Samsung hopes nostalgia will drive sales of a modernized flip phone

By Christian de Looper May 12, 2017

new samsung flip phone news

It looks like the humble flip phone isn’t dead just yet. According to a new report, Samsung is planning on launching a new flip phone with many of the high-end features that you would expect on any new smartphone.

The phone has the model number SM-W2017, and first hit the rumor mill when it was approved for wireless charging certification from the New Jersey Wireless Power Consortium.

But what kind of hardware can we expect from the phone? According to the report, which comes from The Investor, the device is expected to come with a 4.2-inch OLED display, along with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor. It will also come with a 12MP rear-facing camera, along with a 5MP front-facing camera. Like many of Samsung’s other offerings, the device will also reportedly be water resistant.

The device will also feature some key Samsung services, including Samsung Pay and the Samsung Knox security feature, which should help keep the device relatively safe.

We still don’t know much about how much the phone will cost, nor do we know exactly where it will be available — however the report cites an unnamed telecom official as saying that it will be “priced higher than any other folder phones here.” The official also noted that “depending on the pricing, there is a possibility that the phone will be launched as a special edition.”

Samsung has actually made quite an effort in flip phones over the past few years. It launched the Galaxy Folder in July 2015, and sources suggest that the Galaxy Folder 2 will launch at some point in the first half of this year. The Galaxy Folder 2 was first announced last year, and features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor and 2GB of RAM. It also offers a 3.8-inch display and 16GB of storage, though that storage can be expanded to 128GB through a MicroSD card slot.

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Christian’s interest in technology began as a child in Australia, when he stumbled upon a computer at a garage sale that he…

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