The clamshell Galaxy Fold 2 might be powered by the Snapdragon 855 SoC, same as the original Galaxy Fold, according to MySmartPrice citing its sources. The report also mentions that the clamshell’s front-facing camera will have a resolution of 10-megapixels and that it will possibly be borrowed from the Galaxy Note 10 series.
In addition, the clamshell Galaxy Fold 2 will reportedly be equipped with the Snapdragon 855 SoC worldwide, meaning that there will be no Exynos version anywhere. This is good news for fans of Qualcomm’s solution and it could result in faster software updates; albeit the single-SoC decision doesn’t seem to have helped the original Galaxy Fold in this regard. We’ll wait and see if the company will treat the clamshell model any differently.
It makes some sense for Samsung to use last year’s hardware
The Galaxy Fold is an expensive device and I’m sure you’ve heard this numerous times before, but it’s important to keep in mind that the clamshell Galaxy Fold 2 is supposed to lower the entry-level barrier for foldable devices at the cost of some components and features. It’s not quite a true successor to the original Galaxy Fold, and if you’re looking for such a device while disregarding costs then you might have to wait until the second half of 2020 when a true Galaxy Fold successor might be released.
With that being said, it only makes sense for Samsung to equip the clamshell foldable with slightly older high-end hardware that’s still very capable. Using the Snapdragon 855 chipset is a decent compromise if it results in a considerably lower price tag.
On the other hand, both the Galaxy Fold 2 and the Galaxy S20 series will be unveiled on the same day – February 11 – and the Galaxy S20 should employ the newer, more powerful Snapdragon 865 solution instead. Therefore, if the clamshell Galaxy Fold 2 will have a much higher price tag than the S20, it might be a difficult pill to swallow. Hopefully, the previous rumors will turn out to be true and the clamshell Galaxy Fold 2 will launch for under $1,000.