If reports are to be believed, Samsung is discontinuing the Galaxy Note series in order to prioritize its growing foldable lineup. This will put significant pressure on the Galaxy Z Fold 3, Galaxy Z Flip 2, and other foldable devices Samsung is planning for 2021.

The latest leaks give us a very good idea of what to expect. They include significant upgrades to the Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 2, as well as a new, more affordable model of the Galaxy Z Fold Lite.

According to Korean news site The Elec, the more affordable Galaxy Z Fold Lite will be released in Q1 2021, followed by the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 2 in Q3.

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 promises some major updates, including a long-awaited under-display camera and stylus support. The latter is especially important if Samsung is positioning the Z Fold series as the successor to the Galaxy Note, even if the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is rumored to work with the S Pen.

Past reports have detailed Samsung's problems providing S Pen support on flexible glass displays, as stylus pressure can damage the display. To counter this, Samsung has reportedly increased the thickness of its ultra-thin glass from 30 μm to 60-100 μm. Although less flexible, the increased thickness allows the glass to withstand pressure from the stylus point without leaving stylus marks.

The Z Fold 3 is also said to feature a 7-inch internal screen, a 4-inch external display, and a low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LPTO) thin-film transistor (TFT) for display power efficiency. Notably, the screen size is smaller than the Z Fold 2, which has a 7.6-inch internal display and a 6.23-inch external display. As such, this would seem like an odd design decision.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Samsung will maintain the traditional folding style of the original Galaxy Fold and Z Fold 2. As such, there will be no extra folds or rollable screens.

The Galaxy Z Fold Lite is interesting news and a wise move by Samsung. Foldable devices are not cheap, and high prices are a barrier to widespread adoption; while we don't think the Z Fold Lite is cheap by typical smartphone standards, even a $1,000 price tag would make it more accessible to a wider audience.

We have heard rumors of the Galaxy Z Flip Lite, which was allegedly Samsung's first affordable foldable, but the Z Fold Lite is supposedly a cheaper version of the Z Fold 3, which uses Samsung's typical foldable tablet design.

The Z Fold 2 Lite will reportedly have a 7-inch internal display and a 4-inch external display, but that is all we know at this time. If it is to be released in Q1, it could even be announced along with the Galaxy S21 on January 14.

The Z Flip 2 will have a 6.7" internal display and another 4" internal screen. The size of the internal screen has not changed, but the external screen is larger than the 1.1" panel on the original Z Flip. Not much else is known about the phone other than the fact that it will continue to feature a hole-punch camera