Does Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7 Ultra tease mean a cheaper foldable is also on the way?
Phone teaser campaigns are usually pretty straightforward, but Samsung's latest is more of a head scratcher. The firm has revealed its working on the 'Next Chapter of Ultra' – except that next chapter is going to be a foldable. Does that mean phone fans can expect the Galaxy Z Fold 7 Ultra to be even more of a flagship than its predecessor – or will it be a change in name only, to free up some space for a more affordable book-style foldable phone beneath it in the line-up?
The teaser, which landed in tech press inboxes a little out of the blue, isn't giving much away. There's no talk of reveal dates, or even hinting at the next Galaxy Unpacked event (where the new phones are almost certain to make their debut). Samsung instead mentions 'industry-leading hardware, cutting-edge performance and seamless AI integration optimised for the foldable format'.
Accompanying silhouette images clearly show a book-style foldable: first closed, then part-open, and finally fully unfolded. There's no mention of specifics like screen size, but the rumour mill expects the new phone to be larger both inside and out than the last-gen phone.
How the Ultra-badged Fold will differ from the current Galaxy Z Fold6 remains to be seen – as will whether the new phone will borrow any of its hardware from the Galaxy S25 Ultra. I don't see how the firm could re-use the S25's camera setup without adding thickness, which is something the rest of the foldable industry has designated enemy number one.
The Z Fold6 is now looking pretty portly versus the Oppo Find N5 and Honor Magic V3, so dimensions are one area the firm has to tackle if it wants to take the hardware top spot. A bigger capacity battery is a must, too, now that Chinese rivals have adopted silicon-carbon tech.
Personally I think this goes one of two ways. Either we get a Galaxy Z Fold 7 and a Z Fold Ultra in mid-July at the next Samsung Unpacked event – or the Ultra will be the only Fold variant that appears there, leaving the door open for a more affordable Fan Edition variant later down the line.
It's what Samsung is reportedly doing with the Galaxy Z Flip series. A Z Flip SE is widely expected to arrive this year, bringing clamshell-style phones to more price-conscious customers – and giving the firm something to directly rival Motorola's more mid-range Razr flip phones.
A Galaxy Z Fold FE would get a slightly simplified spec sheet and wouldn't need to major on slimness, as long as it lowers the bar for entry enough. That would let the Z Fold Ultra shave off a few millimetres, just like the China- and Korea-only Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition did, while also bringing a next-gen chipset and more camera cleverness.
That's all conjecture until Samsung makes things official, of course. We'll know more in July at Unpacked – assuming the rumours are correct.
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