We’re just over a month away from the rumored first official outing for the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2, but so far leaks have been conspicuous by their absence. But at long last we have a render, courtesy of the usually reliable leaker IceUniverse – and it seems to have some of the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 in its DNA.
Fold 2 pic.twitter.com/ysdw6oIjqcJune 24, 2020
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The picture above shows the Galaxy Fold 2 in its fully opened tablet state, and it’s looking very nice indeed with a thin frame, no notch and no obvious screen crease (though obviously this is just a render, and it’s unlikely the fold lines will be this invisible when the phone finally emerges.)
But there’s something odd about it. What’s with the weird position for the hole-punch camera? Where’s Samsung’s usual sense of style and symmetry? The answer might come with the follow-up tweet.
At first, I thought the hole location was strange, but then I thought about it carefully. This might be the most suitable location. pic.twitter.com/r0PBtQGkhlJune 24, 2020
As you can see, the off-centre positioning of the front-facing camera actually becomes central when the phone is closed. Not much use when you can’t actually see it (if the Galaxy Fold 2 is like the original, it’s going to fold inwards, not outwards), but it does at least show that a little bit of the Galaxy Note 20’s DNA is hidden away in there.
Judging from the second tweet, it doesn’t look like Samsung has a great deal of choice. Moving the camera to a more discrete corner placement (where the selfie camera was on the Galaxy S10, lest we forget) seems impossible if that’s where the rear camera mechanism lives.
And actually, it may not be that different from the original Galaxy Fold, as Twitter user @mdukasa points out. It’s just that the removal of the notch leaves the camera that bit more exposed.
Fold 2 pic.twitter.com/ysdw6oIjqcJune 24, 2020
Personally, I’m not sure the Fold 2 needs a selfie camera when unfolded, if it keeps the original’s folded camera. But clearly Samsung thinks that in a device this expensive, buyers should have the freedom to take photos however they want.
Of course, this leak may be wholly wrong. We’ll find out on August 5, when the Galaxy Fold 2 is reportedly set to make its debut alongside the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Watch 3.
