I spent a week in New York City with the Samsung Z Fold 7 – and it spoiled me the entire time

jul / 2025

For a restricted time, you should buy the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and obtain a free $200 present card.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is Samsung’s largest design overhaul because the Z Fold 2 in 2020, and it is again with a bang. Over the past three years, the Korean tech large made slight refinements to every era, leading to a stale design. However the brand new Galaxy Z Fold 7 lastly catches as much as its Chinese language rivals, even beating them in a number of methods.

I have been utilizing the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 for the previous week and am pleased to report that Samsung has made some rattling near-perfect {hardware}. You get an easy-to-hold type issue, nearly no crease, a canopy display that is near an everyday telephone in itself, a stable hinge, and the identical primary digital camera because the Galaxy S25 Extremely.

These upgrades include a value, although. The Fold 7 will set you again at two grand, however if in case you have that cash, that is the telephone I like to recommend most.

An (virtually) good bodily type

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 measures simply 4.2mm skinny when unfolded and eight.9mm folded. For context, that is a number of millimeters greater than the 8.25mm iPhone 16 Professional Max and eight.5mm Pixel 9 Professional. Samsung’s personal Galaxy S25 Extremely measures 8.2mm, whereas the foldable Oppo Discover N5 is 8.93mm thick. 

All in all, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is simply 0.1mm thicker than the thinnest book-style foldable, the Honor Magic V5. Paired with a physique that is lighter than all of them at 215 grams, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 the lightest book-style foldable in the marketplace proper now. 

This skinny and lightweight design makes it probably the most comfy to carry Galaxy Z Fold telephone but — if you happen to maintain it in the fitting hand. If you happen to’re left-handed, the hinge corners would possibly dig into your palm, which was additionally a difficulty on the predecessor. That mentioned, I am a right-hander, and I discover it extra comfy to make use of than the Galaxy S25 Extremely and iPhone 16 Professional Max. 

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 can be extra sturdy than earlier than. It incorporates a stronger Gorilla Glass Victus Ceramic 2 on the duvet display, Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the again, and a Titanium plate layer as an alternative of a carbon fiber sheet underneath the display for added show sturdiness. Plus, you get mud and water resistance with an IP48 ranking. 

Samsung improved the duvet display, too. It is not fixated on the slender type issue, enabling the 6.5-inch AMOLED display with a 21:9 side ratio so apps work together higher and play alongside properly with the entire slab phone-like really feel. It is brilliant sufficient to see open air and has the identical 120Hz dynamic refresh charge and HDR10+ assist because the inside show. Texting, scrolling by means of social media, and looking the net on a Samsung cowl display feels refreshing.  

Full-screen trade-offs, however the crease is gone

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 has a wider folding display than its predecessor. I’ve cherished my expertise on this sharp and vivid panel, however it is not as immersive as earlier than. 

Samsung caught to an under-display digital camera (UDC) for years, which made the studying, looking, and gaming expertise higher than every other foldable. Utility-wise, its high quality was worse than the brand new punch-hole 10MP digital camera — and I might favor the brand new setup for video calls any day — however I miss the under-display digital camera, too. I hope it returns sooner or later with higher high quality.

When you settle for that the digital camera is not going wherever, you may recognize the Galaxy Z Fold 7’s eight-inch LTPO AMOLED 2X panel, which helps HDR10+ and has a 120Hz dynamic refresh charge. I really like its vivid colours and high-contrast look. However like earlier than, the inside show attracts extra smudges than the duvet display. 

Coming to the perfect a part of the folding display, there’s nearly no crease. Samsung’s new butterfly hinge mechanism has efficiently negated it. In truth, Galaxy Z Fold 7 has the least quantity of crease on any book-style folding telephone that I’ve used. The Oppo Discover N5 comes shut, however the Vivo X Fold 5 and Honor Magic V3 each have barely deeper creases working by means of the center of the display. 

Not that it issues when interacting with the large show, however much less crease means a cushty viewing expertise in additional lighting situations and angles. 

The hinge, too, feels extra premium than different foldables. If you happen to’re coming from one of many earlier Z Folds, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 will not prop up at 150 levels proper out of the field, however it will get higher as you employ it. After every week of use, my unit not unfolds flat until as much as roughly 135 levels. I had an identical expertise with the Honor Magic V3, which additionally has a butterfly hinge.

If I had to decide on between a subjectively extra immersive Fold 6 display with UDC and deep crease or Fold 7’s punch-hole-clad display with lesser crease, I might choose the latter. 

I can not pinpoint why the Galaxy Z Fold 7 feels extra premium than different foldables in the marketplace, however it’s in all probability a mix of a number of elements: a thinner and lighter design, the least crease, and flat sides that are not unergonomic (in the fitting hand) to carry. It’s barely more durable to unfold, however you may get used to it throughout the first 48 hours.

Samsung eliminated one other characteristic on the Galaxy Z Fold 7: the S Pen, and I do not miss it. I by no means used it on my Fold 5 or Fold 6, and if it helps the telephone make it thinner, I do not thoughts lacking out on a stylus that needs to be saved in an exterior case. 

Helpful AI and at last: a digital camera improve

Samsung’s new Fold runs Android 16-based One UI 8, with Samsung’s Galaxy AI having probably the most full suite of synthetic intelligence options. The telephone runs easily, because of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC, paired with both 12GB or 16GB of RAM. 

I truly discovered among the telephone’s AI options helpful. For instance, the AI Choose characteristic permits you to click on something in your display to take actions. From transcribing interview recordings to eradicating undesirable objects in my pictures, there are many helpful AI instruments that truly work. 

Coming from a OnePlus telephone just lately, I believe Samsung may benefit from displaying related pop-ups for on-call options like transcribe and translate. As of now, it’s worthwhile to swipe down and faucet on the Dwell Translate tile from the fast panel to make use of the characteristic, which is not as simple. 

Samsung additionally lastly gave its foldable the identical main digital camera as its flagship S-series telephone. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 sports activities a 200MP primary digital camera, borrowed straight from the Galaxy S25 Extremely. It’s accompanied by a modest 3x 10MP telephoto digital camera and a 12MP ultrawide-angle lens. 

This digital camera system produces vibrant-looking pictures in most eventualities. I like to recommend taking pictures most pictures in 200MP mode, so you may crop them later and but retain the main points, because the 3x tele lens is not the perfect. 

I want Samsung would let customers change between lenses within the 200MP mode. As of now, you get choices for 1x, 4x, and 5x (you may zoom at any stage from 1x to 5x), however to alter to ultrawide, it’s worthwhile to change to 12MP mode after which faucet 0.6x. It is a slight inconvenience that I’ve recurrently confronted up to now week. 

Samsung has additionally improved the shutter velocity, so shifting topics are captured higher than earlier than. The dynamic vary stays nice, whereas the Portrait mode nonetheless struggles with edge detection. Galaxy AI comes into play once more and provides you probably the most polished photobomber-removal instrument. 

One other cool characteristic for videographers: Audio Eraser can now robotically detect what to tune out and has a delegated button in your gallery. It made my voice a little bit robotic, however it did properly to suppress background noise. 

Let’s speak battery life

Sadly, Samsung did not improve the battery capability on its new foldable. In truth, it hasn’t elevated the battery dimension in 5 generations; the Galaxy Z Fold 7 has the identical battery because the Galaxy Z Fold 3. This implies you get a 4,400mAh cell with assist for a modest 25W wired charging and 15W wi-fi charging. 

Once I first noticed this quantity on paper, I used to be fearful that incredible {hardware} can be compromised by a questionable choice, particularly when competing units have 5,500mAh+ silicon-carbon batteries. 

Because it seems, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is a full one-day system for reasonable telephone customers (with about 5-6 hours of every day display time). I am not impressed by the charging velocity, although.

I normally common about 9 hours on my telephone every day and should cost my Z Fold 7 each night round 6 PM for my night social media scrolling. If you happen to’re a heavy telephone person, anticipate to plug in your Z Fold 7 after the work day, or earlier in case your utilization entails a whole lot of navigation on 5G. 

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

Samsung improved the weakest hyperlinks of its book-style foldable with the Galaxy Z Fold 7, and the result’s a near-perfect telephone. I might love for it to have a much bigger battery and a greater zoom digital camera — the Vivo X Fold 5 has each — however Samsung’s foldable has U.S availability, longer software program assist, and a greater person interface. Briefly, that is probably the most polished folding telephone expertise, in my view. 

Nonetheless, it would not come low-cost. After a $100 worth bump, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is Samsung’s costliest Fold but, beginning at $2,000. If you happen to can spend that quantity on a smartphone, you may’t go incorrect with this telephone. It is a generational leap over its predecessor, and if you will discover a superb alternate provide, I like to recommend upgrading from final 12 months’s Z Fold 6, too. If you happen to’re a enterprise skilled or want a telephone for productiveness, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 ought to be in your radar.