Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition is thinner, lighter and gets larger screens

What just happened? Special Editions of products don't usually offer a slew of improvements over the standard versions – they're often just a bit prettier. With the Special Edition model of the Galaxy Z Fold, however, Samsung has made a foldable that is not only thinner and lighter than the Z Fold 6, but it also has more memory, a bigger screen, and an upgraded camera.

Samsung might have started the foldable phone revolution, but the company is facing increased competition from the likes of the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and the OnePlus Open.

Following the launch of the new Galaxy Z Fold 6 in July, Samsung has now officially announced the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition.

The new device is 3 grams lighter and 1.5mm thinner than the Z Fold 6, making it the thinnest and lightest model in the Galaxy Z Fold series at 10.6mm and 236g.

A thinner and lighter foldable is always welcome, as is the news that the displays in the Special Edition are larger. The outer screen is increased from 6.3 inches to 6.5 inches, while the inner display jumps from 7.6 inches to 8.0 inches (20:18 ratio), or 3.1% and 5.2% larger, respectively. That gives the new Samsung foldable the same internal screen size as the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Samsung is making 16GB the standard amount of RAM in the Z Fold Special Edition. Unsurprisingly, it's framing this as a way to experience an optimized Galaxy AI experience. It also comes with Wi-Fi 7 instead of the Wi-Fi 6e, like the Z Fold 6, though there's reportedly just one storage option of 512GB.

Another upgrade is the camera setup. Samsung is increasing the main wide camera from 50MP to 200MP, the same as the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. You might notice that there's a new pattern on the back, too.

Some elements of the Z Fold 6 that remain in the new model include the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC and the 4,400mAh battery.

While this all sounds like great news for Samsung Z Fold fans, the Special Edition handset has only been announced for South Korea so far. It launches on October 25 for 2,789,600 KRW or just over $2,000. It seems the only other place where it will be available outside of Korea will be China.