The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 might launch with an unexpected new name

We’ve been fully expecting Samsung to launch a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 on August 10, but while those two phones are still expected, it sounds like they might land with slightly unexpected names.

According to leaker SnoopyTech, Samsung won’t include the letter Z in their names, so they’ll land just as the Samsung Galaxy Fold 4 and the Galaxy Flip 4 instead. Future foldable phones from the company will also apparently not include a Z in the name.

This is supposedly because the letter Z has started being used by the Russian military, and can be seen as a symbol of support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Samsung Electronics tries to get rid of the "Z" letter in their folding phone series. Starting with Flip/Fold 4, the letter won't be printed on the boxes anymore. That's because Russian military is using the letter.August 2, 2022

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While this is just a rumor for now, it’s a very believable one, especially as Samsung has already removed the Z from Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 branding in some Baltic countries.

We’d still take this with a pinch of salt for now, but we’ll know one way or another very soon, as Samsung is holding a big launch on August 10 where we’re expecting to see both of these phones, along with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro.

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Analysis: a good move, even without the Russia factor

Samsung’s current foldable phone naming convention makes some sense. You instantly know that anything with a Z in the name is a foldable, which could be all the more useful if Samsung expands beyond its two current foldable lines.

Plus, most other Samsung phones also contain a letter in their names – there’s an S for the conventional flagships, and an A for more affordable phones, for example.

But on the other hand, there are exceptions to this. The now-deceased Galaxy Note line didn’t have a letter for example, and there was no sense that it needed one, because it being a Note told you what you needed to know.

Similarly, knowing that a phone is a Flip or a Fold tells you plenty about it, so the Z is superfluous, and makes the name longer than necessary. Even having Galaxy in the name is a bit unnecessary, but we can't see the best Samsung phones dropping that anytime soon.

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