Your old Galaxy Note was thicker than you think, and the Galaxy Z Fold proves it

For years, thickness was the price you paid for a foldable phone. You have a small tablet that fits in your pocket, and you are always aware that something is there.

Anyone who bought one of the original Samsung Galaxy Fold devices received an extra bundle as part of the experience. Well, it might be time to revisit that trade.

With the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series set to be announced at Unpacked on July 22, Samsung’s foldables are now almost as slim as the Galaxy Note phones that many fans have been carrying around for years. In some cases, the comparison is even closer than you might expect.

To be clear, the Galaxy Z Fold did not replace the Galaxy Note. That role went to the Galaxy S Ultra, which inherited the S Pen and the familiar design of the Note.

What the Fold lineup has earned is the Note’s place on Samsung’s launch calendar as the company’s second flagship is announced every year. That makes the Note app an interesting way to see how far Samsung’s folders have come.

The Galaxy Note lineup ran from 2011 to 2020, and it wasn’t a very small series. The large display, large battery, and built-in S Pen all took up space.

The original Galaxy Note measured 9.65mm in diameter. Samsung has gradually slimmed down the system over the years, with the Galaxy Note 9 – which many fans call the ultimate Note – coming in at 8.8mm and the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra at 8.1mm.

Keep those numbers in mind.

The original Galaxy Fold from 2019 was between 15.7mm and 17.1mm thick when folded, depending on where it was measured. Compared to the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, it was twice as thick.

Progress was slow in the years that followed. Even the Galaxy Z Fold 6 measures 12.1mm when folded.

Then came the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Samsung reduced its folded thickness to just 8.9mm and its unfolded thickness to 4.2mm.

Just over a year later, the foldable phone that opens into an 8-inch tablet took up about the same space in your pocket as the Galaxy Note 9. The Fold 7 is 0.1mm thicker, while weighing 14 grams more.

Samsung isn’t expected to make any more drastic cuts this year. But the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series will keep its fold firmly in place of the Galaxy Note.

The standard Galaxy Z Fold 8 is rumored to measure 9.7mm when folded. That’s almost identical to the original Galaxy Note from 2011, which measured 9.65mm. While it’s not expected to be as thin as the Fold 7 or Fold 8 Ultra, that’s still significantly thinner than previous Galaxy Fold models.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is where things get interesting. Like the Fold 7, it is expected to remain 8.9mm thick when folded. However, it is rumored to be slightly thinner when exposed, measuring 4.1mm at the thinnest point instead of 4.2mm thanks to Samsung’s new Flex Titanium technology.

In other words, Samsung’s most advanced foldable is almost as thick as the Galaxy Note 9 when folded while unfolding into a small tablet.

Not long ago, one of the biggest arguments against foldable phones was their thickness. That trade-off was easy to see every time you put one in your pocket.

That’s not the case anymore. The latest Samsung Galaxy Z Fold devices are now similar in thickness to the Galaxy Note phones that were used by millions of people every day a few years ago. Folders still come with compromises, including their high prices. But thickness is no longer one of the main ones.

Looking back at the original Galaxy Fold makes that progress easy to see. In just seven years, Samsung has gone from making one of the strongest flagship phones on the market to making phones remarkably close to the Galaxy Note in both size and pocketability.