After months of leaks and rumors, Samsung on Friday took the wraps off of its latest clamshell phone: The Samsung W2018. It's the successor to the Samsung W2017, which launched around the same time last year, and it marks the 10th anniversary of Samsung's W series.

The Samsung W2018 is unlike most other smartphones on the market, featuring a unique clamshell design with a display panel on either side of its top half. The body of the handset is made out of metal and glass and measures 132.2 x 63.2mm, with a weight of 247 grams.

As far as specifications are concerned, the Samsung W2018 doesn't skimp. It features two displays: A Full HD 4.2-inch external screen, and a Full HD internal AMOLED display, same as its predecessor. Powering the phone is Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon 835 system-on-chip (SoC), which is paired with 6GB of RAM and either 64GB or 256GB of internal storage, depending on the model. There's a microSD card slot for expansion, and in terms of optics, the W2018 makes do with a 5MP front shooter and 12MP rear shooter with the industry first f/1.5 aperture, beating even the record-setting LG V30. (Samsung says the aperture will automatically switch between f/2.4 and f/1.5 depending on the lighting condition.)

The battery is unchanged from the last year's model, so you're looking at a 2300mAh capacity battery. But the charging port's been upgraded to USB Type-C port from microUSB, and on the software side of the equation, the W2018 ships with Android 7.1.1 Nougat and Samsung's Bixby voice assistant, which can be accessed from the phone's dedicated Bixby button. There's also a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor on board, too, and support for fast wireless charging.

The W2018 is available in two colors, Elegant Gold and Platinum, and will go on sale in China through China Telecom at an unspecified date. The pricing hasn't been disclosed at this point, but if the Samsung W2017 is any indication, it won't be cheap -- it's unclear at this point when, if ever, the device will make its way to markets outside of China.


Source: Tech Sina (In Chinese) Via: Gizmochina