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Because it's no longer a big secret that Samsung is struggling in the global foldable market the mobile industry veteran essentially created a little over a decade ago, I've been extremely curious to see how the company intends to right the sinking ship this year.
But although a tiny part of that curiosity is set to remain intact until the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Z Flip 7, and "Galaxy G Fold" are formally unveiled in July (allegedly), a recent leak almost suggests (to me, at least) that Samsung doesn't want to be successful in the Huawei-dominated market segment anymore. Allow me to explain.
The Z Fold 7 is not ugly, but...
It's decidedly and undeniably repetitive. Also, kind of forgettable. I don't know about you, but back when the first-gen Galaxy Fold saw daylight in 2019, I was not able to get its design out of my mind for weeks on end.
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 looks good, but unexciting and unremarkable.
Obviously, I don't expect my heart to skip a beat at the sight of a seventh-gen product that has since broken into the mainstream, but if you can't elicit any response from a foldable fan as big as me with your upgraded device, perhaps you should take a page out of the OnePlus playbook and go back to the drawing board.
I'm not saying Samsung should cancel or delay the Galaxy Z Fold 7 until 2026, but, well, I'm not not saying that either. And yes, I fully realize that I'm looking at a larger phone here than last year's Galaxy Z Fold 6, but the expanded 8.2-inch primary display and 6.5-inch cover screen are not doing much to excite or thrill me at first glance, and the reason for that is pretty simple...
Where's our battery life upgrade, Samsung?
I know that many analysts (and, evidently, Samsung) think that people want thinner and lighter foldables at any cost and with any necessary sacrifices nowadays, but I'd personally happily give up a millimeter or two and 15 or 20 grams for a bigger battery than what the Z Fold 7 is expected to pack.
Would I be okay with a thicker profile and larger battery? Absolutely!
Something tells me I'm not alone in my disappointment at this bad boy purportedly keeping its predecessor's 4,400mAh battery capacity intact while considerably increasing the 7.6 and 6.3-inch screen real estate of the Z Fold 6. I'm sure many people know as well as I do that those display size changes and the absence of any battery size enhancement will result in a real-life downgrade in endurance times between charges. And there's not much a more energy-efficient Snapdragon 8 Elite processor can do about that.
It feels like Samsung is sacrificing the wrong thing here, as a more well-balanced Galaxy Z Fold 7 with a 5,000mAh or so battery and a thicker profile than what's currently expected could have generated a little more passion among power users and road warriors.
As things stand, the Z Fold 7 doesn't look like a very mature and polished product to me, focusing on fixing some things that don't need fixing while ignoring the real problems of so many flawed foldables nowadays and at the same time looking derivative and, dare I say it, boring.
The S Pen needs to stay
I know this is somewhat of a controversial topic and I also realize that many consumers don't really care about styluses (which is why so few modern phones use them), but if Samsung decides to remove the S Pen support from the Galaxy Z Fold 7, I... will... riot.
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The Z Fold 6 doesn't come with a stylus in the box, and neither will the Z Fold 7. | Image Credit -- Samsung
Now, this is far from confirmed, but one of the key ways the company has always been expected to reduce the Z Fold 7's thickness is the removal of a component called a digitizer. That would essentially guarantee that the phone wouldn't work with Samsung's existing S Pens, and although it is possible that a different type of stylus will be released alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 7, that sounds like a potentially rookie mistake to me as well.
Why am I saying that? Because it once again feels like Samsung is about to waste precious resources, time, and money on the wrong changes and (non) upgrades. The S Pen is amazing as it is (for folks who actually use it), and if the Oppo Find N5 can measure 4.2 and 8.9mm in thickness in its unfolded and folded form respectively (with a massive 5,600mAh battery, no less), then the Galaxy Z Fold 7 can probably retain the digitizer and pull off similar dimensions.
If that's not possible for some mysterious reason, Samsung has to wonder what its engineers have been doing all these years and, well, find more competent replacements ASAP. It's simply not acceptable to get rid of an iconic feature like S Pen support to pull off... worse numbers than the Oppo Find N5 anyway. That makes the industry veteran look like a rookie instead of the other way around, and it makes it impossible for Samsung to get out of its creative rut of the last few years.
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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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