A new model number has been registererd for a Samsung folding phone.
It's thought that the new device will be a wider folding phone that sits alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 8,
Samsung finally announced the Galaxy Z TriFold yesterday, revealing its dual-hinge model and with that, we could be done for new launches for 2025. However, there's already information about a potential new format of folding device for 2026.
Samsung has registered a new model number with the GSMA database (via Smartprix), something it does before the launch of any new device. These model numbers follow a format and this particular model appears as SM-F971U.
Breaking that code down, F9 is used for Samsung's Z Fold models, but this isn't the Z Fold 8, because that's expected to have the model number SM-F976, fitting the pattern of previous devices. The U on the end is also interesting, because that says that this is a model for the USA.
So what are we looking at here? This model number suggests that Samsung is going to have not one, but two different formats of Galaxy Z Fold in 2026. The first device will be an evolution of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 that launched recently, while the second could be a twist and offer something slightly different.
Reinforcing the idea of it being something slightly different is the codename: it's thought to have the codename H8, which is different to the path of codenames for previous Z Fold models, which have Q designations.
This takes us back to a rumour that surfaced earlier in the year, suggesting that Samsung was looking at a "wide" type folding phone. The best example of a device of this type so far is the Pixel Fold, which offers more of a square display – and that might be what Samsung is going for.
The idea here is to shift the aspect so that the external display isn't tall and thin, so that it's more like a regular smartphone. Samsung has been making changes of this type over previous generations, moving from a tall and skinny external display, to a 21:9 alternative.
For reference, the Galaxy S25 Ultra has a 19.5:9 display, so although it's getting closer, it's not there yet. The aim, according to ETNews, is to have a phone that's more like 18:18, effectively offering two 18:9 displays together.
The question remains – why would Samsung have two similar folding phones in the line-up? The current answer seems to be "because Apple". It's thought that Apple will launch into the folding phone space in 2026 with the iPhone Fold, so Samsung seems to be strengthening its position for the explosion in interest in folding phones that will no doubt follow Apple entering the segment.
That's going to see Samsung slimming down the Galaxy Z Flip 8 and the Galaxy Z Fold 8, the new Z TriFold for those wanting a folding tablet-type device, and now this wider folding phone. It might be – and there's no evidence for this yet – that Samsung has a good idea of the format of Apple's device and wants something similar in its own armoury.
We shall see.
