Assessment: The extremely skinny Galaxy Z Fold 7 is Samsung’s finest foldable but

There are many occasions in life when thinner is not essentially higher, however within the case of tablet-style foldable telephones, slimming down is certainly for one of the best.

That’s my large takeaway after a number of days taking part in with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, the newest flagship foldable from the Korean tech large. It combines what I at all times appreciated finest about this model of foldable (specifically the unimaginable versatility of its show modes) with an virtually unbelievably glossy type issue that makes it one of the best Samsung foldable but.

Sure, it begins at $1,999, making it the textbook definition of a premium or luxurious product. And past that, its battery life didn’t wow me throughout my testing, and what counts for brand new software program options right here largely simply convey the Fold line on top of things with earlier Galaxy telephones’ AI options. However there’s a lot else to love in regards to the Fold 7 that when you have $2,000 mendacity round and any a part of it sounds interesting to you, it’s nicely price your consideration. Plus, in case you pre-order from Amazon, you will get a $300 reward card to melt the monetary blow.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Worth and specs

As I already lined, this cellphone goes to value you two grand to begin. Maybe the specs sheet will do a very good job of explaining why:

• 8-inch AMOLED internal show with 2184×1968 decision and 120Hz adaptive refresh price

• 6.5-inch AMOLED cowl show with 2520x1080p decision and 120Hz adaptive refresh price

• Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset

• 12/16GB RAM

• 256/512GB/1TB reminiscence

• 4,400mAh battery

In plain English, meaning you’ve acquired two very giant, high-quality shows to associate with one of many higher-end cellular chipsets in the marketplace proper now. Even with a comparatively small battery measurement (extra on this later), it is a highly effective machine and the worth displays that.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Design and shows

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is fairly incremental in quite a lot of methods, however its bodily design might be the most important space the place Samsung made actual adjustments this yr. I’ll get to why in a second, however first, let me say the colour selections this yr are boring: Blue Shadow, Silver Shadow, and Jet-black. Blegh. My pink iPhone 16 is probably not as highly effective a tool, but it surely’s acquired far more pizzazz, I’ll let you know that a lot.

Anyway, the lengthy and wanting it’s that Samsung made the Galaxy Z Fold 7 considerably thinner and lighter than any foldable I’ve ever used. It’s in step with the latest Galaxy S25 Edge, a cellphone that provided thinness and little else as a main promoting level. (Extremely-thin telephones are additionally a significant theme within the cellular world this yr.) Its 215g weight is completely agreeable within the palms for a tool with two large shows; it’s truly lighter than the S25 Extremely, which notably solely has one show on it.

With a thickness of simply 8.9mm when folded and 4.2mm when unfolded, the Z Fold 7 actually must be seen and held to be believed. I’ve reviewed a handful of those tablet-style foldables over time, and none of them have ever felt pretty much as good within the palms as this one does. I’m nonetheless a bit skeptical total of the long-term viability of high-end foldables in comparison with common smartphones (they actually need to begin costing lower than $2,000), however from a pure usability standpoint, the Z Fold 7 is simply super.

Each shows are additionally completely stable, as you’d anticipate from the spec sheet. The 8-inch internal show continues to be great for watching movies on the go, whereas the 6.5-inch outer show works very nicely as a daily cellphone if you don’t really feel like unfolding the unit. I additionally didn’t actually discover the crease in any respect whereas utilizing the cellphone in its unfolded state. It’s arduous to imagine, however foldable makers have kind of found out that half.

If I’ve one criticism on this division, it’s that there’s a noticeably thick bezel across the outer show. It doesn’t actually have an effect on usability, but it surely instantly stood out to me the primary time I used the Z Fold 7. It simply appears just a little awkward, that’s all. Not a deal-breaker, by any means, however price mentioning.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Efficiency

Let’s get the arduous information out of the way in which first: Utilizing the GeekBench 6 benchmarking software program, the Z Fold 7 recorded a multi-core rating of 9,600. That’s truly rather less than the ten,049 I registered on S25 Extremely earlier this yr, however nonetheless a really excessive rating total. I’m not satisfied the distinction of 449 factors truly issues in any significant means right here.

Put merely, this cellphone works very nicely if you attempt to do just about something on it. Apps load rapidly, having a bunch of them open directly doesn’t noticeably gradual it down, and I didn’t discover any egregious examples of the cellphone being uncomfortably heat to the contact after intervals of use. Efficiency will not be a problem right here.

I’ll say, although, that this isn’t a banner yr for brand new software program concepts from Samsung’s foldable group. So far as I can inform, the Z Fold 7 simply takes the AI options that had been current within the S25 telephones earlier this yr and calmly adapts them to the larger show. That does imply you’ve a significantly better option to edit pictures than you’ll on a standard smartphone (full with split-screen side-by-side enhancing), however the precise enhancing options don’t really feel significantly new or novel right here.

The opposite predominant benefit of the foldable type issue as regards to AI stuff is that you may drag and drop your creations from one app to a different utilizing split-screen view, which is sweet. Aside from that, there simply isn’t so much to play with right here that wasn’t already round in a single type or one other earlier than. 

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Cameras

To its credit score, Samsung delivered a reasonably beefy digital camera improve this yr. The primary promoting level is the brand new 200MP predominant shooter on the again, which is an enormous leap from 50MP a yr in the past. Listed below are the complete digital camera specs:

• 200MP large rear lens

• 12MP ultra-wide rear lens

• 10MP telephoto rear lens with 3x optical zoom

• 10MP selfie cameras on each the outside and inside shows

Put merely, the Z Fold 7 takes good pictures. The brand new 200MP predominant lens produces very fairly, clear, and vibrant photographs.

You may also get down with some good macro images. I like to recommend making the most of this whereas flowers are nonetheless in bloom.

Nighttime images is okay, too. One may argue that it makes photographs look just a little synthetic, however our yard is sort of unattainable to {photograph} at night time, however the Z Fold 7 did a reasonably good job of capturing it.

The Z Fold 7 is able to as much as 30x digital zoom. The outcomes aren’t nice, to be sincere, however they not often are in my expertise on telephones like this. You may get zoomed-in photographs which might be technically clear and visual, however you may inform that the software program is filling in some blanks to get there in case you look carefully sufficient.

Nonetheless, it’s not a disappointing digital camera system by any means. Portrait mode is at all times there in your social media photographs, too. In all, I dig it.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Battery life

The one factor I discovered really disappointing in regards to the Z Fold 7? The battery life.

At first look, the 4,400mAh cell measurement didn’t stand out to me as a result of that’s fairly regular for smartphones, and there are different components at play, like energy effectivity, that make the dimensions of the cell not an excellent indicator of complete battery life. Nonetheless, possibly I ought to’ve been extra cautious. In performing Mashable’s customary battery testing (which concerned taking part in a video in HD on the internal show at 50 % brightness till the cellphone died), I acquired about 20 hours of life out of the Z Fold 7. Clearly, regular use that doesn’t contain a full day of video playback will in all probability squeeze some extra juice out of it. It’s not a uselessly small battery by any means, however for a $2,000 cellphone, you’d prefer to have some extra life on a single cost.

Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 price it?

Battery quibbles apart, it is a actually good foldable cellphone. I feel if you may make the worth be just right for you (through trade-in or in any other case) and also you suppose the shape issue would profit you in any means, you may need discovered your subsequent cellphone.

Galaxy Z Fold 7 is my favourite Samsung foldable but virtually totally on the again of its excessive thinness and stable efficiency. Its software program options aren’t actually something to write down dwelling about, however we reside within the age of diminishing returns, in order that’s to be anticipated at this level. It wins in sufficient different areas that this may very well be a pleasant on a regular basis machine for years to come back, assuming there aren’t any long-term technical issues that wouldn’t present up in a launch window assessment.

The place to purchase the brand new Galaxy Z Fold 7

Each Amazon and Samsung have pre-order presents out there, as of this writing. The cellphone will formally ship on July 25.