Samsung Documents Confirm Missing Galaxy Z Fold 6 Feature

Updated June 2: article originally posted May 31.

Samsung’s next-generation foldable smartphone is ready for launch at the upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event on July 10th, but recently published documents from Samsung confirm that a hoped-for feature will not be available on the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

Thanks to Samsung’s submissions to the FCC, we have details on the radios used by the Galaxy Z Fold 6, but there is a noticeable omission. The new foldable does not support Wi-Fi 7 but will rely on the older Wi-Fi 6 standard. If Samsung had upgraded the Z Fold 6, it would have seen faster data transfer speeds and lower latency.

Update: Sunday June 2: The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is not the only foldable Samsung will launch this summer; the pocketable Galaxy Z Flip 6 will be the smaller companion of the Fold 6. Digging into the FCC paperwork, the team at SamMobile has highlighted the South Korean company’s decision over Wi-Fi compatibility for the Flip 6. It will also be missing the latest Wi Fi 7 functionality.

Unlike the Z Fold range, Samsung has not strived to keep the Flip phones at the same specs level as the premium flagship; given the nature of the device it steps back slightly in the same way as say the Galaxy S24 is a step down from the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Just as the S24 and S24+ saw Wi Fi 7 remain unused, the Z Flip 6 will not have the more advanced functionality available when it is launched.

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, the same chipset as the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Curiously, the S24 Ultra supports Wi-Fi 7, and in previous years, Samsung offered similar technical specifications across the top-end Galaxy S and Galaxy Z Fold products.

If Samsung is planning to offer a foldable along the lines of a Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra, holding back the cutting-edge features—such as Wi-fi 7—will allow the South Korean company to effectively market such a handset as a step above the regular version.

Only one Z Fold 6 model is expected to launch at the upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event, but there are signs that a second model may arrive in the fourth quarter of 2024. Not only will that offer a “brand new” handset for the holiday season, it will also be released after Apple debuts the iPhone 16 family late in Q3.

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