Today I learned that Samsung has been running an entire phone line in China since 2008, and it has a name that sounds like a charity gala. The W series, called 心系天下 or “Heart of the World,” started as luxury flip phones sold through China Telecom, back when flip phones were still a flex. It has survived keypads, touchscreens, and the slow death of the old-school clamshell. Every year it gets a new number and a fancier outfit. The newest one, the Samsung W27, has just been announced, and it might be the best-dressed foldable Samsung has ever made.
Under the hood, the W27 shares its core hardware with the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra: a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, an 8-inch inner screen, and a weight of 7.6 ounces (215 grams). The difference is on the outside. Samsung swapped the Fold’s Victus 2 glass back for Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3, added a gold relief texture to the frame, and took its two colors from imperial Chinese porcelain glazes. It starts at CNY 18,999 and is exclusive to China.
Designer: Samsung
The colors come with a history lesson. The blue draws from 霁蓝, sacrificial blue, and the red from 霁红, sacrificial red, two glazes associated with imperial Ming porcelain. Imperial rituals used blue porcelain for the Altar of Heaven and red for the Altar of the Sun. The red is the legend, perfected during the Xuande reign (1426 to 1435). Attempts to recreate it in the early 1700s helped produce another celebrated glaze, now called oxblood.
Samsung changed the material to match the story. The W27 gets Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3 on both the back and the cover screen. Glass-ceramic contains tiny crystals within its glass structure, which Corning says help deflect cracks and improve toughness. That doesn’t make it porcelain, but it gives the reference a material connection beyond the paint job. The W series has loved porcelain since the W23 and W23 Flip shipped with ceramic backs and Song dynasty porcelain wallpapers. Here, a frosted, semi-translucent gold camera island sits on the back. The Armor Aluminum frame gets a gold relief texture Samsung compares to cut gemstones, while the hinge cover has a frosted metal finish.
Under all that jewelry, the W27 measures 0.16 inches (4.1mm) thick unfolded and 0.35 inches (8.9mm) folded, excluding the camera bump. Folded, that’s roughly a regular phone wearing a case. The 5,000mAh battery is a jump from last year’s 4,400mAh W26, and Samsung rates it for up to 27 hours of video playback under its test conditions. The camera setup includes a 200MP main camera and a telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. The displays are rated for up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. Tiantong satellite calling and texting offer another way to get a message home when terrestrial coverage disappears, subject to service availability and activation. The launch offer includes a year of satellite service, with call and text allowances. On the screen, animated wallpapers ripple with gold leaf, inspired by the Tao Te Ching line about the highest good being like water.
Pricing starts at CNY 18,999 for 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage; the 1TB model costs CNY 21,999. The box includes a Kevlar case and a 45W charger, while eligible launch-period buyers can claim Elite-tier Samsung Care+ coverage. It’s a China-only release, so US buyers would need an importer. The name is already looking ahead to 2027, like a Camry arriving before its model year. Samsung has wrapped a gadget people may replace in a few years in colors potters have chased for six centuries.
