The $700 Galaxy Z Flip FE hits a months-long Exynos roadblock

19 Mar 2025, 05:54 by Chris Thomas · Android Police

Samsung knows it has dedicated fans who won't ever shell out $1,100 or more on a foldable smartphone that, admittedly, doesn't even have space for a huge battery or the most cutting-edge cameras. A year after rumors we'd see less expensive, FE-badged Galaxy Z foldables, one's finally on its way — but we don't know when, and it's due to a problem that Samsung is having major trouble shaking.

Unfortunately, as Korean news outlet The Bell reports, Samsung's continued struggle with producing enough high-end systems-on-a-chip means the Galaxy Z Flip FE won't arrive in the summer alongside the Z Flip 7. Instead, it will release in the second half of the year, with estimates putting "several months" between the two devices' launch dates (via 9to5Google).

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A tale of two microchips

It was the best of chips, it was the Exynos of chips

Source: Samsung

A major obstacle to foldable phones' mainstream adoption is they're just too expensive. Performance, battery life, and durability keep improving, but reasonably priced, powerful flip phones like the Moto Razr 2024 are few and far between. Plus, few companies can match Samsung's interface design prowess. The Z Fold FE's eventual arrival gives foldables another chance to find widespread popularity.

Early reports are it'll be a great phone, too. A recent leak from Twitter/X's @TheGalox divulged its use of the Z Flip 6's design and top-shelf inner screen, plus a Z Flip 6-style large cover display, advanced flexible glass, and dual-camera setup. What it definitely won't have is a top-of-the-line Qualcomm chip, in order to push the price as low as the rumored $700 mark.

Compromises make sense, but what's the real catch?

The chipset it will likely have, the Exynos 2500, is the source of the midrange foldable's latest setback. Once in the running for Galaxy S and Z series flagships, less-than-stellar performance has pushed it nearly to obscurity. Internally, Samsung apparently worries that shoehorning the Exynos 2500 into the full-fat Z Flip 7 would significantly hurt sales. It seems the most demanding consumers really don't want to buy an Exynos-driven phone.

Heartbreakingly, that's not the only challenge Samsung is facing with the much-maligned 2500. Even if it did, magically, match Snapdragon 8 Elite performance, poor manufacturing yields mean there simply won't be enough of them to go around when the Z Flip 7 drops around July. So, Samsung is pushing back the release window for its lower-cost flip smartphone, while also repositioning its silicon division to deliver a truly flagship-worthy Exynos 2600 in time for part of next year's crop. In other words, Samsung hasn't given up on the 2500, but it did punt the high-performance processing duties to a manufacturing competitor, likely Qualcomm, yet again.

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