Samsung’s 45w foldable upgrade is already outrun by 80w rivals
Samsung’s next book-style foldables will crawl to 45W while Motorola, Oppo and Honor sprint past 80W. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 and its rumored Wide sibling will need almost an hour to fill a 5,000mAh cell—hardly headline material when the Razr Fold can hit 80% in 22 minutes.
Numbers don’t lie
Internally, Samsung calls the jump from 25W to 45W “significant.” Externally, it looks like a footnote. The Z Fold 7 already trailed the 45W S26 Ultra; now the S26 Ultra has leapt to 60W, and the foldable line still lags behind. Supply-chain memos seen by TechFlux show that Samsung tested 65W profiles but shelved them over thermal concerns in the dual-battery hinge cavity. Translation: the chassis can take the heat, but the marketing calendar couldn’t.
Motorola is about to ship the global Razr Fold with 80W. Oppo’s Find N6, Honor’s Magic V6 and Vivo’s X Fold 5 already flirt with the same wattage. Foldable buyers—early adopters who pay flagship-plus prices—notice these deltas. Every minute at an airport gate is a reminder that your $1,800 Samsung needs a coffee break while the stranger beside you is already at 100%.
Apple looms, samsung stalls
2026 was supposed to be Samsung’s victory lap before Apple’s first foldable enters the ring. Instead, it risks handing Apple a “fastest-charging foldable” crown on arrival. Cupertino’s supply chain is reportedly testing 35W MagSafe-style coils for a flexible chassis; if Apple pushes that to 45W, Samsung’s narrative collapses from leader to parity at best.
Price will matter. The Galaxy Wide Fold is pitched as the “value” book-style model, yet shaving $200 off the sticker while keeping 45W and last year’s camera stack won’t impress reviewers wielding stopwatches. Samsung’s own MX division forecasts a 12% dip in foldable ASP (average selling price) this year; margin protection is winning over spec leadership.
Real-world tests will tell the final story. A 5,000mAh cell at 45W can theoretically hit 60 minutes if Samsung’s PPS protocol holds peak power longer than it did on the S26 Ultra. But “if” is a dangerous word in a segment where every millisecond is screen-time for the competition. The Razr Fold is already in reviewers’ hands; the Z Fold 8 is still three months out. That gap is all the narrative Motorola needs.
Samsung remains the foldable volume king, yet kings have been dethroned by smaller armies with faster horses. 45W is not a sin—it's just not a sword.