A phone that unfolds into a tablet. Now, where have we seen one of these?! Samsung has been making foldable phones for quite a few years now, and rival companies have jumped in on the trend. Given past release dates of Galaxy Z Fold phones, Samsung may present its latest version in a few weeks. To make it a success, Samsung needs to focus on software.
Earlier this week, the South Korean electronics giant put out a cryptic post teasing its next book-style foldable, saying it is bringing “an Ultra-experience” to a “smaller and more portable form factor”. It will include “powerful camera” and “AI-powered tools”.
In case you want to buy a book-style foldable phone at the moment, the best choice is Galaxy Z Fold6. Over the years, Samsung has nailed the concept but now has to present something new.
What the new phones would be called remains to be seen. Galaxy Z Fold7 and Galaxy Z Flip7? Well, we will find out once the global launch happens.
Given the progress Samsung has made this year — success came in the form of Galaxy S25 series as well as the ultra-thin Galaxy S25 Edge — the new foldable phones may just fly off the shelf.
Samsung’s teaser announcement mentions a “powerful camera”, raising the possibility that the main camera could match the 200MP shooter on the Galaxy S25 Ultra and recently brought to the Galaxy S25 Edge. It will be a substantial upgrade compared to Galaxy Z Fold6’s 50MP main lens.
Rumour has it that the company may have more than one book-style foldable in the lineup. Tri-fold? Probably not, if the animation accompanying the Samsung teaser is taken seriously.
There have also been rumours of Samsung offering an FE addition of the Galaxy Z Flip, for a lower-cost version of its foldable flip phone to better compete with the likes of Motorola Razr, which is a different form factor entirely.
What wouldn’t be bizarre is if Samsung offers an ultra-thin foldable phone. With Galaxy S25 Edge, Samsung has already shown that it can achieve 5.8mm thickness (without the camera bump). On a foldable phone, the thickness can be reduced greatly. According to a report, the next Galaxy Z Fold could be only 4.5mm thick when unfolded. By comparison, the Galaxy Z Fold6 is 5.6mm when unfolded and 12.1mm when folded.
We asked Abhilash Kumar, senior industry analyst at TechInsights, whether Samsung has a first-mover advantage when it comes to slim phones, especially now Galaxy S25 Edge has proved the company’s capabilities.
“It does have the first mover advantage as it creates a fresh feeling among the slab form factor. It has given and will continue to give mind share to Samsung in terms of design and engineering innovation. These praises would help more with branding and hence might indirectly drive the sales of other Samsung smartphones as well,” said Kumar.
Foldables are gaining traction as display technology is improving. The crease in the middle of the screen is slowly disappearing and the display is becoming longer-lasting. The new Samsung foldable devices are expected to be versatile.
There are rumours that Apple may enter the category sometime next year. If that happens, the folding phone market will grow drastically. Most rumours assume that while Apple will bring a lot of cutting-edge features, it won’t be lowering the bar on price.
If Samsung’s next foldable phone indeed turns out to be ‘Ultra’, attention needs to be paid to software support. Support for multiple users has been a core feature of Android and Samsung needs to take advantage of it. Switching Google profiles in Chrome isn’t the same as on a desktop but by having the ability to switch Google accounts on the Galaxy Fold Ultra, it can work as a personal as well as work device.
For years, Samsung has spoken about DeX and how it delivers a desktop PC-like experience with its interface. Ultra can dig deeper since DeX hasn’t seen much of an upgrade in the last couple of years.