Samsung’s slam dunk with the Galaxy Z Fold 7
After years of making foldable smartphones that did the bare minimum, and completely fell behind their Chinese rivals, Samsung suddenly made the excellent Galaxy Z Fold 7. And, if reports coming in are to be believed, then the Galaxy Z Fold 8 will be awesome as well.
So, why did Samsung suddenly find the will to put in more effort into its foldables? Going even as far as to start manufacturing the Galaxy G Fold, a tri-foldable smartphone. Well, I think it might be more than just coincidence that the foldable iPhone is right around the corner. Coming out next year, in fact.
Surely Samsung didn’t just start making amazing foldables only because it saw the foldable iPhone as a threat, right? Well…
Galaxy S25 Edge
Shortly after leaked reports about the iPhone Air, news started coming in about a similar phone by Samsung. Soon after, the company launched the Galaxy 25 Edge, beating the iPhone Air to the punch.
Did Samsung just have a super slim flagship phone ready to go? Or did it suddenly find the inspiration to experiment with this form factor after fearing that it might be one-upped by Apple?
Now, I’m quite bummed that the Edge series seems to have already been cancelled. I think that both the iPhone Air and the Galaxy Edge phones have a bright future, if Apple and Samsung adopt silicon carbon batteries. Apple doesn’t seem to be giving up on the iPhone Air just yet, and I hope that Samsung is still working on the Galaxy S26 Edge.
Samsung even seems to be taking inspiration from Apple when it comes to software. While useful, Now Bar is a direct answer to Apple’s Dynamic Island. And recent versions of One UI have quite clearly been inspired by iOS, especially when it comes to UI navigation. Thankfully, One UI is still mostly distinct, unlike some Chinese operating systems.
But, I’m not done pointing out Samsung’s recent questionable decisions.
Galaxy XR, it even looks the same!
I love the Galaxy XR. I’m super grateful for a more affordable XR headset in the same vein as the Apple Vision Pro, possibly with a lot more content thanks to Android XR. But, let’s be honest, it looks just like the competition.
Samsung has already gotten backlash in the past for having copied Apple’s designs for its earphones and smartwatches, but this is on a whole other level. The company is treating Galaxy XR as a placeholder as it begins work on AR smart glasses, which is exactly what Apple is doing with the Vision Pro.
But seriously, Samsung. Did you have to make it look so similar? Why did you only decide to jump back into the XR (Extended Reality) market after Apple tried its hand at Mixed Reality headsets?
What this means for Samsung’s future products
Perhaps I’m being a bit too pessimistic, and it would be stupid of me to accuse Samsung of never having an original thought, but I’m worried about the company’s upcoming products.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is probably going to be excellent, but if the foldable iPhone flops, will Samsung care enough to continue improving the Galaxy Z Fold 9? If Apple never adopts silicon carbon batteries for larger capacities, will the Galaxy phones never get them, either?
Is the Galaxy S26, which is a minor upgrade over the Galaxy S25, not being improved as much as it could have been because Samsung is worried about the foldable iPhone? Will we see Samsung release smart glasses the same year as Apple?
Samsung used to wow people, the company used to truly innovate. Now it just seems like it’s waiting for Apple to make a move before it does. All because the Chinese smartphones can’t really penetrate the U.S. market share and pose just as much of a threat as the iPhone.
