Over the last couple of months we’ve come across a number of interesting leaks and rumors regarding the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. Unfortunately, the latest leak from an FCC listing is profoundly disappointing for a premium flagship device like Samsung's upcoming foldable phone.
Based on the FCC certification that was released today, and spotted by Sam Mobile, neither the Galaxy Z Fold 6 or the Galaxy Z Flip 6 appear to have support for Wi-Fi 7.That would be a surprising omission, considering that the Galaxy S24 Ultra released by Samsung earlier this year does have Wi-Fi 7 certification.
Wi-Fi 7 launched early in 2023. The next-generation wireless standard promises to more than quadruple a network's total bandwidth, and since its release, it's been finding its way to the best routers and other devices like phones.
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is supposed to feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset which comes with built-in Wi-Fi 7 support. The currently available S24 Ultra also features a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. A number of other foldable phones already support Wi-Fi 7 including the OnePlus Open (the entire current OnePlus lineup is Wi-Fi 7 certified) and the Vivo X Fold3 Pro. Google’s Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro also have Wi-Fi 7 certification.
Based on the FCC listing, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 will have 5G, Ultra-wideband, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, NFC and Bluetooth 5.3 support.
The Galaxy Z Fold has been Samsung's premier foldable device, on par with the Galaxy S24 Ultra among the premium phones Samsung sells. We're expecting the Galaxy Z Fold 6 to have the same $1,799 price as its predecessor, and it seems odd that a phone with that big a price tag would skip out on Wi-Fi 7.
There is speculation that Samsung will launch a Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra edition, and it's possible that Samsung might want extra features to make that phone stand out. Still, that doesn’t adequately explain why the phone manufacturer would take away connectivity that is available in other Samsung devices.
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 are likely to appear at the next Galaxy Unpacked event, which most observers think will happen in July. We'll find out then just what kind of networking support Samsung's most expensive phone will have on board.
