Assessment: The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 foldable is nearly an excessive amount of enjoyable

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 is a narrative of one thing previous, one thing new, one thing borrowed, and one thing blue. The blue half is straightforward — my assessment pattern, supplied by Samsung, is the Blue Shadow colorway. The spotlight of the telephone is certainly the “something new.” Samsung massively up to date its pocket-sized foldable telephone with an enormous cowl display screen. At 4.1 inches, it is the most important exterior show on a flip-style telephone to this point.

“Something borrowed” comes within the type of the Exynos processor that lives contained in the telephone. Previous variations of Galaxy Z Flips in worldwide markets have been powered by Exynos silicon prior to now, however U.S. telephones have usually had Snapdragon {hardware} from Qualcomm, which we strongly desire. The “borrowed label” is my hope that Samsung will return to Snapdragon {hardware} sooner or later — extra on that later.

Lastly, “Something old” — considered one of my greatest frustrations with the telephone, which is slightly bit higher this yr (however truthfully not that a lot better than the Galaxy Z Flip6). It has to do with the best way apps seem on the exterior show (what Samsung calls the Cowl Display screen) and Samsung’s refusal to deal with that stunning canvas like a correct display screen. It is slightly maddening, although it did not cease me from having enjoyable with the telephone.

Shortly after Samsung unveiled the Z Flip 7 (and its extremely skinny older sibling, the wonderful Galaxy Z Fold 7) this July, I hit the highway to sunny (and devastatingly scorching) St. Louis, house of the Gateway Arch, Six Flags, and Meremec caverns. Over the course of 5 days, I put this “AI Flip Phone” by means of the ringer for my Galaxy Z Flip 7 assessment.

The Galaxy Z Flip 7 is the Flex you assume it’s

Earlier than I dive into the {hardware}, I want to debate the spotlight. Samsung — lastly — responded to market strain within the U.S. (and overseas) by bringing a big Cowl Display screen show to its flip telephone, and thank goodness. The earlier two generations additionally had bigger screens, however they’d odd notches in them to accommodate the digital camera modules, whereas everybody else was simply reducing the show across the cameras.

One of many first issues it’s best to do once you get this telephone is allow apps to run on this show. The issue is, it takes 13 steps to do it, and until you are a geek (which, admittedly, in case you’re studying this assessment, you could be), most individuals will not trouble. That is honest, however you may be going into this battle with one hand tied behind your again.

The 4.1-inch AMOLED display screen is giant, beautiful, and will completely be used to the fullest. Like the principle show, it has 2,600 nits of peak brightness and a 120 Hz refresh price. Not all apps can deal with the Cowl Display screen (confusingly, Samsung additionally refers to this display screen because the Flex show and/or FlexWindow), however a lot of them will. The excellent news: when you do these 13 steps, you are executed fidgeting with settings. You possibly can merely add the apps that you really want. The unhealthy information: Samsung does not actually need you to do it in any respect. You could be questioning what I imply by that.

A hobbled expertise

If Samsung wished you to run apps on your private home display screen, it would not require you to enter the Labs part of your settings and set up a separate app from the Galaxy retailer to do it. It would not power you to make use of the Samsung keyboard on the Flex show, with its lack of voice typing, no matter which keyboard is your default keyboard (Gboard FTW). Plus, if I needed to see “open your phone to continue” another time, I used to be able to throw the telephone out the window whereas using in a automotive by means of central Illinois.

All the pieces from including apps to the launcher to organising widgets, to reordering widgets, all needs to be executed with the telephone open, for some purpose. It makes me unhappy.

As soon as you’re employed round these picadillos and get all the way down to enterprise, the quilt display screen itself is gorgeous. Most apps work properly on there, together with Gemini and Gemini Dwell, which is a enjoyable strategy to work with Google’s AI. The show additionally goes proper as much as the sting of the telephone.

The remainder of the {hardware}

Samsung constructed a extremely strong telephone right here, and it is nice to make use of. The casing is armor aluminum, and the hinge has been redesigned this yr, slimming down the telephone only a bit. The {hardware} is extra squared off than Motorola’s Razr, which might make one-handed opening slightly more durable. But it surely’s tight and practical. While you shut the telephone, you’ll achieve this with one of the crucial satisfying “Thwaps” you have ever heard. Talking of which, it makes hanging up on individuals far more satisfying than it already was. 

The buttons on the facet of the telephone aren’t raised by a lot, which might make it exhausting to find them with out wanting. I typically missed the fingerprint sensor within the energy button as a result of I had bother discovering it. However the remainder of the {hardware} is totally strong. The 6.9-inch AMOLED predominant display screen can also be bigger than earlier generations at 6.9 inches. The display screen has the identical teardrop form closing that minimizes the crease, which you’ll see however will not care about.

The telephone is powered by a 4,300 mAh battery that is simply 100 mAh smaller than its bigger sibling, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. As such, it will probably simply final all day, particularly in case you carry out most duties on the quilt display screen. I seen the telephone tended to run scorching, however solely after I was already exterior baking in a water park or on the St. Louis Zoo, so I think the climate was simply as possible at fault because the telephone itself.

The software program on the within

Having talked concerning the software program on the quilt display screen, the software program when open is… mainly the identical as every other Samsung telephone. OneUI 8.0 is constructed onto Android 16, making these telephones the primary to ship with Android’s newest working system. That is no shock — Google and Samsung have been joined on the hip for some time now. OneUI 7 was a divisive working system as a result of quite a lot of Samsung customers preferred how their telephones labored earlier than it rolled out (my spouse amongst them).

Personally, I cherished OneUI 7.0 as a result of it introduced again the vertical scrolling app drawer and the Tablet, which apes Apple’s Dynamic Island in quite a lot of nice methods. OneUI 8 provides all these advantages and takes issues a step additional, bringing 90:10 multitasking to the telephones. What meaning is you possibly can run two apps, one on high and one beneath, however you possibly can transfer the separator so that you solely see 10 p.c of one of many apps. Faucet that 10 p.c and the app pops as much as develop into the 90 p.c, and vice versa. It really works higher on the Galaxy Z Fold 7, however it’s additionally fairly good on the Flip 7. 

While you half-fold the Flip, you activate Flex Mode, which helps you to benefit from the foldable design. In Flex Mode, the app lives within the high half of the display screen, and the underside half turns into a form of management panel in supported apps. In YouTube, for instance, the underside half will get a play bar and play controls, which is fairly neat.

I additionally love that Dex is out there on the Flip7. Samsung Dex mainly turns your telephone right into a CPU once you join a monitor, mouse, and keyboard to it. It offers you a home windows interface just like Home windows. I spent a while with Dex on my journey to St Louis, however more often than not I am utilizing Dex is on long-haul flights, getting some work executed with a set of Xreal One glasses. Now that could be a rollicking good time and I am joyful Samsung’s smaller foldable has that functionality.

Now we have to speak concerning the AI

The Flip 7 has quite a lot of the identical AI tips as different Samsung telephones, together with digital camera tips and AI picture enhancing, comparable to transferring topics round or utilizing generative AI to fill within the background. Two notable enhancements embrace Gemini on the Flex display screen, together with Gemini Dwell. That is a pleasant bonus. Gemini Dwell additionally works with the exterior digital camera (when the telephone is open, to be clear) to develop into multimodal. On the St. Louis Zoo, I might level the digital camera at an animal and ask what I used to be taking a look at, and in each case, it was appropriate, which was shocking, to be completely trustworthy.

What was slightly annoying was how chatty Gemini Dwell would get. “That’s an Asian Elephant! You can tell by the size of the ears. Would you like to know more about the Asian elephant? Do you have any questions about it? Please for the love of all things holy talk to me!” That is not an actual quote, however you get the purpose.

The opposite AI options, like Samsung’s Now bar, additionally seem on the Flex display screen, even when the Now Temporary remains to be lower than good. It nonetheless returns information tales that are not related to me. It saved me updated with the climate at the same time as I traveled, so that was good, however I nonetheless haven’t got a lot use for it.

Battery life and efficiency

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 comes with an Exynos 2500 processor constructed on a 3nm course of, just like flagship processors from Qualcomm and Mediatek. That is Samsung’s homegrown silicon. What’s odd this yr is that each one Flip 7s might be sporting the Exynos processor. Prior to now, Z Flip telephones bought abroad had Exynos whereas the U.S. variations had Snapdragon processors. Due to this, we all know that Snapdragon often outperforms Exynos. This yr, we won’t make that comparability, however it’s honest to say historical past shouldn’t be on Samsung’s facet.

Geekbench is a benchmark device you need to use to get an concept of how a processor performs. Geekbench returns scores of two,354/7,340 single/multi-core scores on the Flip 7. For context, the Snapdragon 8 Elite within the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 returns a 2,430/8,823 rating, so it does not precisely blow it out of the water. Everyday, the one actual stutters I famous had been within the digital camera software program often, and typically when operating a number of home windows in Dex. They had been minor hiccups, however nonetheless noteworthy.

As for battery life, regardless of spending all day, most days out and about, away from Wi-Fi and in scorching temperatures moreover, the telephone by no means died earlier than bedtime. I would not name this a multi-day telephone, however it’s very not unhealthy, and you will get much more mileage out of it in case you use the quilt display screen as typically as doable.

Cameras are pretty much as good as your lighting

There are three cameras on this telephone, however you may solely actually ever want to make use of two of them.

To be trustworthy, I did not discover a lot use for the 10MP selfie digital camera.

One of many key advantages to utilizing a flip-style foldable telephone is the power to show the Cowl Display screen right into a preview window for taking selfies. The hinge could be very inflexible, so you possibly can even use the telephone as its personal tripod and use gesture controls to take pictures and movies. I took a bunch of enjoyable selfies on the St. Louis Arch, Meremec caverns, and all factors in between utilizing that flex hinge, and I obtained some nice photographs. You may also maintain the digital camera half open at a 90-degree angle for a camcorder grip in case you’re nostalgic (a function you may additionally discover within the Motorola Razr Extremely). 

The outcomes you get might be extremely dependent in your lighting circumstances. For instance, at Six Flags through the day, my photographs had been sensible. Meremec Caverns and the St. Louis aquarium had been each a bit hit and miss. I’d advocate that in case you’re in low-light circumstances, take quite a lot of photographs (to extend your odds of getting a great one) and ensure your topics are as nonetheless as doable. Images of stalactites are going to be excellent. Images of the individuals standing in entrance of them, not a lot.

The digital camera software program presents photographs of as much as 10x, however you’ll by no means wish to go that top. In my expertise, the 4x zoom is usable; at 10x you lose all depth and texture. The photographs could be OK for social media, however typically, you may wish to keep away from these. As typically as not, they don’t seem to be good.

I additionally noticed a shocking quantity of grain in quite a lot of my lower-light photographs. Samsung is often fairly good at cleansing these issues up in low gentle, however even a number of the daytime photographs, notably ultrawide and macroshots, ended up grainy in darker areas.

Taking pictures video is far the identical, although much less forgiving. Low-light video shouldn’t be horrible with the principle digital camera, however do not transfer or stroll whereas taking pictures. The judder will get fairly unhealthy once you begin strolling. Good photographs are doable at midnight, however that is extra the exception than the rule.

General, it is a fairly good digital camera setup that does very properly within the day, and even when the solar is beginning to go down. End up in a cave — as one does — and your outcomes will fall into the vary of “mixed bag” all the way down to “dumpster fire.”

So, is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 price it?

Flip telephones are actually enjoyable. I like utilizing them, particularly when taking selfies with the principle digital camera. You are able to do that with the Fold 7, however holding that telephone open is awkward. Holding a tiny little pocket sq. in your hand is a lot simpler and a a lot better expertise. For $1,099, I believe you’ll like this telephone, too. Plus, it is cheaper than its main competitors, the Motorola Razr Extremely, which has a comparable digital camera and a better price ticket.

There are some corners lower right here. The Exynos processor shouldn’t be unhealthy (Motorola’s flagship foldable has a Snapdragon processor), however not one of the best you should purchase. I am unable to hate on Samsung’s cowl display screen software program an excessive amount of as a result of it is a curated expertise that Samsung needs you to have, and it actually solely makes me unhappy as a result of I am a nerd. The cameras are excellent for this class, although it would not harm Samsung to take some notes from abroad opponents.

So, must you purchase the Z Flip 7? Once more, in case you’re a fan of the shape issue, that is essentially the most compelling foldable on supply right here in the USA. When you’re already taking a look at one thing just like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus, this one folds in half for under $100 extra. I like what Samsung has lastly executed right here, catching as much as its contemporaries and restarting a contest struggle wherein the patron will in the end win.

The place to purchase the Galaxy Z Flip 7

You should purchase the Z Flip 7 at Samsung, Amazon, and Greatest Purchase (or simply about anywhere that sells telephones) for $1,099.99. The bottom model solely comes with 256GB of storage, however in case you choose up this telephone at Amazon, you will get a $200 reward card at no additional value, which is difficult to argue with.

At Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, Samsung additionally debuted a mid-range model of the F Flip 7, following Motorola’s lead. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE presents many of the similar options for $899.99.