The Samsung Galaxy Fold 7 may not be quite as robust a foldable as we hoped, and could conceivably fall behind the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold in design terms.
We recently reported on claims that Google’s next foldable phone could feature IP68 certification. This level of dust resistance is seen by some as the holy grail for foldables, as they seek to match the durability of non-foldable phones.
In that report, we mentioned that the Galaxy Z Fold 7 was also tipped for the IP68 treatment, but a fresh rumour casts doubt on the idea.
Galaxy Z Fold 7 IP rating
Tipster PandaFlash has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to claim that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 will only support an IP48 rating.
In other words, Samsung’s next Ultra-evoking foldable phone will have exactly the same level of dust resistance as the outgoing (and really quite underwhelming) Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, rather than the IP68 rating of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.
That’s a bit of a shame, given that Samsung is tipped to make design advancements elsewhere. Uber-tipster Evan Blass (aka @evleaks) recently supplied detailed renders showing how thin the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 was going to be.
The image shows the device half-folded, with noticeably less space either side of the power and volume buttons. It also seems to confirm that the under-display selfie cam is a thing of the past, with a classic hole punch camera back in place.
Evan Blass
Galaxy Z Fold 7 camera design
Those looking for more positive news to counteract that dust resistance claim, leaker Ice Universe has something to share.
In their own recent X post, they highlighted that Samsung was rolling back the thick, ridged look of the individual camera modules of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 in favour of a cleaner and more discrete design.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 might not be as robust as we hoped, then, but it should at least look the part.
Samsung will announce the Galaxy Z Fold 7, alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 7, at a special Unpacked event on 9 July.
