Galaxy Z Fold 7 Review: So, are you ready to buy a foldable phone yet?

Ben Schoon | Jul 25 2025 - 12:00 pm PT

The idea of a foldable phone, still, several years in, feels like a novel one. As new releases have hit the market, they’ve continually improved and addressed some of the biggest complaints. That’s all led to today, where the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is not only a massive improvement over what came before, but also just flat out the best foldable phone that most people can buy today, begging the question of whether or not the Fold 7 is enough to make you want to buy a foldable.

Hardware

The best fit and finish with the thinnest profile you could ask for

While Samsung has been lagging behind its competition in recent years, there’s been an almost inexplicable charm to each Galaxy Z Fold release. This year, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 merges that charm with top-tier, industry-leading hardware.

The fit and finish of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is just about perfect, and much of that boils down to how thin it is.

Foldables have developed a reputation in the minds of many as being fragile, too-thick devices full of compromise. Samsung has really gone a long way in fixing that here. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is essentially just as thick as a standard smartphone, measuring in at 8.9mm when closed up. That’s just 0.7mm thicker than the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and truly an impressive achievement considering Samsung is stuffing in most of the same hardware components and a whole extra display. I think the 10mm barrier was the one foldables needed to cross, and with Samsung well past that now, the “thinnest foldable” race just doesn’t really matter anymore. Where Samsung’s competition once strived for a thinner profile to get a leg up, side-by-side comparisons just don’t matter now because it’s all just personal preference.

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In day-to-day use, that thin profile is just truly a delight.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 just feels like a normal phone in my pocket and in my hand. When it’s closed, you feel no added bulk and, when it’s open, it’s remarkably thin. While I’m sure most people will use a case – frankly, as they should with a device this expensive – the thin profile still comes with the benefit of making that case not bog down the whole experience. Even the thinnest cases on prior generations would make the whole phone feel too big and heavy.

It doesn’t stop at being thin, though. Samsung’s updated hardware has sort of ruined me for other foldables. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold I’ve been daily driving for the past several months just feels huge by comparison (roughly 1.6mm thicker), though I suspect that’s mainly due to Samsung’s other big improvement. Galaxy Z Fold 7 weighs in at just 217g, making it lighter than even the Galaxy S25 Ultra. This is the part that almost breaks my brain, and often makes me feel like the phone fell out of my pocket. I’ve spent years coming to expect a foldable to have a certain heft to it, and the Galaxy Z Fold 7 just doesn’t. The only downside I’ve found to the whole package is that, because it’s so thin, it’s also a tiny bit harder to open up. I found the position that works best for me without a couple of hours of use, but a lot of people that I handed the device to struggled to open it at first. The long term benefit outweighs the brief learning curve, though.

All of that is to say that, well, I think this is it. If you’ve had complaints in the past with foldable hardware, I think Samsung has solved just about every one of them. The only glaring issue left is a lack of full dust resistance, but even then, Samsung did make improvements this year with an IP48 rating – water resistance including immersion, but only protection against larger dust/debris.

Display

Bigger and better

Both displays on Galaxy Z Fold 7 are bigger than ever. The external display now measures 6.5-inches and has roughly the same aspect ratio as a standard smartphone. That’s to say, the days of a Galaxy Fold with a super-narrow outer display are over. While I somewhat liked that form factor, it’s definitely for the best for Samsung to move on. A wider outer display means this device is more useful and usable as a standard smartphone, where prior releases almost forced you to use the inner display for most things.

The inner display, meanwhile, grows to 8-inches. This added canvas makes it feel all the more like a tiny tablet in your pocket, versus just a slightly bigger smartphone. I can’t say the added canvas leaves much room to do more, but I think this is the sweet spot. It’s enough room to where I can use two apps at once without feeling short on space, while also not having something cumbersome to hold.

The infamous display crease remains, but it’s better than ever as well. Where past Galaxy Z Fold releases had a small crater separating the two halves of the display, it’s a tiny divot at this point. It’s only a problem if you want it to be, as both under your finger and to your eyes, the crease is practically non-existent.

Both of these displays are also absolutely top-notch. They’re bright, fast at 120Hz, and just gorgeous to look at (assuming you aren’t sensitive to PWM, in which case they’re lacking). Everything is vibrant and beautiful. The aspect ratio of that inner display means you can’t really enjoy that in movies or videos, but in general browsing, games, and more, these are truly just top-tier displays.

RIP S Pen

Just four generations after it was introduced, Samsung has removed S Pen support from the Galaxy Z Fold 7, citing a lack of user demand and, more importantly, a lack of space. The hardware required to make the S Pen as we know it today work has always taken up extra space, leaving Samsung with a choice to catch up to its rivals, or please the fraction of its userbase that actually wants this feature.

I think they made the right call.

I’ve been a Galaxy Z Fold customer for years now, and while the S Pen has come in handy every once in a while, I’ve never felt it was worth the lengths Samsung had to go to make it happen. The experience was constantly clunky, as you either had to use a thick case to hold the pen, or just carry it separately. It was never convenient, which breaks the main use case. Frankly, I’ve not missed it at all this year.

Samsung has suggested that maybe a future release could bring back the S Pen but, let’s be real, it’s not happening. The S Pen was on its deathbed long before the Fold 7 ditched it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it vanishes from the Galaxy S Ultra in the next couple of years. Is it a shame? Absolutely, but the trade-off was worth it. You might disagree, and that’s valid, but I still think Samsung made the right call for the masses on this one.

Software

One UI 8 shines, but it could still learn a thing or two

Samsung’s One UI skin on top of Android has always felt heavy but, at risk of sounding like a broken record, it’s pretty good on bigger screens. One UI 8 especially benefits from the drastic redesign Samsung launched with One UI 7, which gives the entire experience an excellent new look.

That said, not much has changed from last time around. One UI has plenty of multitasking options, lots of foldable enhancements (such as Flex Mode controls), and a ton of Galaxy AI features. But there’s really nothing that stood out as new or “must try” on the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Is that a bad thing? I don’t think so! Samsung’s software is mature right now, and in an era of refinement. That just means, as a user, everything feels stable and familiar, which is a win in my book.

The only thing I think I want in this experience at this point is for Samsung to take a few notes on what its competitors have been doing with multitasking. In particular, Oppo/OnePlus have reinvented multitasking with “Open Canvas.” The flat-out brilliant system better takes advantage of the screen space by letting you orangize apps between taking up half of the display and taking up the whole thing, with quick taps bringing you back and forth – it’s explained better with video than text, admittedly. This is an idea that others have been playing around with further, and I would really like to see Samsung give it a go.

As far as general performance goes, there are no surprises here. Snapdragon 8 Elite flies through One UI 8, and with 12GB of RAM there’s not a hiccup in sight whether you’re multitasking, playing games, or using AI features. It’s all fast and fluid, though the super-thin chassis does warm up noticeably more than prior generations. It’s not unbearable, nor nearly as bad as my Pixel 9 Pro Fold and its toasty Tensor chip, but it’s certainly noticeable, especially amid the Summer heat.

Cameras

Completely acceptable, if that’s enough for you

To put it succinctly, the cameras on Galaxy Z Fold 7 are good enough.

After years of being second-class compared to Samsung’s less-expensive slab phones, Samsung has split the difference by offering its best main camera on its most expensive smartphone. The 200MP primary camera is the same one from Galaxy S25 Ultra and backed up by the same hardware, meaning it’s a solid experience on the whole. Samsung still struggles with motion, makes some processing choices I don’t like, and has its fair share of inconsistencies, but I’m overall happy enough here. Video is also solid, as has been the case on Samsung flagships for a while now.

Is that enough for the price? That’s up to you to decide, especially when considering the added hardware backing it up.

While the main camera is comparable to Galaxy S25 Ultra, the telephoto and ultrawide shooters on Galaxy Z Fold 7 aren’t exactly hitting that same bar. The 12MP ultrawide is fine, and the 10MP telephoto (3x optical zoom) gets the job done, but they’re pretty much the bare minimum of functionality.

The selfie camera situation is a bit better, though. Both are now 10MP, meaning you’ll get the same quality whether you take a picture or a video call on the inner or outer displays. The under-display camera experiment was fun, but ultimately it never felt worth the quality trade-off, and I just avoided that camera in the past. This time around, I didn’t feel the same, and the hole-punch was never distracting either.

The camera situation on Galaxy Z Fold 7 isn’t perfect, nor is it impressive. But is it as dire as some have made it out to be? Not at all. While Oppo, Honor, and other foldable makers have managed to squeeze more impressive hardware into their devices, I don’t feel like I’m missing a ton on Galaxy Z Fold 7. The cameras are completely acceptable, and just one part of a much bigger puzzle. For me, I think Samsung struck a good balance because, while others have camera bumps as thick as the rest of the phone, the Fold 7’s cameras are completely forgettable while holding the device, with their hardware only being irksome when the device is sitting on a table, able to replicate a telegraph.

Battery

By far the biggest drawback

The biggest problem I’ve had with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 has been the battery, which is actually higher praise that it sounds at first.

Samsung was hit with a choice on this device. Prior generations were already well behind the curve in terms of battery capacity, so the company either needed to find a way to make the battery bigger, or go all-in on making the device thinner without giving up any battery capacity. The latter is what was chosen, and it worked out. Fold 7 has the same 4,400 mAh battery as the past few generations, and it gets the job done. I’m able to get through a full day of use – most of the time – without dipping too far into the 15% battery saver reserve. Most days I’m hitting 4-5 hours of screen time and seeing the device hit 15-20% before bed (usually 7:30am to 11pm, give or take).

That’s not good battery life in 2025, but it’s the best of a bad situation for sure.

Samsung is understandably hesitant to adopt new battery technology – especially with the 10-year anniversary of the Galaxy Note 7 disaster approaching – so managing to squeeze the same-size battery into a device that’s over 25% thinner is good. But to say it’s good enough, that’s another question entirely. I think that the number one complaint Galaxy Z Fold 7 owners will have is that the battery life is underwhelming. It’s not unacceptable, but it’s a drawback for sure. Next year, Samsung can’t lean on the same excuses. There needs to be an improvement.

One means of improvement could simply be in upping the charging speed. I’d be far less critical of underwhelming battery life if it charged more quickly, but the 25W cap on wired charging is just too slow, especially for a device that’s probably going to need two charges per day after the battery starts to wear in.

Final Thoughts

The best foldable has one more big problem – its price

On the whole, I think the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is what we’ve all wanted from foldables for years. Samsung has addressed nearly every complaint of the past, while also stepping up to match its competition. But it comes at a price.

Literally.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is $2,000.

That’s a lot of money no matter how many monthly installments you slice it into or how big of a trade-in deal you get. I can’t say it’s not worth it because, in the foldable market today, you’re only paying about 10% more than alternatives for a lot of polish and improvements, but this isn’t where this market is supposed to be. As new form factors grow, they’re supposed to get more affordable, not less. The simple fact is that, for many, the price of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is going to be off-putting. That’s why Samsung needs to find a way to either offer a way to try it with less risk – such as the return of a 100-day “trial” as the company has active in the UK this year – or offer a cheaper alternative. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE is a lame attempt at making foldables cheaper, but a $1,400~ Fold version would have actually moved the needle in a lot of ways, I feel.

But all of that out of the way, my verdict on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 boils down to something pretty simple.

I think this is the best foldable people can buy.

Samsung has taken the long way around on perfecting this form factor, but I think they’ve truly nailed it with the Galaxy Z Fold 7. It has the size, design, and little finishing touches that I want out of a foldable. It’s also the first device Samsung has released that no longer asks the question of where your priorities are because, for the most part, these devices are finally checking all of the boxes.

Whether you’re looking to upgrade from a prior generation or buy a foldable for the first time, this is absolutely the device that should be first on your list.

Galaxy Z Fold 7 is now available, with the best trade-in values typically found at Samsung.com. See a full list of retailers, and some of their offers, below.