Forget the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 – future foldables could be even cheaper

And bezel-free

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One of the most exciting aspects of the upcomingSamsung Galaxy Z Flip 4is that it could be the most affordablefoldable phoneyet, but it’s still sure to have a high price – something which futureSamsungfoldables might not.

That’s because according toThe Elec- a South Korean tech industry news site – Samsung is trialling a new lamination process for attaching theOLEDmodule to the cover glass of its foldable phones, and this process is supposedly ten times cheaper.

It involves using a transparent adhesive liquid rather than transparent tape, and is said to make the process faster as well as cheaper.

It’s not clear exactly how much money this change could save Samsung in total, let alone whether those savings would be passed on to consumers, but it’s certainly possible that this could lead to cheaper foldable phones.

That’s not the only benefit either, as this process also supposedly allows for thinner screens with no top or bottom bezels at all. The bezels on premium smartphones – including foldable phones – are already tiny, but they’re still present, so it sounds like their days could be numbered.

Analysis: when will foldables get cheaper?

While this tech sounds promising, the report states that it’s about to be trialled at a plant in Vietnam, so it sounds like Samsung hasn’t committed to using it in phones yet. As such, we might be waiting a little while for this switch – if it happens at all.

It’s possible that we could see it used in time for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5 in 2023, but we wouldn’t count on it.

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Either way, we might not see truly affordable foldable phones until at least 2024, asanother recent leaksuggested that’s the earliest that we’ll see foldable equivalents to Samsung’s mid-range Galaxy A line.

In the meantime, if you like Samsung but can’t stretch to a foldable, it’s worth checking out thebest Samsung phones, as there are loads of more affordable options.

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James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.

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