I can say the Galaxy Z Fold 7 by Samsung is undoubtedly their best foldable to date. From its super thin frame to its multitasking capabilities that make it just a gem to use. But with this being their best foldable it once again becomes their most expensive and should you grab your wallet and buy one?
Style
It’s uncanny to think that Samsung manage to not only make this their thinnest Z Fold but also even make it just as thin folded close compared to the flagship Galaxy S25 Ultra at a difference of 0.77mm. This automatically meant ultimate portability for me.
Even with the Z Fold 7 being thinner it still has larger displays than its predecessor. On the outside folded is a 6.5” display with Gorilla Glass Ceramic while in the unfolded display comes in at 8” with both having Dynamic AMOLED 2X 120Hz and 2600 nits.
With it being only 215g with an 8.9mm thickness folded and a fascinating 4.2mm thick unfolded it makes it genuinely nice to hold as it rests in the palm of my hands.
You can see how Samsung barely succeeded with getting USB-C port on the bottom, volume rocker on the side and under that rests a power button with dual purpose as fingerprint sensor. There are stereo speakers and depending how you are holding it unfolded can either be top and bottom or left and right.
Hardware
The Z Fold 7 uses the same Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and Adreno 830 GPU as the Galaxy S25 Ultra which means you can expect great power and efficiency with this device. Comes with 12GB RAM with storage options of 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. You are getting the same 4,400mAh battery as the Z Fold 6 but has managed to last longer than times I spent with its predecessor thanks in part to this newer processing power.
The build quality on this Fold 7 is remarkable. Samsung has put a lot into its folding with its Armor FlexHinge which is so thin. They put Armor Aluminum on the frame to take some drops which I can attest to have survived.
OneUI
With it launching during the summer it came with OneUI 8 aka Android 16 right out the box. Using its 8” unfolded display is impressive for doing side by side comparisons when editing photos. Dual scrolling endlessly on social media apps TikTok and Instagram may or may not be ideal (it becomes addictive), but it works flawlessly.
There are so many swipe gestures to make multi windows features its uncanny. Also let’s not forget the Flex Panel which allows you to utilize it like a laptop even having a touchpad. If you dive into the settings, there is so many features you can turn on maximizing the capabilities of the Z Fold 7.
Cameras
There is a triple camera system on the Z Fold 7 with its biggest lenses yet at 200MP (wide) accompanied by 10MP (telephoto) and 12MP (ultrawide). Samsung did away with the under the display camera instead bringing back the hole punch style this is 10MP which is also on the front cover as well. Z Fold 7 was able to capture some decent shots with using it daily in various atmospheres. It held up nicely whether it is the hottest day outside at a Mets baseball game or in the later evenings hanging out at dim lit lounge.
But using the S25 Ultra you will miss some things like that optical zoom 5x and just some details and color being better despite this device also having a 200MP lenses. This is noticeable when zooming in at the baseball game on players and coming out pixelated. But overall day to day it’s a nice camera.
Everyday Usage
I was originally using it on/off as I couldn’t come to grips of leaving the S25 Ultra but once I did it made me wish I did. With Samsung expanding the outer display it makes it feel like you are using a regular phone. Unfolding is a wonderful experience especially for gaming. I tend to plug it into a Backbone Pro and lock it in for hours. Watching content is refreshing on the 8” display. But with all this extensive usage can be taxing on the battery.
While the Z Fold 7 seamlessly opens and closes, it can be hard at times just trying to get a grip on prying it open. This is only because it is so thin. I do tend to rock a Pitaka thin case on the back only which does alleviate some of that.
I have been using it with my main carrier T-Mobile and service has been fine, getting fast 5G speeds and not experiencing any dropped calls. The device Samsung provided to me is unlocked and can be used with various carriers.
Verdict
I have been having a fun time with the Z Fold 7 multitasking and gaming on it daily. It checks most of the boxes I’m interested in even though I wish the battery were slightly bigger and the cameras were closer to the S25 Ultra.
Its starting price tag was originally $1,999.99, making it extremely expensive but dropped as of late to $1,599.99. Throw in some trades and you could land just under $1k. I think that will make this phone more attractive and approachable. I can imagine the drop is also in part to the looming triple display Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold as well.
You can check unboxing of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 on Tiktok / Instagram / YouTube
