One of the biggest reasons for foldable phones not taking off in the Indian market has been their price. Most foldable devices come with premium price tags – the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is more expensive than even the iPhone 13 Pro Max – and this limits the number of people who can buy them. However, that could change according to some of our sources because the biggest player in the foldable phone market is actually working on a relatively affordable version of its foldable devices.
The Mobile Indian has been told by market sources that the Korean giant is actually working on FE variants of both the Z Fold 3 and the Z Flip 3. Samsung has of late been coming out with FE (what it terms as Fan Editions) of many of its flagship devices, like the Galaxy S20 and the Galaxy S21.
These editions come with minor spec and design compromises, but on the other hand, come with significantly lower price tags than the flagships themselves.
Now it seems that two of the most talked-about foldable devices from Samsung are going to get the FE treatment. This year Samsung came out with the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and the Galaxy Z Fold. The Fold 3 started at Rs 1,49,999, which was largely on expected lines, but many were surprised at the price of the Flip 3, which started at Rs 84,990, which was lower than expected.
Well, those prices could get lower with the FE editions of the devices. We have no concrete information on the specifications of either device, but our sources say that
both the Flip FE and Fold FE could have dual cameras with a 48-megapixel main sensor and a 32-megapixel selfie camera.
There were plans to power both with Exynos processors, but evidently, the chip crisis has made Samsung opt for Snapdragon 870 chips for both phones, a step down from the Snapdragon 888 seen on the original flagships.
One of our sources also says that while the proportions and design of the devices are likely to be similar to the originals, the FE editions will come with some features missing – the Fold 3 FE might not support the S Pen and the as per what our sources say, the external display of the Flip 3 FE will be less versatile than the one on the Flip 3.
In design terms, both FE foldables are expected to have more funky colours, although they are unlikely to come with dust and water resistance.
Most importantly, these FE editions of the Flip and Fold will come with much lower price tags than the originals. Our sources say that the Flip FE could be priced at around Rs 60,000, but the Fold FE could be the real surprise here, with some saying it could be priced at as low as Rs 99,999. There is no clarity on their release schedule, with some saying they could come as early as February and others claiming that they are more likely to arrive in June or July.
Of course, we would like to reiterate that this is not confirmed or official information, but it would be wonderful if it was true.
