Now that the Oppo Find N5 has been fully unveiled and we know what it would cost for most of us to import the device, it is clear that Samsung has one hell of an opportunity to take back both market share and mind share - which honestly might be even more important.

For years now it has felt like Samsung has been moving at an absolutely glacial pace with their Galaxy Z Fold line of phones. Up until the last couple of years, that hasn't been a massive problem because in their biggest market they were the only game in town. If you wanted a foldable, you were either going to have to import one or buy theirs.

Competition Mounts

Let's be honest; that didn't really change when Google launched the Pixel Fold. While I really enjoyed that phone, it just wasn't a phone that was going to truly eat into Samsung's market share. It was short, underpowered and the hinge needed some serious work.

The first device to come along to truly make Samsung look bad was the OnePlus Open. Virtually everything about it either matched what Samsung was doing or surpassed it - sometimes by a significant margin. The cameras hardware was significantly better, it was thinner, lighter, it charged faster and it came with a new multitasking interface called Open Canvas that many prefer to Samsung’s.

The following year, and despite OnePlus not releasing another foldable, things continued to get tougher for Samsung. Google upped their game with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold in a significant way. Many have described this year-over-year glow up as the most significant we've seen in a long time. Google addressed virtually every problem with their foldable and delivered something very competitive.

The hinge issues were gone, camera performance somehow got noticeably better without any significant change to the hardware, it was thinner, it was lighter and the software had improved dramatically since Pixel Fold’s first outing.

Samsung should have seen most of this coming and they should have seen this as a shot across the bow. Something that sparked an immediately change of course, but that just didn’t happen.

Samsung’s Response

The competition for the book-style foldable market was finally heating up and what Samsung delivered was another iterative improvement with the Z Fold 6. The cover display was a little bit wider, the frame had been flattened and the corners squared. They shaved off some thickness and some weight and they pumped up the brightness of the panels, but compared to what Google had just done and especially to what OnePlus had delivered even earlier, it felt like too little, too late for many.

At the same time, Samsung would go public with a statement that they recognized that they were in some state of crisis. In a blog post, they would promise to get back to innovating the way that they used to. They would raise their standards and get back to being the Samsung of old.

That brings us to the Z Fold 7 and the very unique position Samsung finds themselves in. It's not all that common for a market to get more competitive only for things to reverse, but that’s exactly what happened. Despite everyone on planet earth assuming for months that all the leaks, rumors and post we’d been seeing about the Oppo Find N5 would translate to a stateside release in the form of the OnePlus Open 2, OnePlus is just not shipping a foldable again this year. Not having to go head-to-head with the hardware of the Find N5 is nothing short of a blessing for Samsung and it represents an incredible opportunity. It's once again just them and Google, and they absolutely must do what they said they were going to do - be that aggressive, innovative Samsung we miss.

What’s Rumored?

• Wider 6.49-Inch Cover Display

• Larger Inner Display

• 200MP Primary Camera

• New S Pen with No Digitizer

• Thinner and Lighter

To put things simply, it the rumors are that Samsung is set to deliver an improved version of the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition as the Z Fold7. After years of complaints about how narrow the cover display is, that should be fixed. That primary camera appears to be in line for a major Ultra-flavored upgrade - jumping to a the same 200MP sensor those phones use. Samsung is even working on a new S Pen that can operate without the need of a digitizer layer in their display, allowing them to save space and still deliver that important feature. There’s talk of improvements to the crease and hinge as well as a larger vapor chamber for better prolonged performance.

Is That Enough?

I know not everyone is going to think this set of rumors sounds like enough to firmly put Samsung back into the driver seat when it comes to foldables in the States, but I think everyone has to admit it sounds a lot better than what we’ve been getting. We may be on the precipice of the first truly game changing update to the Z Fold since the Fold2. Much like the S25 Ultra, the Z Fold6 is better than people give it credit for being. It might not “wow” with the hardware anymore, but the polish sets it apart. If Samsung manages to keep that polish and deliver the hardware we’re hearing (which is basically just an improved version of something they already made in small quantities) I honestly think they stand a good chance of bouncing back.

You also have to wonder how many Z Fold3 or 4 users are just now ready to move on. Flagships aren’t meant to be replaced every year and that has to be doubly true of foldables which are even more expensive. What’s coming together here is a perfect storm for Samsung. The timing is right, all they have to do is swing hard.