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Long time feature on Galaxy Z Fold 7 reportedly will be eliminated to make the phone thinner

By Alan Friedman

Published: Jan 22, 2025, 2:25 PM

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A Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 sits on a desk slightly opened.

Since the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is not yet introduced, this image shows the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. | Image credit-PhoneArena

While Samsung unpacks the flagship Galaxy S25 line today, a fresh report says that we could be seeing a feature that has been part of the Galaxy Z Fold for a few years disappear with the release of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 expected this summer. Ever since the release of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, the book-style foldable device has featured support for Samsung's S Pen digital stylus.

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However, Samsung pulled this support with the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition model which is sold in South Korea and in China. In the latter country, this model is known as the Samsung W25. By pulling the S Pen support from the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, the manufacturer will reportedly be able to remove a digitizer allowing the phone to see a 12% reduction in thickness to 4.9mm when open and 10.6mm when closed. By comparison, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is 5.6mm when open and 12.1mm when closed. The digitizer is the layer of a phone's screen that recognizes signals from the S Pen and converts it into touch inputs.

According to the latest speculation, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 will be the global version of the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition with one key upgrade. Instead of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy application processor (AP) expected to power the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, the Snapdragon 8 Elite AP will be under the hood of the Galaxy Z Fold 7. That chipset will be the first Snapdragon AP produced using the 3nm node and offers improved performance and energy efficiency.

An S Pen digital stylus produced by Samsung.

To make the Galaxy Z Fold 7 thinner, the upcoming book-style foldable from Samsung might not support the S Pen. | Image check-Samsung

There is more to this story as far as the Snapdragon 8 Elite is concerned, and it is something that we happened to tell you just the other day. As it turns out, the version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite used on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 might have only seven CPU cores as opposed to the eight CPU cores on the regular version of the AP.

Samsung is expected to release four foldable phones this year:

• Galaxy Z Fold7
• Galaxy Z Flip7
• Triple Fold (yet to be named)
• Galaxy Z Flip FE (Special Edition)

Samsung and Huawei were the top two foldable phone manufacturers worldwide in 2024. During Q1, Huawei took over first place from Samsung although Sammy took back the top position during the third quarter.

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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.