Samsung is unwrapping the high-end smart flip phone powered by Android W2018 at an event in China, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the W line and the 25th anniversary of the company's presence in the country.
In terms of specs, it's capable of going toe-to-toe with the South Korean brand's flagships the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8, but it takes things one step further with its camera technology.
'W' Should Stand For 'Wide'
Before the W2018 came out, the LG V30 had the widest aperture in the mobile game at f/1.6, but now Samsung is dethroning it with the smart flip phone's f/1.5, making it the new king in town in this department.
That's not all either. Aside from back-to-back dual screens, it has something else that's been doubled too: the aperture, which is a variable and one of the many features that make it stand out from the pack.
That said, the W2018's 12-megapixel primary camera can shift from an f/1.5 aperture to f/2.4 when the lighting conditions call for it, allowing users to take photos with a more pronounced depth of field.
For the record, it can capture 4K videos at 30 fps, and it sports a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with an f/1.9 aperture.
W2018 Core Specs
The rear camera isn't the main selling point of the W2018, as Samsung isn't exactly going all out to highlight it. The W series phones are trumpeted as the company's premium flip phones with two screens to work with.
At that, the W2018 comes in with a pair of 4.2-inch AMOLED displays that's back to back, each packing a full HD resolution. Under the hood, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 is running the show, married to 6 GB of RAM.
Storage isn't a problem either with its 64 GB of native storage that's expandable by up to 256 GB via a microSD card.
As expected, Bixby is on board the W2018. Just like other Chinese devices, it doesn't have any Google apps, and it runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat from the get-go, not the latest Android 8.0 Oreo.
Needless to say, it has a physical keypad for that tactile-typing experience, which is arguably easier to use than the usual digital keyboards.
Last but not least, a 2,300 mAh battery pack is keeping the lights on, and a USB-C port is there to make it future proof.
Considering that Samsung is touting it as a luxury device, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that the basic model will hold users back by CNY 15,999 or about $2,400. Adding to that, its predecessor the W2017 has a price tag of around $3,000, after all.
It's available in black, gold, or silver, but last two color options are limited-edition deals.
Long story short, the W2018 delivers what you'd expect from a Samsung flagship, but it's in a completely different package because of its flip design, not to mention that the rear camera is coming in with the widest aperture yet that's even variable.
