The flip phone ain't dead-- at least not in China, where Samsung announces the W2018, a high-end device featuring flagship internals and a camera with an f/1.5 aperture for better low-light photography.
Made exclusively for the China Telecom "Heart of the World" charity event, the W2018 features a pair of 4.2-inch 1920 x 1080 Super AMOLED touchscreens together with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset, 6GB RAM, 64/256GB storage and a 2300mAh battery. Connectivity comes through dual-SIM slots, NFC and USB-C, security features include a fingerprint reader and an iris scanner, and the Bixby assistant can be summoned via dedicated button on the side.
The rear-facing 12MP camera is also interesting-- in a Samsung first it features variable aperture, being able to switch from f/1.5 to f/2.4 for deeper depth in ideal lighting conditions. It also includes many of the features found in the S8 and Note 8, namely large 1.4um pixels, dual-pixel auto-focus and optical image stabilisation.
Will the W2018 ever reach the West? Probably... not. But it will hit Chinese markets sometime this year with a premium pricetag.