The long-rumored Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition is finally official, but there’s a catch—you can only pre-order it if you’re in South Korea. Unfortunately for global fans, this slimmest book-style foldable phone from Samsung won’t be available elsewhere.
The Special Edition is Samsung’s “thank you” to loyal customers who love Galaxy Foldables, but you’ll need to be very devoted to drop around $2,000 on one.
At first glance, the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition might not look drastically different, but its proportions set it apart. It’s the thinnest foldable Samsung has ever made, measuring just 4.9mm when open and 10.6mm closed.
This makes it even slimmer than the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Although the Honor Magic V3 still holds the record for the thinnest foldable at 4.4mm, Samsung isn’t far behind.
The Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition boasts a 7.99-inch main screen, the largest Samsung has used on a foldable, and a slightly bigger 6.5-inch external cover screen.
The device’s wider frame helps keep it thin but comes with some compromises, such as the absence of S Pen support due to the required digitizer adding to the thickness. Samsung also needed space for cameras.
Foldable phones generally have less capable cameras compared to their flat counterparts.
However, the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition defies this trend with a 200MP primary sensor akin to the one in the S24 Ultra, a 12MP ultrawide lens, and a 10MP telephoto shooter with 3x zoom.
This setup makes it the best camera-equipped foldable from Samsung so far.
In South Korea, the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition is priced at 2,789,600 KRW, approximately $2,021. That’s about $200 more than the base model Galaxy Z Fold 6 in the US and $500 more than the starting price in Korea.
The Special Edition offers more storage and RAM (16/512GB), but it’s a premium price for a marginally enhanced device.
Samsung’s efforts to slim down its designs for the Special Edition could hint at what to expect with the Z Fold 7 next year. A thinner foldable with an improved camera might help Samsung compete against the influx of Chinese foldables and Google’s impressive second-gen effort.