Samsung’s foldable has finally slimmed down
27.8.2025
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
The new Galaxy Z Fold 7 is finally as thin as a regular smartphone. Despite this, the display has become bigger and the camera better. Sadly, my favourite feature wasn’t included for space reasons.
In recent years, Samsung’s foldable device has had a decisive disadvantage compared to regular smartphones and the competition: form factor. The foldable device used to be almost twice as thick and heavy. Luckily, the new Galaxy Z Fold 7 is now much more attractive – but not in every respect.
Design and display: being slim isn’t everything
Sticking to the typical design of recent years, all Samsung has done is make the Galaxy Z Fold 7 less rounded and thinner. It measures 15.8 × 14.3 × 0.4 cm when open and 15.8 × 7.3 × 0.9 cm closed. Weighing 215 grammes, it’s about equal to a regular smartphone. The camera hump on the back is one annoying drawback: laying the device on a surface unfolded, it wobbles and stays crooked.
The display has grown slightly from the Z Fold 6 to the Z Fold 7 thanks to a thinner frame. Closed, it’s 6.5 inches instead of 6.3, open it grows to 8 inches instead of 7.6. Samsung protects the back of its device with Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2. According to the manufacturer, this mix of glass and ceramic provides more stability than just glass. The front is equipped with Gorilla Glass Victus 2, making it more scratch-resistant than its predecessor. I’ll return to this in more detail in the hardware section.
The most exciting new feature of this folding phone: the hinge. Samsung has used it to achieve a much thinner design. According to the manufacturer, it’s more stable than the Galaxy Z Fold 6 too. It could open a little less harshly to me, but it looks well made. According to Samsung’s lab tests, it should be able to open and close up to 500,000 times. Mind you, in the real world, if I open and close it 10 times a day over five years, I’ll manage merely 36,500 folds. Looks like 500,000 is more than enough.
Otherwise, I get the usual great quality from Samsung in both displays. The OLED produces bright colours and dark blacks. The adaptive refresh rate ranges from 1 to 120 Hertz, and the brightness goes up to 2,600 nits, giving me a smooth experience and remaining easy to read even in bright sunshine.
Hardware: powerful Elite chip, shorter battery life
The main new features of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 are its powerful Snapdragon Elite chip and two improved cameras. Given this innovation, I’ll look into both in greater detail for this review. Here are the specs in comparison with both predecessors:
Today’s foldable is by far the best performer in the Geekbench 6 benchmark. During everyday use, the device is great for multitasking and gaming – no compromises.
I use the 3D Mark program to measure how well the smartphone performs during a 20-minute gaming session. 3D Mark delivers the result in the form of a curve that represents battery consumption, temperature and refresh rate during this time. Overall, the result is almost 1:1 to the Galaxy Z Fold 6, both good enough. The refresh rate reaches a maximum of 170 fps. In real life, this value doesn’t do much. Firstly, reaching 170 FPS isn’t possible over longer periods. Secondly, current smartphone games don’t even require 170 FPS. Still, it’s a remarkable value.
The battery size hasn’t changed from the predecessor: 4,400 mAh. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 lasted 11 hours and 30 minutes with the screen open using PCMark. This benchmark simulates everyday life with surfing, watching videos and editing documents. Given the more powerful chip, I’d have expected a slightly longer runtime. However, I only got a little over 10 hours with the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Still, even with 10 hours, I can just about get through the day. I can charge the foldable with up to 25 watts. This takes just under 1.5 hours – quite a while.
I’m extremely disappointed that Samsung has dropped support for the S Pen in favour of the thin design. I can still write with a third-party pen like this Adonit, just without pressure levels and palm recognition. And, of course, without the remote control Bluetooth feature. The S Pen Pro from Samsung itself can be used in the same way, it’s just extremely expensive and, according to our community, wears out quite quickly.
Samsung’s accessories bother me. The new cover is only for the back. Not only does this look a bit cluttered and ugly, it also makes less sense in terms of protection. At least Samsung included a protective film with the cases, plus a mounting kit to ensure the film sticks properly. According to Samsung, however, these accessories are hardly necessary. The manufacturer advertises its robust materials and the aforementioned hinge. YouTuber JerryRigEverything proves this in his latest video too. The device tolerates his torture:
Camera: more megapixels
Samsung’s cameras are consistently at a top level on high-end devices – foldables included. The manufacturer has upgraded the main and selfie cameras to ensure this. The main camera, including a larger sensor, is now the same as on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, increasing from 50 megapixels (MP) to 200 MP. The selfie camera goes from 4 MP to 10 MP, with a slightly smaller sensor.
Here are the exact specifications of all five cameras:
- Main camera: 200 MP, f/1.7
- Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4, 2x optical zoom
- Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2
- External front camera: 10 MP, f/2.2
- Inside front camera: 10 MP, f/2.2
200 MP for the main camera has to be explicitly activated, and zoom is completely omitted if you do. Same for setting 50 MP. Without changes, I automatically get 12 MP, but with zoom. However, this is enough for most situations. Images require more memory anyway at higher resolutions. At 12 MP, it’s 2 megabytes (MB) of memory. 200 MP is already 32 MB. This is only worth it if you want to edit your images on a computer:
On both the smartphone and a computer, the 12 and 200 MP photos appear identical. However, differences are very noticeable zooming in. So, if you only want to use image sections, a higher resolution is worth it.
I’m very impressed by the new seamless zoom for videos. It allows me to zoom in close to a subject without annoying jerks during a pic. In my test video of Broderbrunnen fountain in St Gallen, I also notice how beautiful the sound of the water is – despite the pervasive traffic.
Software: AI and Flexmode
Samsung delivers the Galaxy Z Fold 7 with Android 16 including seven years of support with software and security updates. The manufacturer is upgrading base Android with a custom version that supports Fold features. Samsung calls this Flexmode. For example, it gives me an overview of photos I’ve already taken in the camera app on the left-hand side, while the camera remains open on the right.
Most Samsung apps already have customised displays, but third-party providers are also increasingly represented. Here’s a rough list of the supported apps:
- Calculator
- Calendar
- Camera
- Clock
- Gallery
- Youtube
- Video calls
- Browser
- Spotify
The screen is particularly useful for videos since I can position the smartphone easily thanks to its shape. And thanks to the large internal display, it’s also a lot of fun playing games and reading. If I want to work efficiently, Samsung also offers Dex. With this feature, I can connect my smartphone to a monitor via USB and use it as a mini PC. The display then looks similar to a desktop PC or tablet. This works quickly and reliably. To work in desktop mode, a mouse and keyboard can be connected to the smartphone via Bluetooth.
Samsung also relies heavily on AI for its latest device. These functions have been in use for some time. Still, Samsung only delivers small improvements to existing features. For example, there’s Gemini Live from Google, various translation functions, an AI photo editor and the relatively new Now Brief. Here, I can get a daily overview of my upcoming appointments, the weather and other information I want to see.
In a nutshell
Samsung’s biggest innovation isn’t entirely positive
With the new Galaxy Z Fold 7, Samsung has finally eliminated the biggest drawback of its foldable. Now, it’s as big and heavy as a regular smartphone when folded. All that considered, the manufacturer still delivers high-quality AMOLED, both on the outside and inside. The cameras produce extremely pleasing results – photos can be taken at up to 200 megapixels.
Still, the device has two drawbacks: its battery life is shorter than that of its predecessor, and support for the S Pen has unfortunately been completely removed. What a shame, at least for me. That pen with its remote control function used to be a unique selling point.
Overall, however, the manufacturer has taken a big step forward and is catching up with the competition in terms of form, such as the Honor Magic V3. Right now, I still prefer the Honor because of its much better pricing and superior protective cases. Still, if you’re not in a hurry, you could wait for a price drop. For the Z Fold 6, it was around 400 francs/euros within the first month.
Pro
- As thin and heavy as a regular smartphone
- Useful 8-inch inside display
- Good cameras
Contra
- Battery barely lasts a day
- No support for the S-Pen
Header image: Michelle Brändle
In my world, Super Mario chases Stormtroopers with a unicorn and Harley Quinn mixes cocktails for Eddie and Peter at the beach bar. Wherever I can live out my creativity, my fingers tingle. Or maybe it's because nothing flows through my veins but chocolate, glitter and coffee.
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