Samsung releases fancier version of the Z Fold4 and Z Flip4 for China, named Samsung W23 and W23 Flip

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 were launched in India at the company’s Galaxy Unpacked event last month. Every year Samsung releases a fancier version of the Z Fold that is exclusive to China Telecom, e.g. last year’s Samsung W22. For the first time the company is also releasing a W Flip model, based on the Z Flip.

The design of the Chinese variants are quite similar to the models launched in India. The he W phones traditionally come in black and gold. The back panel is black ceramic, while the aluminum hinge has decorative engraving. Even the S Pen has been given a new coat of paint in black and gold to match the phone. The two foldable smartphones are coming without ‘Galaxy’ branding and are said to feature 16GB of RAM.

Samsung W23 (Galaxy Z Fold4 for China Telecom)

The hardware on the Samsung W23 is essentially the same as the Galaxy Z Fold4, except that this is a premium device and the company loaded it up with 16GB of RAM and 512GB storage (the Fold tops out at 12GB RAM).

The Samsung W23 costs CNY 10,000 (again, you need to start with a CNY 1,000 deposit), you can find it on the Samsung China store. For comparison, an 8/512GB Galaxy Z Flip costs CNY 8,500 (China is not covered by the Bespoke customization program, by the way).

Samsung W23 Flip (Galaxy Z Flip4 for China Telecom)

The Samsung W23 Flip takes (most of) the Galaxy Z Flip4 hardware and applies the traditional W-series styling. Like its companion, the W Flip has more RAM than the Z Flip – 12GB vs. 8GB – and comes with 512GB of storage. The styling is the same, but this one opts for a cheaper glass back panel rather than ceramic. The hinge is still engraved though, so this isn’t something you can recreate wit the Bespoke editor.

The foldable handsets are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC and have Corning Gorilla Glass Victus Plus protection on display. Both the models run on Android 12-based OneUI 4.1.1 and feature side-mounted fingerprint sensors for authentication. Both Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 are IPX8 rated for water resistance.

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 has a starting price tag of Rs. 1,54,999 for the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage variant, while the Galaxy Z Flip 4’s price in India starts at Rs. 89,999 for the base 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. Deliveries for both the Samsung W23 and W23 Flip start on October 28.