Samsung debuts free 7-day trial program for Galaxy Z Flip and Z Fold 2

Samsung really wants you to try out its foldable phones, and if you reside in Singapore, the company is now giving you the opportunity to take the Galaxy Z Flip 5G or the Galaxy Z Fold 2 out for a spin without spending a dime. Samsung has just launched the Galaxy Free Trial program in Singapore, offering prospective buyers a 7-day tryout period as well as a discount on other products should they decide to keep the foldable device for themselves.

This is unlike the 60-day paid trial for foldables that was introduced to the UK market at the beginning of the month. That particular program allows customers to trade in the device at full purchase price once the trial period ends. In contrast, the Galaxy Free Trail program in Singapore lets customers try these foldable devices for 7 days, free of charge, with no strings attached.

An opportunity to receive a complementary Galaxy Watch 3

Customers interested in trying out the Galaxy Z Flip or the Galaxy Z Fold 2 can book a device online and set a time and date for when they can collect the device from the desired Samsung Experience Store. The 7-day trial comes with 24/7 live support via the Samsung Members app, and once the trial period ends, customers can return the device at no cost — assuming it wasn’t damaged.

Samsung customers who decide to buy the Galaxy Z Fold 2 or the Galaxy Z Flip 5G after the trial period ends will receive a $100 voucher that can be used when purchasing accessories, tablets or wearables at a Samsung Experience Store. In addition, Galaxy Z Fold 2 buyers who act before May 7 have a chance to receive a complementary 45mm Galaxy Watch 3 — while stocks last.

Not sure which foldable device to pick? Take a short quiz

Samsung fans who may want to try out the Galaxy Z Fold 2 or the Galaxy Z Flip can visit the official Galaxy Free Trial page for booking and additional details. And if you’re not sure which Galaxy Z foldable device is for you, you might be able to find the right answer by taking a short quiz. No, not one of SamMobile’s quizzes — though they can provide hours of fun — but one made by Samsung specifically for this trial program.

The quiz is available on the trial page linked above and it contains just a handful of questions. In short, if you’re looking for cutting-edge style, you’re probably going to enjoy the Galaxy Z Flip more. If you want cutting-edge innovation, Samsung is recommending the Galaxy Z Fold 2 instead.

As to whether or not the Galaxy Free Trial program will be introduced in other markets besides Singapore, sadly there’s no confirmation of this, so here’s to hoping Samsung has plans for additional regions.

Galaxy Z Flip review | Galaxy Z Fold 2 review
Galaxy Watch 3 review

Galaxy Z Fold 2

• Model: SM-F916B
• Dimensions: Folded: 159.2 x 68.0 x 16.8 mm
  Unfolded: 159.2 x 128.2 x 6.9 mm
  
• Display: 7.6 inch / 193.04 mm Dynamic AMOLED 2X
• CPU: Snapdragon 865+
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

Galaxy Z Flip 5G

• Model: SM-F707B
• Dimensions: Folded: 87.4 x 73.6 x 17.3 mm
  Unfolded: 167.3 x 73.6 x 7.2 mm
  
• Display: 6.7 inch / 170.18 mm Dynamic AMOLED Display
• CPU: Snapdragon 865+
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

Galaxy Watch 3 (45mm)

• Model: SM-R840
• Dimensions: Watch: 46.2 x 45.0 x 11.1 mm
  
• Display: 1.4 inch / 35.56 mm Circular Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 9110
• Camera:

More specifications

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Success of Samsung’s foldable phones depends a lot on Apple

Samsung is the only company that has launched foldable smartphones globally and has had some form of success. Since 2019, the company has launched four foldable phones with two different designs, and the Galaxy Z Fold 2 is often termed as the best foldable smartphone. While Samsung is far ahead of other firms in the foldable space, its success in the future will depend a lot on Apple.

Out of 1.5 billion smartphones that are sold annually worldwide, Samsung makes 300 million of them. When it comes to foldable phones, though, the company sold just 500,000 units in 2019 and had hoped to sell at least 4.5 million units in 2020. But the actual numbers were just 60% of the original target. While Samsung blames a lot of it on the ongoing COVID-19 situation, lower sales can also be attributed to sky-high prices of foldable phones. A lot of consumers also see foldable phones as experimental devices that may or may not succeed.

Samsung’s foldable phones haven’t been as successful as everyone had hoped

According to a report from South Korea, smartphone parts suppliers and industry insiders had hoped that Samsung’s foldable devices would bring breakthrough innovations and fuel the industry’s growth. Some of them now think that foldable smartphones do not offer enough utility, at least for their extremely high pricing. According to them, they may not be the breakthrough devices everyone was hoping for, and that Samsung needs to do better by making foldable devices more useful and accessible.

Since Samsung has decided not to release a Galaxy Note device this year, the company will depend a lot on its two upcoming foldable devices: Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3. But due to their high prices, they may not match the sales of the Galaxy Note series. The Galaxy S21 series received a good response in Q1, and analysts expect a total annual sales of around 30 million units. While the numbers are higher than the Galaxy S20 (mid-20 million), they are not as high as the sales of older Galaxy S devices, which usually reached 35 million units every year.

Apple’s entry into the foldable space will help Samsung a lot

With Apple dominating the high-end segment and Chinese firms chewing away Samsung’s market share in the low-end and mid-range segments, the South Korean firm needs to do something groundbreaking in the foldable segment. While it can bring down the prices to increase sales, the move will hurt profitability. Industry insiders expect that the sales of foldable phones will rise if Apple enters the segment with its foldable iPhone.

Right now, Apple is reportedly testing prototypes of foldable display panels, and it doesn’t even have a working handset yet. If rumors are to be believed, the Cupertino-based tech giant has worked on concepts similar to the Galaxy Z Flip and the Galaxy Z Fold 2 and is leaning towards a design that opens up the screen to a size that is similar to the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max. However, nothing has been finalized yet, and it could take at least two years before we see a foldable iPhone.

Apple has all the marketing might and the laser focus needed to popularize the foldable form factor. It can bring in the developers and third-party brands to create a whole new ecosystem around foldable phones. And when the company does that sometime in the future, Samsung might finally see a meteoric rise in the sale of its own foldable devices.

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Samsung rules the global smartphone market once again

Samsung enjoys a dominant position in the global smartphone market as the top vendor. The company continues to push hard to ensure that depsite increasing competition, it doesn’t lose out on the top spot.

The latest report from a market tracker has revealed that Samsung was on top once again. The company remained the largest single mobile vendor globally in the first quarter of this year.

Samsung remains on top of the smartphone market

According to a report by Strategy Analytics, Samsung saw its smartphone shipments surge 32 percent year-over-year to 77 million units in the period ending March 2021. It accounted for 23 percent of the entire smartphone market.

Smartphone shipments have shown incredible growth this year after the challenging year that was 2020. Shipments across the globe in the first three months of 2021 have reached 340 million units. This is a 24 percent increase from the same period last year when the world was suddenly going into lockdown due to the COVID19 pandemic.

Samsung capitalized on the demand for affordable devices with the launch of its new Galaxy A series phones. The company expanded the lineup with new 4G and 5G phones earlier this year. These models contributed to its solid performance in the quarter. The figures for this quarter also represent the success that Samsung has seen with the Galaxy S21 series.

Apple took the second spot on the list with 57 million units shipped in the January-March 2021 period.

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If the Galaxy Z Flip 2 looks like this, who wouldn’t want to buy one!

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Z Flip last year. It was very well received even after the troubles of the original Galaxy Fold. Samsung had made a great decision to opt for the clamshell form factor. The sequel to this popular handset is now highly anticipated.

The company is due to launch the Galaxy Z Flip 2 in the coming months. Not much has been revealed about the device so far. A new concept provides us with an idea of what the Galaxy Z Flip 2 may look like. If it looks like this, who wouldn’t want one!

Galaxy Z Flip 2 concept sparks the imagination

The Galaxy Z Flip is already one of Samsung’s best phones by virtue of its design. Samsung ought to refine it further with the second generation to provide a product that’s truly in a class of its own.

This concept shows us the familiar form factor adorned with the Contour Cut camera housing that was introduced with the Galaxy S21 series. The subtle curves and the way the housing tapers off makes the device appear sleek and modern. The matching and contrast color combinations for the hinge will make it look more stylish as well.

It envisages a larger cover display than the original handset’s 1.1-inch AMOLED screen. Reports do suggest that both the cover and the internal foldable display might be a bit larger than the predecessor. That’s going to be a welcome change.

Samsung will certainly be making some design changes to the device. It needs to accommodate some internal changes, after all. We exclusively revealed yesterday that the Galaxy Z Flip 2 and the Galaxy Z Fold 3 will both feature an IP rating. This will be a first for foldable smartphones.

The company hasn’t revealed as yet when it’s planning on unveiling the new foldable phones. A report claims that they will be launched in July this year.

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Samsung TV Plus is now available in the Netherlands

Samsung had announced earlier this month that it would launch its free and linear video streaming service in India and various European markets. While the service went live in India shortly after the announcement, the Netherlands got access to Samsung TV Plus today. Samsung smart TV users can start watching Samsung TV Plus channels starting today.

Samsung TV Plus currently features 20 channels (6 Dutch and 14 international) in the Netherlands, including lifestyle, reality TV, music, movies, and news. The Samsung TV Plus app for Galaxy smartphones and tablets is still not available in the Netherlands, but we expect it to go live soon.

The South Korean tech firm’s free and linear TV service is ad-supported, and users don’t need to pay for anything. It doesn’t even require a setup, let alone the need to add a credit card or a user registration process. Users can just open Samsung TV Plus and start watching all the free content, including movies, music, TV shows, and news.

Samsung claims that it has launched over 1,000 channels on Samsung TV Plus worldwide. The service was first launched in South Korea, and then it expanded to other markets worldwide, including the US, Canada, India, and Europe. It even has a few 4K channels, but most are limited to 720p or 1080p.

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MediaTek could beat Samsung in launching 4nm processors

Samsung was among the first brands in the world to launch a 5nm smartphone processor. After Apple debuted the iPhone 12 in October 2020 with the 5nm A14 Bionic chipset, Samsung followed up with the Exynos 1080 in November and the Exynos 2100 in January 2021. Qualcomm’s 5nm Snapdragon 888 debuted in December, but MediaTek’s highest-end chip is still based on the 6nm process. However, the company could soon beat other firms with its first 4nm chip.

According to a new report, MediaTek will beat Apple, Samsung, and Qualcomm this year by launching the world’s first 4nm chipset for mobile devices. Samsung Foundry’s primary rival TSMC will reportedly start the mass production of the 4nm Dimensity processor in Q4 2021 or Q1 2022. Going with TSMC’s best fabrication process comes at a higher cost, though: $80 vs. $35 for other 5nm chips. Some rumors claim that MediaTek’s upcoming flagship processor will challenge high-end Snapdragon chips from Qualcomm.

Apparently, various Android OEMs have already ordered 4nm chips from MediaTek, and the list includes Samsung. If this report turns out to be true, the South Korean tech giant might release at least one high-end or higher mid-range Galaxy smartphone with a 4nm MediaTek processor. OPPO, Vivo, and Xiaomi have ordered MediaTek’s upcoming chipset as well.

The Taiwanese chipset maker has improved a lot over the past couple of years, and it even became the world’s biggest chipmaker in the smartphone space with Samsung Electronic’s help. MediaTek might prove to be a danger to Samsung LSI’s plans of increasing its market share by offering Exynos chipsets to Chinese smartphone OEMs as it did with the Exynos 1080.

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Galaxy Z Fold 3 will not use the Exynos 2100 processor after all

Samsung made huge improvements with the Exynos 2100 processor. Unlike the Exynos 990, the new flagship Exynos chipset doesn’t overheat or throttle. Power efficiency has improved a lot, too. However, the Exynos 2100 will still not be used in Samsung’s highest-end smartphone for 2021, the Galaxy Z Fold 3.

According to popular leakster Ice Universe (@UniverseIce), the Galaxy Z Fold 3 will come equipped with the Snapdragon 888 processor. Despite the improvements made by Samsung with its in-house chipset, the Exynos 2100 remains a step behind the Snapdragon 888, especially in terms of GPU performance and power efficiency. This might be the reason why the Galaxy Z Fold 3 will use the Snapdragon 888 instead of the Exynos 2100. It also means that the smartphone will not debut with an Exynos chipset featuring AMD Mobile Radeon graphics.

Samsung had revealed a few months ago that it intends to make its Galaxy Z Fold lineup thinner and lighter so that it is more comfortable to use. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is said to be 13 grams lighter than the Galaxy Z Fold 2. If this information is correct, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 could weigh 269 grams compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 2’s 282 grams.

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 will have an official IP rating for dust and water resistance. The device is said to be compatible with the S Pen (but no silo), thanks to its thicker Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) protection and a digitizer. The device could feature a slightly smaller cover display, but it might have a higher refresh rate. A 4,400mAh battery will power the upcoming foldable phone. It will have 256GB internal storage, Android 11 with One UI 3.5, and better cameras.

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