You could say that Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold line was in something of a plateau with minor yearly updates that left it trailing behind the Chinese foldables. Enter the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, which was just announced in South Korea. It alleviates several pain points from the Z Fold6 with larger displays, a slimmer profile, and a 200MP main cam.
So, what’s so special about the new Z Fold anyway?
Larger cover and main screens for starters. A 6.5-inch LTPO AMOLED 2X cover screen, up from the 6.3-inch panel on the Z Fold6 with an updated 21:9 aspect ratio that should make it more akin to using a regular bar phone display.
The main screen has now grown to 8 inches and features a 10:9 aspect ratio. Both panels feature 120 Hz refresh rate and the external one has Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection on top. It seems the rumored switch to Ultra Flexible Glass (UFG) – an updated version of the Ultra-Thin Glass (UTG) for the foldable panel did not come to be as Samsung mentions nothing about it.
The Special Edition Z Fold is way slimmer – 4.9 mm when unfolded and 10.6 mm in its folded state. The weight has dropped down to 236 grams – 3g less than the Z Fold6 proper. Sacrifices had to be made to achieve this slender profile as the new Special Edition lacks S Pen support.
There’s a noteworthy upgrade in the camera department too – a 200MP main shooter with OIS that brings a notable improvement over the 50MP main cam on the Z Fold6. The 12 MP ultrawide lens now gets autofocus which is a big win. The 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom is carried over as are the dual selfie cams – 10MP housed on the cover display and a 4MP UD unit on the main screen.
Fold Special Edition is equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy and is available in a single 16GB RAM and 512GB storage trim. It also get improved connectivity with the addition of Wi-Fi 7 – the Z Fold6 is yet to see that enabled.
The software side is handled by One UI 6.1.1 based on Android 14 with Galaxy AI. Samsung will bring 7 years of software support.
The battery is the same 4,400mAh cell used in the Z Fold6 with 25W wired and 15W wireless charging.
Samsung is offering the Z Fold Special Edition in a single Black Shadow color. Pricing in South Korea is set at KRW 2,789,600 which converts to $2,028/€1,868.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition
Unfortunately, the device is currently exclusive to South Korea and rumors suggest it will only make its way to China (possibly as the Galaxy W25) without ever stepping foot outside those two markets.
Source (in Korean)