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With a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7-series chip, the Libero Flip isn\u2019t exactly a high-end phone, but its 6.9-inch, 2790 x 1188 foldable OLED panel is slightly larger than the Samsung, and it may have a slightly larger battery at 4,310mAh vs. 3,700mAh. (Please ask your manufacturers to report those in watt-hours so we can properly compare.) <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
And while the phone is otherwise a bit of a Galaxy Z Flip clone, it does<\/em> have this intriguing disc on the back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n That\u2019s a round<\/em> cover screen in there, a 466 x 466-pixel one that measures 1.43 inches in diameter, and the company\u2019s using it primarily for widgets and as a selfie cam:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The ring also contains a 50-megapixel main camera, a 2-megapixel depth cam, and there\u2019s a 16-megapixel selfie camera around front. It runs Android 13 with 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, and it charges at up to 33W over its USB-C port. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n ZTE is only advertising IP42, so you won\u2019t want to open this one up in more than a very light rain, compared to the IPX8 water resistance of the Flip. You still want to keep both of them away from dust.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I wonder how long it\u2019ll be before affordable foldables expand beyond Japan. Samsung leaker Revegnus posted in November<\/a> that the company had \u201cset the price target\u201d for its own midrange foldable at $400 to $500. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised to hear if the ZTE were a test balloon for foldables in that price range \u2014 Samsung Display is generally the provider of these screens, but it sells to many other customers beyond Samsung Electronics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mobile World Congress Barcelona, the world\u2019s biggest mobile show, begins next week. If Samsung does have a $400\u2013$500 Z Flip, there\u2019s a good chance it\u2019ll appear there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n