Report: Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 6 ‘Slim’ isn’t all that slim

Ben Schoon | Jul 29 2024 - 8:35 am PT

One of the biggest changes to Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Fold 6 is that it’s considerably thinner, but the company is still worker on a “Slim” model that’s meant to be even thinner, but reports claim it’s not going quite as far as expected.

Samsung once stood as the only prominent name in foldables, but has quickly been met with not only capable competition, but other brands that have, at least on a hardware level, eclipsed Samsung’s devices entirely. The recently-released Galaxy Z Fold 6 measures in at 12.1mm thick, a record for Samsung, but the current record holder is Honor’s Magic V3, which measures in at just 9.2mm thick.

Facing increasing pressure from Honor, Xiaomi, and other brands in China, Samsung has been rumored to be working on a new “Slim” variant of the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

According to a new report from The Elec, though, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 “Slim” won’t be all that slim.

Samsung has apparently managed to trim down the thickness of this new device to 11.5mm, about 5% thinner than the regular Fold 6. That comes largely from the removal of the digitizer used for the S Pen, which on its own apparently contributes 0.6mm to the Fold’s thickness.

An 11.5mm foldable won’t set any records, but it would be another solid step for Samsung’s iterative nature with foldables. Apparently, reliability is a key concern for the company in going any thinner, as reliability issues would look worse than having a thicker device, and the parts used on this “Slim” model will allegedly be “applied to next year’s foldable phone.” Some parts have reportedly already begun mass production.

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 “Slim” is expected to launch later this year, solely in Korea and China.

Previously, Samsung reportedly set an internal goal to produce a foldable that’s under 8mm thick when folded.