You know nothing, Adrian Diaconescu! Because I expect a number of variations on that statement (some of which are likely to adopt a pretty hurtful tone based on previous experience) in the comments section at the end of this article, allow me to begin by admitting that it is in fact way too early to know anything for sure about the Galaxy Z Flip 7 or the other foldable devices Samsung is rumored to release in 2025.
But at the same time, you have to understand that a company that just so happens to be the world's largest smartphone maker often starts preparing the development of a product like the Z Flip 7 more than a year ahead of its launch, and because there's rarely smoke without fire in the mobile industry's rumor mill, that recent (repeated) gossip of this bad boy's processor choice has a good chance of coming to pass.
Why is Samsung cutting corners all of a sudden?
Once again, I have no way to know how the Exynos 2500 SoC will perform in real life. Maybe Samsung is on the verge of pulling off a rare miracle and its in-house chip tipped to power the Galaxy Z Flip 7 will leave the Snapdragon 8 Elite inside the Galaxy S25 family in the dust in terms of pure muscle.
The Z Flip 7 is not expected to join the Elite group of Snapdragon-powered handsets next year. | Image Credit -- Qualcomm
Perhaps that's one of the reasons why the Exynos 2500 is unlikely to be ready for a commercial debut on the S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra next month. But will anyone care if that proves to be the case? Will many people have the patience to wait for reviewers to test-drive and benchmark the Z Flip 7 before making up their minds regarding the foldable's apparent power compromise?
Unfortunately for Samsung, I believe the vast majority of this handset's prospective buyers will take one look at that spec sheet and instantly get cold feet due to the use of what's almost universally viewed as an inferior chipset. Personally, I'm not going to blame anyone who decides to jump to that conclusion for a very simple reason - all of Samsung's foldables so far have packed state-of-the-art Qualcomm Snapdragon processors.
Change tends to be a scary thing for a lot of folks, and even though it was not always deserved, Exynos chips have drawn quite a bit of flak over the years. That in turn has caused a lot of brand damage, and it's going to be incredibly difficult for Samsung to change everyone's perception all of a sudden and convince even its most devoted fans this is not in fact a big step back from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered Galaxy Z Flip 6.
At the same time, the company can't just put the kibosh on its next-gen Exynos flagship, so from a business perspective, it would certainly make sense to use the 2500 on the Z Flip 7 after reportedly not being able to do so for the Galaxy S25 series.
Can the Galaxy Z Flip 7's image still be saved?
Absolutely. But Samsung needs to get every other thing just right, from screen sizes to build quality, camera performance, battery life, and perhaps most importantly, pricing.
The Z Flip 7 definitely has to come with bigger screens and better cameras than the Z Flip 6. | Image Credit -- PhoneArena
If the Exynos 2500-powered Z Flip 7 ends up costing just as much as (let alone more than) the Z Flip 6 with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor under its hood, Samsung may as well skip this release and go straight to 2026's Z Flip 8 because sales will be catastrophic.
The popularity of the company's foldable portfolio is already suffering, so the Galaxy Z Flip 7must bring clear and substantial improvements to the table to fend off the wave of value-packed underdogs from brands like Motorola, Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo.
The oft-rumored Galaxy Z Flip FE could hurt the Flip 7's box-office prospects even more, especially if the two clamshells end up sharing the same Exynos 2500 processors, as some recent reports suggest. Samsung could put itself in a similar position as Motorola, which sells a "regular" and perfectly respectable Razr (2024) foldable at a hard-to-resist price and an only slightly better Razr+ (2024) model at a much higher price. Oh, and those two don't even come with the same chip.
To sum everything up, no, I don't yet know exactly what Samsung's plans are for the Galaxy Z Flip 7, but what I'm hearing through the grapevine sounds like a big mistake that would essentially force the company to make no other errors or compromises, which could prove extremely complicated. Fortunately, I believe there's still time to reconsider and equip the Z Flip 7 with the same Snapdragon 8 Elite processor as the entire Galaxy S25 family around the world. Yes, even if that means (slightly) raising the foldable's prices. After all, the Z Flip FE needs a raison d'être too, right?
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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