Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 in line for a key design upgrade

More robust than before

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

We’re expectingSamsungto unveil two foldables in the coming months – theSamsung Galaxy Z Fold 3and theSamsung Galaxy Z Flip 3– and the latest rumor to catch our attention hints that both these devices are in line for the same design upgrade.

There’s a new Samsung trademark application for the term ‘Armor Frame’, as spotted byLetsGoDigital. While the application doesn’t reveal too many details, there’s a decent chance that this tech is destined for Samsung’s folding phones.

Right now, the Fold and the Flip make use of aluminum frames, which aren’t quite as strong as the stainless steel alternative. The other disadvantage of aluminum is that it tends to lose its strength over time, which isn’t ideal for a phone that bends a lot.

While the trademark doesn’t mention any materials specifically, LetsGoDigital speculates that carbon or titanium could be used to add extra strength to the frame of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3. As an added bonus, these materials are lighter too.

In the frame

For now, there’s not much more to this particular rumor: but we can certainly see an Armor Frame being something that Samsung highlights at its next foldable phone launch. Durability is even more important with foldables than it is with regular handsets.

It’s also worth clarifying that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 3 aren’t mentioned by name in this trademark application. However, with theSamsung Galaxy S22still a long way off, and the Galaxy Note 21most probably cancelled, it seems a good bet that the folding phones will be the first to get this tech.

We’ve previouslyheard reportsthat the next Fold and Flip models will introduce some kind of water resistance for the first time – not easy on a foldable phone – and so it seems that Samsung wants to make these next handsets as durable as they can possibly be.

Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.

Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.

After all, you don’t want to spend a huge amount of cash on a foldable phone only to find that it’s not as robust as you’d hoped. It’s not clear exactly when these two handsets are going to make an appearance, but the middle of 2021 is likely.

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

We might have our first look at the long-rumored Samsung tri-fold

Samsung reveals its next-gen Bixby AI – a Galaxy brain to rival ChatGPT and Gemini

The 6 best electric motorcycle concepts and launches from EICMA 2024