Samsung launches three new foldable smartphones as it fends off Chinese rivals

Samsung connected Wednesday launched 3 caller folding smartphones — including thinner top-end devices and a cheaper mentation of its flip telephone — as the tech elephantine looks to entice buyers to marque the power to foldables.

The main caller additions to Samsung's foldable telephone scope are the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which folds similar a book, and the Galaxy Z Flip 7, which takes connected the signifier of the classical clamshell-style flip phones. Samsung besides announced a cheaper mentation of its latest flip phone, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 SE.

The South Korean user electronics elephantine is refreshing its foldable telephone lineup astatine a clip erstwhile the institution faces accrued contention from Chinese rivals, specified arsenic Honor and Oppo. Last week, Honor — which spun disconnected from Chinese tech elephantine Huawei successful 2020 — launched the caller ultra-thin Magic V5 folding phone, portion Oppo introduced its ain slim foldable device, the Find N5, earlier this year.

Samsung's stock of the planetary foldable telephone marketplace slipped to 45% successful 2024 from 54% a twelvemonth earlier, according to Counterpoint Research. China besides accounts for a important stock of the foldables marketplace — although 17.2 cardinal of these devices were sold past twelvemonth globally, this drops to 9.4 cardinal erstwhile excluding mainland China.

The caller Fold instrumentality has a 6.5-inch screen surface and an 8-inch main show erstwhile opened, making it bigger than its predecessor.

It's besides decked retired with premium caller cameras, featuring a 200-megapixel main lens, arsenic good arsenic a 10-megapixel telephoto sensor, 12-megapixel ultra-wide and 2 10-megapixel beforehand cameras connected some the screen surface and connected the main display.

Samsung's caller Fold procreation is, nevertheless, overmuch much constricted than different devices successful the marketplace erstwhile it comes to artillery capacity. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 has a 4,400 milliampere-hour (mAh) artillery — acold little than the 6,100 mAh powerfulness battalion successful Honor's Magic V5's oregon the Oppo Find N5's 5,600 mAh battery.

Samsung says its instrumentality is susceptible of 24 hours of video playback.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 volition retail successful the U.K. astatine a starting terms of £1,799 ($2,434).

Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 7 is besides thinner than its predecessor, coming successful astatine 6.5 millimeters erstwhile opened flat. By contrast, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 has a extent of 6.9 millimeters erstwhile unfolded.

The caller telephone has a 4.1-inch screen surface and a 6.9-inch main display. It comes with a 50-megapixel main camera and 12-megapixel ultra-wide sensor connected the backmost and a 10-megapixel lens connected the main display.

It besides has a bigger 4,300 mAh battery, which Samsung says supports 31 hours of video playtime connected a azygous charge.

In summation to Flip 7, Samsung is besides introducing a cheaper mentation of the phone, called the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE, which is somewhat smaller and thicker than its much premium counterpart.

The Galaxy Z Flip 7 volition retail from £1,049 successful the U.K., portion the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE starts astatine £849.

Samsung besides talked up the Galaxy Z Fold and Flip 7's artificial quality capabilities. For the past 2 years, the institution has utilized Google's Gemini connection exemplary to powerfulness overmuch of its AI features — and this twelvemonth is nary different.

Both devices usage Samsung and Qualcomm's custom-made Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip, which is designed to alteration much AI processing on-device arsenic opposed to successful the cloud.

It besides has caller AI-powered camera features, including 1 that automatically suggests radical and objects to erase from photos — for example, if you've been photobombed by idiosyncratic — and an audio eraser instrumentality that proactively detects and removes unwanted inheritance sound from videos.

The Galaxy Z Flip 7, meanwhile, lets you propulsion up Google's AI adjunct app, Gemini Live, connected apical of the camera app erstwhile taking a unrecorded video of yourself. Samsung says 1 usage lawsuit this offers is the quality to inquire the AI for tips connected the outfit you're wearing.

Sheng Win Chow, elder analyst at Counterpoint Research, said that carnal plan unsocial won't beryllium capable to person users to person to foldable phones from the touchscreen slabs we're each utilized to.

"Lasting enactment depends connected redefining what foldables do, not conscionable however they look," helium said successful an emailed note. "The adjacent question of contention volition travel from bundle — however vendors usage the foldable signifier origin to present genuinely differentiated experiences."