Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. today held a virtual event to share the specifications of the Galaxy Z Fold 2, the upcoming high-end foldable device it previewed last month.

The Galaxy Z Fold 2 is the company’s third attempt at making a reconfigurable handset, following the Z Flip and the original Fold. Samsung is betting that it can carve out a niche for foldable handsets in the high-end mobile device segment alongside conventional flagship smartphones such as its Galaxy S20 and Apple Inc.’s iPhone 11 Pro.

The company detailed today that the new Galaxy Z Fold 2 will start at $1,999, about $600 higher than the most expensive Galaxy S20 model. For that price, the device offers two screens: a supersized 7.6-inch main display and a 6.2-inch secondary panel on the outside that turns on when the device is folded.

The main display’s ability to fold is the result of Samsung building it using a material dubbed Ultra-Thin Glass. The glass has a thickness of 30 microns, far less than the standard window variety, that makes it thin enough for the chemical bonds in the display to stretch without breaking. Layered over the display is a plastic screen protector that Samsung has included to help reduce scratch damage.

The company also improved the main display’s usability compared with the previous-generation Galaxy Fold. The display runs at double the frame rate, 120Hz, to make app scrolling smoother, while the selfie camera embedded at the top of the screen takes up less space. 

The selfie camera is one of a total of five on the Galaxy Z Fold 2. There’s another front selfie camera on the external secondary screen, the one that turns on when the device is folded, plus a three-camera array on the back. The rear array has a main lens, ultrawide lens and a telephoto “zoom” lens that provide 12-megapixel resolution.

Under the hood, Samsung’s newest foldable device packs Qualcomm Inc.’s latest top-end Snapdragon 865 Plus chip, 12 gigabytes of memory and a 256-gigabyte storage drive. Powering it all is a pair of batteries split between the Galaxy Z Fold 2’s two halves. Those two halves, in turn, are connected by the same rear hinge that the 7.6-inch primary display relies on to fold, a hinge that Samsung has equipped with “sweeper technology” to prevent debris from entering the chassis.

The Galaxy Z Fold 2 will launch on Sept. 18 in about 40 markets including the U.S. Consumer reception to the device’s predecessor, the Galaxy Fold, may provide an idea of what kind of sales Samsung can expect. Samsung said at the start of the year that, despite the Galaxy Fold’s initial technical issues, it had managed to sell 400,000 to 500,000 units.

Photos: Samsung