Samsung Galaxy W25 could be the best foldable ever made – it certainly looks the part

But there is a catch

Samsung Galaxy W25
(Image credit: Samsung)
Quick Summary

Samsung has announced another foldable phone in the form of the Galaxy W25, with a mirrored-finish ceramic back and the same specs as the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition.

The Galaxy W25 is for China only however, so if you're in the UK or US, you won't be able to get your hands on one.

Samsung announced its latest foldable phones back in July and they arrived in the form of the very predictable Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6, following on from their predecessors with similar designs and a bump in specs. They are both excellent foldable phones, but neither pushed the boat out too much, with Samsung playing it fairly safe on both counts.

Following their launch, there was then a lot of talk around the Galaxy Z Fold SE or Z Fold Special Edition model, which was expected to bring camera improvements, along with a thinner design. That model was made official a couple of weeks ago, launching in South Korea on 25 October and it sold out within 10 minutes. It did bring the higher resolution main camera, along with wider cover and main displays, but it also dropped support for the S Pen.

What is the Samsung Galaxy W25?

There is now another Samsung Galaxy Z Fold, designed for China. Honestly, you wait all year for a new Samsung foldable and three come at once.

Samsung revealed the W25 foldable on 7 November with an almost identical design to the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition but with a little extra bling. A video of the device was posted by Universe Ice on X (formerly Twitter), and picked up by Sammobile and it looks gorgeous.

The Galaxy W25 has a ceramic back panel with a mirror-like finish and a golden frame, making it look even more premium than the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition.

Although, alongside that finish, which will no doubt absolutely love a fingerprint, the specifications and dimensions are the same as the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition. Both the Galaxy W25 and Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition also have next-generation Bixby, and that's something you won't find elsewhere ay the moment.

There's of course some bad news for those in the UK and US however in that the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition is exclusive to South Korea and China, and tricky to get hold of after being selling out a couple of times, while the Galaxy W25 is exclusive to China.

That means if you want a Samsung foldable, it's still the Galaxy Z Fold 6 or the Galaxy Z Flip 6 you'll need to consider for now. There's a chance some of the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition features could come to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 next year but at the moment, we will have to wait and see.

Britta O'Boyle

Britta is a freelance technology journalist who has been writing about tech for over a decade. She's covered all consumer tech from phones, tablets and wearables to smart home and beauty tech, with everything in between. She has a fashion journalism degree from London College of Fashion and previously did a long stint as deputy editor of Pocket-lint, but you’ll now find her byline on several titles including GQ, the Express, the Mirror, TechRadar, Stuff and iMore. You'll never find her without her Apple Watch on, aiming to complete her rings so she can justify the extra bar of chocolate and she loves a good iPhone trick.