Forget the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 – this could be the cheap flip phone we need

The foldable phone market has exploded over the last few months. What was once a niche subset is now peppered with different models. More and more brands are getting in on the act, looking to innovate and improve on the form.

Now, Honor have announced an intention to expand their offering. The company already have a handful of foldable devices – the Honor Magic V2 was unveiled just a few weeks ago.

But the brand are preparing to bring their first flip phone to market next year. That was announced at a recent media roundtable by a company executive called Daniel Wang (via Reframed).

Wang said, "Honor not only has this Fold (that's the Magic V2 mentioned above), we still have the Flip, but next year."

That could be a big deal. While Honor do make some more expensive handsets, the majority of their operation sits in the midrange segment. If that kind of price point can be achieved with a flip phone, it could be a major catalyst for adoption.

There are already a wealth of great flip phones on the market. We've just seen the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, which is arguably the most well rounded package on the market so far. 

We also saw the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra released recently. That enjoys a huge 3.6-inch cover display, which makes up the majority of the cover panel.

Honor has previously stated that they don't intend to launch a product for the sake of it. Rather, they want to bring something to market which stands out from the crowd. And in my opinion, the best way they can do that is financially. 

The current crop of flip phones all occupy the market around £1,000. The cheapest flagship-level flip phone currently available is the Oppo Find N2 Flip, which starts at £849 in the UK.

If Honor could undercut that, while still offering a respectable spec sheet, it could be a lucrative move. There are swathes of consumers who are taken by the concept of a foldable device, but aren't ready to part with that sort of cash for technology which is still relatively fresh.

This is all speculation for now. While the existence of a device has been confirmed, nothing else has. Specs, pricing and even a specific release window are all still up in the air. We'll be keeping a very close eye on things, though.