Samsung’s newest foldables the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Galaxy Z Fold 7 might seem like equals at first glance, but when it comes to developer capabilities, one clearly takes the lead. And surprisingly, it’s not the Fold.
In an unexpected twist, the compact Galaxy Z Flip 7 has become the first non-Pixel device to support Google’s official Linux Terminal app a major step forward for mobile development.
Back in March, Google introduced Linux Terminal support with Android 15, enabling Pixel devices to run a full Debian virtual machine (VM) through the Android Virtualization Framework (AVF). This breakthrough allowed native access to Linux command-line tools and programming environments, directly from a smartphone.
Given its larger screen and productivity-focused design, many expected the Fold 7 to be the perfect match for this feature. But the Flip 7 unexpectedly claimed that title thanks to the chip powering it.
The Flip 7 runs on Samsung’s in-house Exynos 2500 processor, which crucially supports non-protected virtual machines a requirement for AVF to work with the Linux Terminal. Meanwhile, the Fold 7 is equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 “Elite” chip, which only allows protected VMs, rendering it incompatible with the current implementation of the terminal app.
The key takeaway? Hardware matters more than ever. Even as features like AVF become standard across Android devices, actual compatibility will depend on the underlying silicon.
For now, Flip 7 users can head into Developer Options, enable the terminal feature, download the Debian image, and launch a full Linux shell right from their pocket. Combined with Samsung DeX, which already offers a desktop-like experience, this new capability blurs the line between smartphones and PCs.
And if support for graphical Linux environments like X11 or Wayland arrives in the future, we could soon be carrying a complete Linux PC in our pockets.
