Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special is a foldable device with a height of 157.9 mm, a width of 142.6 mm, and a notably slim profile at 5.6 mm thick, resulting in a total volume of 126.09 cm³. It weighs 236 g and is rated IPX8, confirming full waterproof protection against water ingress.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special features an 8-inch OLED/AMOLED touchscreen with a resolution of 1968 x 2184 px at 374 ppi and a 120Hz refresh rate, supporting both HDR10 and HDR10+ content. It includes an Always-On Display mode and a secondary screen with a resolution of 1080 x 2520 px. Branded damage-resistant glass is not present on this model.

The device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, built on a 4 nm process with an 8-thread CPU configuration running at speeds up to 3.3 GHz via big.LITTLE architecture with HMP support, alongside an Adreno 750 GPU clocked at 900 MHz with 3 execution units and support for DirectX 12, OpenGL 3.2, OpenGL ES 3.2, and OpenCL 2. It carries 16 GB of DDR5 RAM at 4800 MHz across 2 memory channels with a maximum bandwidth of 76.6 GB/s and a maximum supported memory of 24 GB, paired with 512 GB of internal storage. The CPU has a TDP of 12.5W, and the system includes integrated LTE, integrated graphics, TrustZone security, multithreading, 64-bit support, a 1 MB L2 cache, a 12 MB L3 cache, and an eMMC 5.1 interface. Benchmark results show a Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 7325, a single-core score of 2213, and a 3DMark Wild Life score of 12005.

The main camera system uses three lenses rated at 200 MP, 12 MP, and 10 MP with apertures of f/1.8, f/2.2, and f/2.4 respectively, backed by a BSI CMOS sensor, optical image stabilization, and 3x optical zoom. Autofocus options include phase-detection, laser, and touch AF, with continuous autofocus available during video recording, which reaches up to 4320p at 24 fps with slow-motion support. A single LED flash is present, though dual-tone and RGB flash variants are not included. The camera supports a thorough set of manual controls — exposure, ISO, focus, and white balance — along with HDR, burst mode, RAW capture, in-camera panorama, 360° panorama, and timelapse. On the front, a under-display camera offers a single lens at 10 MP and 4 MP with apertures of f/1.8 and f/2.2; a front-facing flash and a multi-lens front setup are not featured.

The device runs Android 14 and includes a broad set of privacy controls, covering location access, camera and microphone permissions, clipboard warnings, and app tracking blocking, though Mail Privacy Protection, cross-site tracking blocking, and Wi-Fi password sharing are not available. Customization options span theme adjustments, dynamic theming, dark mode, and an extra dim mode, while notification controls and customizable notifications give users granular management over alerts. Productivity is supported through split-screen multitasking, picture-in-picture, the ability to function as a PC, sharing intents, widgets, a media picker, full-page screenshots, Live Text, and the option to play games while they are still downloading. The OS also features on-device machine learning, offline voice recognition, voice commands, device tracking, multi-user support, a child lock, and a battery health check. Focus modes, app offloading, Quick Start, and direct OS vendor updates are not part of the feature set.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special houses a rechargeable 4400 mAh battery with a built-in level indicator, and supports fast wired charging at 25W as well as wireless charging at 15W. Reverse wireless charging is also available at 4.5W, allowing the device to share power with other compatible accessories. The battery is not removable.

The device features stereo speakers and supports aptX, aptX HD, and LDAC Bluetooth audio codecs for higher-quality wireless listening. A 3.5 mm headphone jack is not included, and there is no built-in radio.

The device supports 5G connectivity and is compatible with Wi-Fi 4, 5, 6, 6E, and 7, alongside Bluetooth 5.3 and NFC. It accommodates up to two physical SIM cards plus one eSIM, and connects via USB Type-C with USB 3.2, reaching download speeds of up to 10,000 Mbit/s and upload speeds of up to 3,500 Mbit/s. Onboard sensors include a gyroscope, accelerometer, barometer, compass, GPS, and Galileo support, while a fingerprint scanner handles biometric authentication. An external memory slot, DLNA certification, ANT+ support, infrared sensor, heart rate monitor, iris scanner, 3D facial recognition, motion tracking, optical tracking, stylus, and built-in projector are not part of the feature set.

The device includes a video light for recording in low-light conditions. It does not feature a sapphire glass display or an e-paper display.