Samsung has been rumored to be working on a premium flip phone for China for a couple of weeks now, and following numerous leaks and renders of the device, Samsung has officially unveiled the phone and everything that it’s bringing to the table.
The flip phone’s model number is SM-G9298, but it appears to be referred to as the, “Leader 8.” The Leader 8 looks exactly like what we were expecting, meaning that there’s two 4.2-inch Super AMOLED displays (one on the inside and one outside), a 12MP camera on the back with an f/1.7 aperture, a fingerprint scanner below that, and a physical number pad once you flip open the device.
Powering the Leader 8 is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of expandable storage is available for housing all of your apps, games, pictures, etc. A 2,300 mAh battery is present to keep you powered through the day, and as a nice bonus, the Leader 8 even supports wireless charging.
Samsung crafted its new flip phone out of of aluminum alloy, and while you won’t find any Bixby features on the device, there is S Voice and Samsung Pay for both NFC and MST payments.
There’s currently no word from Samsung as to how much the Leader 8 will cost or when it will be available, but don’t expect it to be released anywhere in Western markets. The Leader 8 has been confirmed for a release in China, but if it does expand elsewhere, it will likely only be in parts of Asia.
The Leader 8 is certainly an interesting breed, and the more I read and learn about the phone, the more interested I become in it. The flip phone form factor is a refreshing twist among the sea of flat metal and glass slabs, and to be perfectly honest, I might pick up a Leader 8 should Samsung ever bring it to the US.
Alas, that’s wishful thinking. For the time being, I’ll keep using my non-flip Pixel like a chump.
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