Samsung unveils Galaxy Z Flip phone during Oscars 2020

A teaser for Tuesday's Unpacked event.

Daniel Van Boom Senior Writer

Daniel Van Boom is an award-winning Senior Writer based in Sydney, Australia. Daniel Van Boom covers cryptocurrency, NFTs, culture and global issues. When not writing, Daniel Van Boom practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, reads as much as he can, and speaks about himself in the third person.

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Daniel Van Boom

Feb. 9, 2020 5:38 p.m. PT

2 min read

We've heard the rumors and seen the links, but on Sunday Samsung showed off its Galaxy Z Flip phone officially for the first time -- at the Academy Awards, of all places. An ad playing early in the Oscars night showed the Galaxy Z Flip in action (though it didn't actually name the phone), folding like Moto's new Razr. Despite showing off the phone, the ad was mostly a teaser for Unpacked, Samsung's launch event for the phone that'll take place on Tuesday.

The 15-second ad showed the Galaxy Z Flip first as a camera, with the bottom half of the folding display housing the picture-taking interface and the top half of the screen showing the image about to be captured. It then moved onto the Flip Z's video-calling capabilities, showing two totally not models chatting through a FaceTime-like feature. How do folding screens improve video calls? We may find out Tuesday.

The beginning of the ad featured small print at the bottom corner of the screen that read: "You may notice a crease at the center of the main screen, which is a natural characteristic of the screen."

The Galaxy Z Flip in photo mode.
Jason Hiner/CNET

And in video-call mode.
Daniel Van Boom/CNET

The Galaxy Z Flip is rumored to have a 6.7-inch folding display, dual 12-megapixel cameras on the rear (one regular, one ultrawide), two batteries and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus processor.

Read more: What leaks show about the Z Flip.

Tuesday's Unpacked event won't just bring the Flip's true unveiling. The company is also expected to launch a trio of Galaxy S20 phones, replacing what would normally have been called the Galaxy S11 phones. The biggest addition to the new phones is 5G support, along with an OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate (matching the Asus ROG Phone 2) and a new 108-megapixel camera. At least, that's what the rumors say.

After only three significant devices in 2019, foldable phones still teeter on the edge of futuristic fancy and reality. The Galaxy Z Flip looks to take on Motorola's Razr flip phone, which last week went on sale (and failed CNET's folding test). Samsung is leading the pack in terms of output, with the Flip being the company's second folding phone after last year's Galaxy Fold. That phone was an uber-luxury device, selling for $1,980 (£2,000, AU$2,950). The Galaxy Z Flip is rumored to be cheaper -- but we'll find out in a few days for sure.