Secret new Samsung Galaxy phone breaks cover but there's a catch

You can count on Samsung to release several new smartphones every year. The globally dominant phone maker sells handsets at every price point, and its most expensive option is the Galaxy Z Fold 6. That’s because this flagship device is a folding Android phone with an inner screen that folds in half when you’re not using it to become smaller.

Thanks to a screen on the outside you can even use it when shut. Samsung is a few years into releasing and improving its folding phones. Express.co.uk reviewed the Z Fold 6 recently, and though we were impressed, in many ways the phone is still hobbled thanks to awkward dimensions and a thick, heavy build.

Samsung might have recognised that as a photo has leaked of what is said to be an updated Z Fold 6. The image, which was published by Android Headlines, allegedly shows a special edition Galaxy Z Fold 6 with an updated design.

The phone could be called the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Special Edition, but reportedly is also referred to as the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Slim and Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra. If the leak turns out to be accurate it’ll be interesting to see which of these names Samsung goes with.

In a dark grey colour, the new Z Fold 6 looks thinner than the regular model, whose chunky design was highlighted last week by the UK launch of the Honor Magic V3. The competing book-style folding phone from Chinese manufacturer Honor is drastically thinner and feels more like a normal phone when folded shut.

In the above image, the new Z Fold 6 has cameras in the same place with a slightly changed camera module, while the device appears to have a brushed metal finish, unlike the regular phone that came out in July. That phone is 5.6mm when unfolded and 12.1mm when closed. According to reliable tech leaker Evan Blass, the Special Edition will be 4.9mm and 10.6mm thick respectively.

Blass also reckons Samsung will drop the ‘6’ and simply call this new device the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition. The problem for UK Samsung fans is that Android Headlines believes the device will only come out in China and Samsung’s home country of South Korea.

That would be an interesting move sure to disappoint Galaxy fans looking for a slimmer foldable. We’ll have to wait and see if this flashy phone ever hits British shores. It’s expected to be unveiled before the end of the year.