you know, 10 out of 10, very fun experience. But Abra, so basically..

I'll get the timer so you know when the food's coming. So basically Abra, they have Red Lobster technology

in Korea with the bibs. But let me ask you this, were you disappointed there wasn't any foldable phone

Like why are we not seeing quesadillas and like wraps and things like that

You have to fold to phone in. I think that employees are tired of folding things at work

So when they get lunch, they don't want to fold anything. I think that's my takeaway. You know someone in that lab put like a tortilla

in one of those folding devices like, hey, I made a quick thing with a $300,000 machine

Hey, but let's check in with Numi for a little bit because I'm sure people beyond the ramen

might have some comments about foldable phones or some questions like, what are we hearing from the chat, Numi

Yeah, so we actually have a really good question from Parky Prakar over on YouTube

And I'm sorry if I'm pronouncing that correctly. But they asked that, can the Samsung add a Galaxy S26 Ultra-like anti-reflective screen or privacy display feature on their foldables, considering they have plastic folding screens

First of all, we've got to give Parky a shout-out. Parky is some of you who does contribute to CNET and ZDNet, our sister brand

But I don't know. Who wants to answer that? Abra or someone from the panel, you want to talk about the possibility of seeing some of this display tech that we see on Samsung's non-folding phones coming to a foldable phone

What I'll say is I'll let someone else chime in. But I will say that I mentioned to the folks at Samsung that I really want a privacy display

Because I love it. And they mentioned that they saw my S26 Ultra video and how obsessed I was with the privacy display

So, Parkey, I'm right there with you. I want that. Even more, you know, anti-reflective would be awesome, too

But I look forward to a day where hopefully we can get privacy display on all the phones because it's so awesome

And all the video shooters in CNET studio right now are jumping up and down because an anti-reflective display is so much easier to film than a regular phone

I do want to kind of broaden our talk just from the Korea trip a bit

This is the state of foldable phones right now in 2026. So in the very early days of foldables in the U.S., like I said, it was really Samsung that dominated

But the past couple of years, it's been brands like Motorola that not only top in terms of sales, but also in market share

Right. So, David, I'll start with you. What is the state of foldable phones in the U.S. as it stands today, a week before Galaxy Impact

Yeah, so I would say it's a mix of good news and bad. good news is that uh as a brar sort of wrote about a little while ago uh foldable sales are up man 20

over last year so people are excited i think they have finally realized that foldables are

a reliable category and they've risen their cameras are better their performance is better

their battery lasts it's basically a normal phone you just fold it in half a little um but uh you

We're still in a rough little moment economically with phones, in addition to everything else in people's lives

We've already seen some price jumps at a lot of phones, including in Motorola's lineup

So the bottom two phones are about $100 more expensive. The Ultra, the Razer 2026 Ultra, is $200 more expensive

So people are going to feel it in their wallet, and we might see this enthusiasm for foldable phones dry up a bit

On the other hand, these are the best foldables we've gotten, and we expect Samsung's new lineup to be pretty impressive

As creaseless as it's ever been, right? And I wanted to show just how far we've come

We're talking about creases. I pulled out from the archives a Royal FlexPi 2 that I picked up at CES

The original foldable. The original foldable, yeah. The original foldable. Look how far we've come

Like, you want to talk about thickness. Hoo boy. So I just want to make..

Was that 2017-ish? We've come so far in six or seven years

Yeah, and Mike was saying, I believe that was like late 2028. They showed that phone to like a handful of reporters at a dinner or a restaurant or something like that

Right, right, Lam? 2018, yeah, for sure. Yeah. And just to talk about that, so I have, this is the original 2019 Razr

It costs $1,495. Prices went down for a little bit, and now the top-of-the-line Ultra costs $1,500 in 2026

Now, some of that is to be expected. This is like a difference of about six years. But, Mike, I wonder if you could talk a little bit about Motorola

because Motorola has kind of taken on a classic business model, right? We have like the clamshell has a good, better, best approach, kind of hitting different price points

What do you think about that has resonated with their consumers? And are affordable Razors any good

So Motorola has definitely taken a very, I've been calling it a societal approach toward the Razor phone

especially since the Razor has a very long legacy of being around since early 2000s with Paris Hilton promoting it

now the Motorola Razr is the official phone of Love Island. Every time the Villa guests get a text, they scream

I get a text on the Razr. And, oh, I turned on the flashlight, pardon me

Anyway, Motorola has been really positioning the Razr line in a lot of different ways

And I think that's probably been reflected in its sales. The Motorola Razr has been one of the

within the flip fold category, flip folding phone category. is one of the top selling brands within it

even with Samsung very much in that category too with the Z Flip series

And then Motorola has also been doing a lot of different ways to make the razor look unique

There's various Swarovski style collaborations where their little jewels are added to the back of it

A recent collaboration with World Cup added a two-tone green design. So that's definitely been their strategy

is not just putting out new iterations of the flip phone, but trying to tie it into different moments

And it's been a lot of fun covering them because it has new

usually when it comes to covering a phone year over year, we talk about the specs and the camera

And while those improve a little bit as well in the razor line, it's a bit of fun with the way they play with textures

and material and cultural moments that is unique to them. And Mike, I can understand you turning the flash down on

because that is the most popular feature to use on a Motorola phone and on Love Island

Hey, Abra, so outside the U.S., foldable phones have really taken off with designs that are more exciting

and sometimes more the size of a regular phone, but also having different materials

and different features that we just don't get on some of the phones from

And we haven't mentioned Google at all, and they're foldable. What are we missing here in the U that you seen And does something like the Motorola Razr Fold that we just saw footage of just a minute ago does that book foldable from Motorola bridge the gap at all

You know, I think, so my favorite phone that I reviewed last year was the Z Fold 7 because I feel like that was what was missing

It was a phone that is a book-style foldable that feels like a standard phone, right

I'm holding it. I don't even remember that there's a massive 8-inch display on the inside

So then to be like, oh, I can use this and it feels like a normal phone that I'm used to

And it's great for watching movies and multitasking. I think that is really awesome

And then I look at the Razer Fold as an answer to or a response to what Samsung did last year with the Z Fold 7

It's also nice in that. I mean, I've got both here too. So here's the Razer Fold and then here is the Z Fold 7

And, you know, they're both around the same thickness and they both feel somewhat similar

the Z Fold 7 feels a little bit lighter in my hand, but I think that's what was missing

And now where do we go from there? Right. And I'll be so honest with you. I didn't expect that

the Galaxy Z Trifold was actually going to come out until it did, because it felt like such a

rumor of why would I like, why would Samsung so soon after releasing the Z Fold 7 have another

phone that now folds twice? Right. So we're, we're getting there. I think in the U S we're

we're getting these phones, we're getting these concepts of devices that I didn't think were

possible even a year ago. And it's really cool to see that come out here

I'm going to pick you on the spot for just a second, because between the trip to Korea, and especially the display stuff, and the hardware stuff that you're praising

I haven't heard you really talk about software. And I'm wondering, what is more important in a quick thought from you, the hardware and the display that's foldable

or is it the software? Because I feel like as we get these hardware progressions, I haven't seen

much software that really supports some of the improvements. Yeah. One of my biggest gripes

anytime I'm reviewing a foldable phone is when I'm scrolling through Instagram on the main display

because things are still awkwardly cropped. Watching reels on that format doesn't make

any sense because people's heads are chopped off and you're missing like 25% of the content

So I am waiting for foldables to get better in that way. I'm waiting for the software to really

catch up. It's wild that we're seven, almost eight generations into, you know, Samsung's

foldables and I'm still facing these issues, but it is getting better. It's definitely getting

better. And the really nice thing about the trifold is being able to use Dex to turn this

thing into a miniature laptop. So being able to resize and move windows, just like you're on your

computer. I wrote a story on this thing just to try it. Did I ever do it again? No, but I could do

it and that's what matters. So I think we're getting there, but there's still some room

I mean, I got to be a shout out that I think something that Motorola has gotten right for me is the cover screen

And I just realized I ran out of battery here. But the cover screen on here is so useful and so unique

And I think that is an example of how the software really does shine on the hardware of something like this

And it's interesting, too, because we have some colleagues who are working with the company Clix who have a keyboard case for the Razr

And that keyboard plus this screen was kind of the inspiration behind their upcoming phone, the Clix Communicator, like kind of this BlackBerry-inspired device

But it's largely the fact that it's the cover screen on the Razer and the size that has so much functionality

Initially, I think Motorola had more of almost like a smartwatch feel to that

So I think we've had almost a little bit more leaps and bounds in terms of software on the clamshell style foldables versus the book style

But I want to talk about the missing foldable real quick. Apple. Apple is rumored to launch a foldable iPhone

They've been rumored to launch a foldable iPhone for like seven, eight years now. David, I wonder, what are the rumors you know more recently about the Apple iPhone Folder

I think some people call it the iPhone Ultra. And what would a phone like that mean for foldable phones as a category if it were to come out

Yeah, I'm glad we're getting yet another Ultra in our phone lineups

Wonderful. This is Apple's long-rumored project, right? We've been hearing whispers, rumors, leakers talk about it 20 years

Or sorry, 20 years. It's since 2020, right? Or even a little bit before

There we go. And, you know, this is Apple's final, you know, like final or latest foray to something different, waiting for other people to to burst onto the scene and like handle a lot of their pain points for them to come on and put out a refreshed version

Right. And so as you can see in the video or the photo there, the latest rumors point to a wide sort of format

Right. Passport style, they might call it something we saw in the original Google Pixel fold

And this is obviously very different from the tall book style foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 that could offer something slightly different

Because when you unfold a book style, it's about a one to one square ratio or close to the one we're hearing from Apple could be wider

and that would go toe to toe with potentially a Samsung, you know, rumors also point to a wider

Samsung phone. And it would unfold into something like, you know, a wider tablet format style thing

that we've also seen in say the Z trifold. So this kind of, you know, Apple has decided perhaps

that, you know, this is, this is the screen, the interior screen people want. This is an iPad

but like imagine it, you're foldable unfolding into a screen. You already know the format for in a tablet

So I think that's Apple's pitch, Apple's appeal. There's a lot left for us to learn about that

if it is even coming out, if the economics makes sense. Like everything else this year

there's a big challenge in terms of memory scarcity and making things make financial sense

Apple's at the top of the premium phone segment, so it can sell phones and still make a decent chunk of change

but they're pretty averse to introducing new products. So they're not very, they're not as great

I say they just raised the prices on 14 of their products. It's not lost to me that you had the iPad there

And I think that might be Apple's one advantage because iPad software for a long time

was kind of outpacing Android tablet software. And I think the idea of bringing some of the iPad technology

some of the windowing, some of the multitasking that you have on there, it could be kind of a very compelling form factor to fold that open

And goodness gracious, Google got it right. That pixel fold, the OG, is legendary for its passportness

And I wonder with modern hinge design and things like that, what that looks like

And I guess Apple might be the only one to show us. But let's check in with Numi real quick

What's the buzz in the chat? Are people excited about Motorola, Apple

They want to hear more about a brass ramen bib. I mean, all of it

But really you guys are talking about the iPhone. Someone, so Mickey17 over on YouTube again

asked according to you, what could Apple be doing and what do you want them to do in order to knock it out

of the park with the iPhone foldable? They called it iPhone Ultra

but you don't know what it would be called yet. What's sort of your wish list

There's like, I want to chime in on a little bit on this because I do have a couple of thoughts on this

Because I feel like the things I'd like to see them do, I think the idea of having something when it's folded be a little more petite design

maybe not quite bordering the iPhone mini design, but something that's a little more squat would be appealable

And like Abra was talking about with some of the foldals they've seen the last couple of years, especially the Fold 7 last year

is that thinness. And if it's closed and thin, that would be amazing. And if I open it up and

it's an iPad mini-like experience or iPad nano-like experience, I'm stealing a little iPod

terminology here, I think that would be so compelling. I think it's going to be interesting

to see price if it was a different year without like the fallout from Terrace last year and fallout

from RAM pricing this year. I still think that price would be kind of high knowing Apple, but

I'm curious if that's going to be a higher thing. I don't know. Mike, what do you think with the

Apple foldable? Is this something that would appeal to you or what would you like to see on it that

we haven't heard about yet? Apple has a funny tendency to take something that many other

companies are doing, then release their own version. And it's like, it's a brand new thing. Like it hasn't been seven other years of foldable flipping phones. I'm expecting that to happen

completely but in this particular case I am thinking it's similar to what you mentioned

if Apple can show it as a phone and then you lay it down unfold it almost like a MacBook

and then start using it like a MacBook perhaps with a nearby keyboard of some kind that could

be the way of selling it which is not remotely new most companies putting out a foldable phone

have used that exact pitch. But Apple does have a way of presenting itself

that could lead to a lot more awareness of this form factor that we've seen for a long time

And it might even spurn out into web apps and other services further optimizing

for a foldable phone style. And that could eventually then help out

the existing Android ones if there's more web apps and similar that are already now accounting

for a folding style phone. That's been the biggest issue is, like I mentioned earlier, software optimization, whether or not apps and services are even taking advantage of these devices

So, Mike, I'd like to hear that you'd be all about the laptop mode if there was an Apple foldable

And that funny little habit has been a very successful habit, too, for Apple as they dominate whatever those categories they come into

and I think it would actually be a device that would open the floodgates for whatever they do

good, bad, or ugly, there's going to be aspects of that that we're going to see on other foldables

even from some of the companies we've talked about. But let's talk about next week

We're getting a little long here, but let's talk about the Galaxy Unpacked event. It's Wednesday

It's July 22nd. It's really early in the morning in the U.S. It's 6 a.m. West Coast time

Mike, back to you next week. what do we know about this event

We know there's a Galaxy Z Fold 8. It was an Abrar story

It doesn't take kind of a penis to figure out that 8 comes after 7. But what else can we expect

And what do we know about this Fold 8, David? So at Cina, we're constantly tracking events every year

And typically Samsung in the summer puts out a new Fold, a new Flip, and new Galaxy watches

That's more or less what I'm expecting to see for breakfast next week. a new fold, a new flip

Last year, there was a cheaper Z Flip 7 FE that I happen to have right here

Not hearing rumors about a new one of these. And this was about $900 at launch

which was still very expensive. So most likely a flip, a fold, a watch, we think

There's also some rumors out there about the possibility of Samsung's Galaxy glasses

And that could be something they get into, but we'll find out for sure Wednesday

That's typically year-over-year what happens is at least two foldable phones and a watch

And it sounds like Samsung sent the police after you since you're talking about some rumors here, Mike

I will acknowledge those Galaxy XR glasses that were kind of teased at Google

It felt like they had one sentence about it at Google I.O. a few months ago. So I think there's some hunger to learn a little bit more about that

But it is curious that Samsung did try doing kind of like an affordable version of the flip

And whereas Motorola has three models that have really been, I think, very successful for them

I haven't heard that that's been a successful tactic for Samsung. So I'd be curious to see if they started

But, Brar, I've got to talk to you because this event is in London and you're actually going to be going there

Why is it in London And what can you tell me about There these social media videos that Samsung been posting like little teasers that emphasize rectangular shape like one a pizza and

someone's cutting out kind of, it reminded me of like a 90s cafeteria and high school

rectangle square pizza that you might have. Like, why is that shape significant? What's up in London

Help us understand all this. And again, tied back to food. Curious about that

I mean, I would like to think that it's in London because they know it's my favorite city. So that's the theory that I'm going with

Thank you to Samsung. That is the worst theory, by the way

I think it's been confirmed. I don't know what you're talking about. They have a tendency, you know, like you got you into Paris for their unpacked event during when the Olympics were happening there, just before they were happening there

So sometimes I like to tie it to an event that's going on. And, you know, I hope I'll find out more about the real reason why we're in London once we get there and things will kind of all fall into place

But it's a lovely backdrop. You know, I think it's cool when they can do something in a space outside of the U.S. to bring in a wider variety of people

But that video that you mentioned that we're looking at now with all these square shaped items, this reflects what a lot of the rumors suggest about the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 8

And this also reflects the rumors about Apple's potential foldable, right? So that square shape design, that wider design, you know, obviously not a perfect square, but, you know, a little bit more squat

And so you see all these things that begin as this long rectangular shape and then they become squashed down or chopped off to potentially reflect what's coming

And it's not very subtle. Like we know kind of where they're going with this and they're not trying to be secretive

So I kind of appreciate that about Samsung. It's fun when they're like, yeah, what secrets

like here you go so um so we'll see what's kind of uh actually going to be announced yeah that like

one of the videos it just literally they have like a it's like paint or something in a the squeegee

or something going down and it turns into a number eight it's like i guess that's the fold eight is

that worth yeah but it it is funny because uh that design that passport design uh i mean motorola had

it um microsoft uh surface duo uh had that four three ratio obviously that wasn't like a true foldable

phone, but probably one of the best pieces of phone hardware made, period. Fight me on that

if you want. But let me go back to you, David. So Samsung's in this interesting position, right

It's no longer like the giant lead it once had in foldables. And maybe that's the wrong way of

saying it. It's no longer kind of like just the biggest player in foldables because there's so

many other companies competing with them and with possible Apple on the horizon being a big unknown

on what does Samsung need to get right at next week's event

And what does the brand need to avoid in your opinion? Yeah, it's tough because ysts

there's a counterpoint research report that came out in April that was saying that just Apple's debut

in the foldable space will carve out, you know, 40 plus percent just for Apple

So Apple's reputation for precision and perfection is really coming out ahead of it

So it's kind of Samsung's game to lose in terms of showcasing its incredible lead in

polish in its hardware. But Samsung also needs to extend its lead in other ways in which it is interacting with

a lot of its other hardware in how it works with smartphones and the XR glasses it's working on

with Google, all the ways in which it's really plugged in, especially with its Gemini partnerships

with Google in order to sell this idea that this hardware is so far advanced of whatever Apple is

going to make. And that might be focusing on the highest end foldables out there. That might be

the Z Fold and maybe leaving the Z Flip behind because it's just not showcasing the top technology

anymore. And essentially, that was our first AI mention, I think, this entire video. I do want to

throw one more thing at the panel here. What do you want to see on Samsung's new foldables or

watches that Mike mentioned or this Galaxy XR glasses, if we saw that? What's this one thing

from each of you and just one sentence you guys get that you want to see next week that you haven't

heard about in rumors. I mean, I don't want to spend a million dollars, I think is the only

requirement I have. Don't make the foldables ridiculously, prohibitively more expensive than

they already are. That's all I've got. So foldables be pricey and foldables be even more

for pricey in 2026 David Lum what about you What do you want to see So counter to what I just said I do want the flip phones to stay on Like I think that

like that format is a great, like a gateway device for people to hop in and see if they

want their screen to fall. It's also, people aren't going to want to spend, like Abra said

two grand or more if this, if prices keep continuing, they just want to hop up and like

get something that fits cool in their pocket is novel and is on parody

please keep continuing to do that Samsung. Cause I think that is what makes you shine

especially if Apple does have a clamshell up its sleeve. Yeah. And, and, and David, just one more time

Like why, why can you just flip that phone open for us real quick? There we go

You got two of them. What about you, Mike? What do you want to see? Functionality for sure

The number one thing when I talk about covering flip and foldable phones with

uh friends and family is why would i use this and while people understand more inherently

the flip form factor because of its history as a basic phone um i think the folding one still has

an audience fight on its hands even though it's been around for the last six seven years

uh there needs to be a compelling reason for why would i pay 2 000 to 2 500 for a phone

It's interesting we're talking about that wide foldable, the rectangle pizza-shaped thing that we just saw

I wonder if that's like a way to kind of, in Samsung's way, to bridge that price gap between like a clamshell, like a Z flip phone and a regular book style Z fold

But you don't have to wonder too long. We're going to find out next week. And as we approach next week, I just want to check in with Noomi again

What's going on in the chat? Yeah. Yeah, so we had a couple of questions that you guys actually answered while you were talking, but

from 7,000 kilometers on YouTube. Will BlackBerry ever return? Okay, I'm going to throw the mic to this in a second, but let me just say this, though

I am obsessed with this company called Clix. I don't have any financial interest in it

They make these keyboards and they made some cool ones for the iPhone. And when they announced the fact that they're doing a phone called the Clix Communicator

there's already like a sea of kind of like faux BlackBerry devices

There's companies you can go to that takes an actual old BlackBerry phone from like 20 some years ago

and updates it so you can use it today. But what's cool about this Clix Communicator is it's designed by a former BlackBerry designer

So a former RIM designer. And I think that's compelling because they're not trying to, it's like I have the, again, this Razr from 2019, right

And it looks a little nostalgic, right? It has that nostalgic chin on it

And that's kind of where all the processor and things like that were kept

But on this Clix Communicare, they're not just trying to make it look like an old BlackBerry device

They really wanted to wonder like, hey, what if we brought this into 2026? And it is definitely inspired by the Motorola Razr cover screen

and that clicks communicator case, but it just seems like, yeah, there's an appetite there

I'm definitely someone who cannot wait to get mine, and I think it might be maybe my main device for a while

Mike, I know you've been covering this space a bit. What do you think? Yeah, no, if you are looking for a BlackBerry-style keyboard, there is a lot of companies trying to cash in on the nostalgia right now

One company I've been following called Unihertz, they have a phone coming out shortly, I think this fall, called the Titan II Elite

That was at Mobile World Congress. And it takes its cues from the BlackBerry curve

And last year, they had a phone, the Titan II, that was a BlackBerry passport style, not BlackBerry, but a keyboard phone

In general, there's a lot of companies trying out older style phones to cash in and different

thoughts about getting away from more mainstream. I remember the Barbie phone from HMD about two years ago was a highlight to me because

it was very personality-filled but also being a flip phone. And I'm curious to see how that goes

If memory serves right, BlackBerry had a tablet back in the early 2010s

and it would be funny if they were still around, if they were to try out a foldable style phone

Yeah, right. We're not hearing foldables from BlackBerry, but that would be amazing

And I think like 10 years ago, we had like those BlackBerry key phones

that were made by Alcatel, so there was like some licensing there. But I think there's some hunger for a phone that does like something really well

whether it just doing typing really well with a keyboard or something that is not trying to do everything for you and present everything at you and throw everything at at once so it does seem like on one side of the phone

spectrum we have something like a foldable phone which tries to do all that and on the other side

you have some of these like Blackberry devices um what's the any other questions to me I want to

make sure that we we hit them hit them all if we can uh sure so we have from our wdup on YouTube

do you see any sort of improvements coming regarding durability of the screens

Oh, yeah. So are we seeing improvements in terms of like phone display durabilities

I'm guessing specifically foldable phone durability. We got to throw it back to Abraar because you just

part of that tour was seeing how that stuff's tested, right? And that titanium display you were talking about, right

Tell us more about this durability. Exactly. So the Flex Titanium was the big announcement, the pre-unpacked announcement about what Samsung

is doing now with its upcoming foldables. So these are designed to be thinner, but also more durable and still just as flexible

So really just kind of consolidating some of those layers, but ensuring that durability is key

Again, some of those tests were a ball drop test to make sure that those displays can

handle very quick and heavy pressure. If you drop anything on there, if you drop the phone itself

And then again, just the folding machines that make sure that you can fold those things

things, you know, up to half a million times and you'll still be able to have a functional device

So, you know, there's, there's always still room to grow here, but it looks like they're kind of taking a step in that direction. Cause they hear you, man. They hear the fact that you are spending

thousands of dollars on a phone and you want to make sure it lasts. I can ask you a question. Have you ever dropped a foldable phone

I'm not going to answer that question because I'm going to jinx myself. Oh, wow. Okay

No comment. And by not answering, I think you answered. All right

Zoomie, any other remaining questions there? I think we're actually pretty good

Again, you guys are doing a great job answering as we're going. I will say, Dorelli, Elodie on YouTube all said

$2,500 for a folding phone? That's ridiculous. Sure is. We're in the room

No, yeah, don't do that. And here, I'm going to evangelize, evangelical, I'm just going to, I can't talk right now

I'm going to preach that, like, even $1,000 for phones a lot. And I think a lot of people, you could take your old phone, maybe not a foldable, that

might be more complex, but, and just replace the battery and get a couple more years out

of it. Like, I'm all about not spending these thousands of dollars. While they're very exciting designs, very exciting phones, don't go into debt for it

Like, everything else is so damn expensive right now. Man, I'll get off my soapbox, stepping down

I respect that, man, and I hear that. And, yeah, I mean, I remember maybe five or six years ago

companies like Samsung and Motorola going on record about wanting to bring the price down and how the price would come down

And we did see that go down a little bit, right? Some of the prices for the flip went down and flirted with $1,000

The $900 phone that Mike showed earlier, it's kind of a repackaged Galaxy Z Flip 6

It's just kind of neat. Motorola's bringing in phones around like $500

and it's interesting because their phones are usually designed to discount. So some respect there, though

The price for the Razer Ultra is just a war crime. Yeah, that's hard

I've got to say, I really appreciate everyone watching for tuning in

Abrar, Mike, David, Noomi, I just thank you all for not only sharing your expertise

your lovely stories about ramen bibs, and just like your testing in New York

Mike has been fantastic. David, I don't know where you got that Roboflex phone from

It haunts me that you have that. But if you want to see more about our Galaxy Unpacked coverage, check out CNET.com next week

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Flip your phone closed, David. Let's close it out. Everybody, close your phones on 3, 2, 1