Some of the strongly rumoured features of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 have been confirmed by an FCC listing, first spotted by SamMobile.
The Galaxy Z Fold 3 – model numbers SM-F926U and SM-F926U1 – received their certification today and the various supporting documents have plenty of information within. Much of this is what you would expect for a top-of-the-range Samsung smartphone: the upcoming foldable will support mmWave and sub-6Ghz 5G, 4G LTE, CDMA, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth, NFC and ultra wideband (UWB). The latter of these means the device will support Samsung’s SmartTag Plus trackers.
Then there are aspects which were only rumoured, but now confirmed. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 will support 9W Qi wireless charging and reverse charging, and it will be the first foldable handset to come with S Pen support – which could be a game changer, given the large internal screen on which to doodle.
While the documents confirm that the S Pen will work the same way as it does on other smartphones (a digitiser that works with the S Pen via inductive coupling), it’s not clear whether Samsung’s stylus will be bundled with the handset as it has been on past Galaxy Note phones and Tab S tablets, or sold as an option accessory as with the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Given the lack of built-in dock on the S21 Ultra, Samsung sold a case with a holster to hold the S Pen when not in use, and it’s entirely possible the company will do the same again here.
The S Pen support was already strongly rumoured, thanks to screenshots of an official looking promotional video showing both that and Samsung’s first under-screen camera. There’s no confirmation of the latter in these documents, but the word is that we won’t have too long to wait, with both the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 rumoured to be revealed at an Unpacked event in August.
Another rumour suggests Samsung will be giving the foldables a 20% price cut on the last generation. This feels almost too good to be true, but has been given additional credence by reports that the company is looking to build a combined 7 million foldables this time around. Given Samsung previously produced a reported 1- to 2 million units, this significantly larger order suggests confidence that the products will fly off the shelves.
