PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Samsung announced a new folding phone with a hidden selfie camera during its "Samsung Unpacked 2021" event.
The Galaxy Z Fold3, announced Aug. 11, has a flexible screen that allows it's 7.6 inch display to be folded in half. This helps the near-tablet sized screen be able to fit in a pocket.
While Samsung has released phones with folding screens in the past, the Z Fold3 is its first phone to feature a hidden selfie camera.
The under-screen camera is hidden by a portion of pixels (the small lights that make up the image on the screen) that are less densely grouped that on the rest of the screen. This allows the camera to see through the display when those pixels are turned off, like looking through a screen door.
The Z Fold3 is also the first folding phone to offer water resistance, which Samsung managed by sealing off each half of the phone, and applying an anticorrosive coating to the metal inside the hinge.
The Z Fold3 also has a screen on the outside of the phone for easier one-handed use without having to open the phone.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3
Samsung's other major announcement was it's new Galaxy Watch4 ($250) and Watch4 Classic ($350).
The Watch4 and Watch4 Classic come with a Heart Rate Monitor, ECG, Gyroscope, Barometer, Compass and a Biological Impedance Analysis (BIA) sensor. The BIA sensor is able to calculate body composition, such as fat percentages.
Both watches also have 16GB of storage (enough to fit around 4,000 songs), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, wireless charging, a cellular option, and a reported 40 hours of battery life.
The difference between the base Watch4 and the "Classic" is primarily build materials, with the cheaper watch being made of aluminum and the more expensive watch made of stainless steel. The "Classic" also has a physical rotating bezel for navigation, while the base model achieved the same functionality through it's display.
Samsung announced new Galaxy Watch4 and Watch4 Classic
Samsung also announced the a new pair of wireless earbuds and the Galaxy Z Flip3, a phone reminiscent of older flip-style phones, that folds in half from the size of a normal smartphone to a much more easily pocketable square shape.
Samsung announced the new phone at it's Samsung Unpacked 2021 event on Aug. 11.
