Galaxy Z Fold 7 may not have a less powerful Snapdragon chipset

Update: A Galaxy Z Fold 7 benchmark confirms that the phone will indeed be powered by the full-fledged 8-core version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite, the same chip that's used in the Galaxy S25 lineup.

Original story follows:

Samsung's next major smartphone launch is due in a few months. The company will unveil the Galaxy Z Fold 7, the Galaxy Z Flip 7, and the Galaxy Z Flip FE, a new clamshell model that's more affordably priced.

There were some rumors about Samsung opting for a less powerful chipset for the Galaxy Z Fold 7. It was claimed that the device could feature a 7-core version of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite, but that may not be the case.

A 7-core version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite does exist for foldable phones, so you can imagine why this rumor made sense. Thermal management is a concern on foldable devices and the idea may have been to opt for the less powerful version to keep the temperatures in check.

That rumor has been dispelled by an X tipster that the Galaxy Z Fold 7 comes with the same 8-core Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy as the Galaxy S25 series. So there would be parity among the two lineups. It will have a leg up on software, as we've exclusively confirmed that the Galaxy Z Fold 7 comes with One UI 8 out of the box.

If that decision was made by Samsung, it would have been very controversial. The Galaxy Z Fold models are the most expensive smartphones that it sells. When you pay $1,799 for a device you expect to get all the bells and whistles, and you'd certainly expect the company to work out the thermal concerns some other way instead of downgrading the chipset.

To be fair, there wasn't any official indication or any leak from a reputable source to suggest that this was even being considered by Samsung. The rumor mill can often have a mind of its own. Those who have been looking forward to this device can continue to expect the best specs from their next Samsung foldable flagship.