Samsung’s working on two new camera modes for foldable phones

Samsung might be cooking up a couple of new camera features that seemingly go hand in hand with the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 Flex Hinge / Flex Mode. The Korean tech giant has applied to trademark two new Flex-based monikers, i.e., FlexSnap and FlexShot.

These two new terms, discovered by our GalaxyClub colleagues at the UK Intellectual Property Office, are not mentioned anywhere in the feature list or changelog for the latest One UI 5.1.1 update. The latter will debut with the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5.

This could mean one of two things. Firstly, these features exist in One UI 5.1.1 exclusively for the latest foldable phones, but Samsung failed to mention them anywhere in its pre-release material.

The second and more realistic scenario is that the two new features won't be shipping with the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5, and whatever FlexShot and FlexSnap do, they won't be available out of the box. But they might be coming this year.

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Two new FlexCam features coming to the latest Galaxy Z phones?

If Samsung trademarked the FlexSnap and FlexShot monikers with intentions of using these names later on, these new features could debut with One UI 6.0 for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5 later this year. It's a wild guess, so take it with a pinch of salt, but at this point, whatever FlexSnap and FlexShot do is anyone's guess.

“FlexSnap” does sound like it might be related to Snapchat, but there's no guarantee of whether or not that's the case. And the closest thing to “FlexShot” you'll find when looking up the term online is a “super thick rubber sealant” that carries the “Flex Shot” brand. Needless to say, this has nothing to do with smartphones and Flex Hinges.

Whatever these two new features might have in store for us, given Samsung's naming convention, we can be pretty sure that FlexSnap and FlexShot are directly related to the Flex Hinge and Flex Mode. So, regardless of when they might go live, these features will be exclusive to foldable Samsung phones.