With its Galaxy Z Flip-esque design, the new TCL Flex V was recently displayed in Las Vegas at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). If you’re wondering where TCL has cut corners allowing it to supposedly sell its device for as low as $600 compared to $999.99 for Samsung’s clamshell foldable, one reason for the potential 40% savings on the Flex V has to do with the chipsets employed on the two models.
The Snapdragon 765G is expected to power the TCL foldable clamshell
The TCL Flex V will be priced as much as 40% lower than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 3
The Flex V display will also carry a resolution of 1080 x 2400. And while its refresh rate is unknown for now, we wouldn’t expect to see a 120Hz refresh rate on a clamshell tagged with such a comparatively low price. Keeping the lights on will be a 3545mAh capacity battery, and while Android 11 was packed into the unit displayed at CES, we should see Android 12 running the actual device when it is ready to be shipped.
No release date has been announced for the TCL Flex V
One negative is that at 1.1-inches, the external display on TCL’s Flex V is much smaller than the 1.9-inch external display on the Galaxy Z Flip 3. This screen is used for notifications and to be a viewfinder for selfies. When Samsung released the OG Galaxy Z Flip in 2020, it too used a 1.1-inch external display which received plenty of complaints because of its small size. The Galaxy Z Flip 5G kept the size of its external display the same before Samsung raised it to 1.9-inches on last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 3.
As for the TCL Flex V, the timing of the phone’s release is not known at the moment. According to Counterpoint Research, shipments in the foldables sector are supposed to rise 10x by 2023 from 2020’s deliveries. And Samsung’s share of this market is computed to stay at a lofty 75% from the current 88%. The company is looking to make its Galaxy Z brand more mainstream instead of a novelty.
Foldables are at the start of a cycle that should see prices continue to drop and demand continue to rise
As parts continue to drop in price, Samsung should be able to reduce pricing for its foldables which in turn should reduce its cost of obtaining supplies. This cycle should keep on going as foldable pricing drops year-over-year which in turn drives lower pricing and higher demand.
