Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 is finally the foldable phone people have been waiting for. Sure, there are thinner and lighter foldables made by other brands, but most of those aren’t easily available here. What makes this one stand out is how close it feels to a regular smartphone when folded—and that’s a huge deal. After six years of trial and error, Samsung has slimmed it down to nearly the same thickness and weight as a normal phone.
The price is still steep at two thousand dollars, which is a little more than last year’s model, but if you want a premium foldable, that’s what you’ll pay.
What’s Good
- Super thin and light
- Bigger cover screen that actually works like a normal phone
- Great triple camera setup
- Fast and smooth performance
- Gorgeous blue color option
What’s Not So Great
- Gets warm quickly if you’re in the sun too long
- The camera bump makes the phone wobble when it’s lying flat
- The really high digital zooms aren’t sharp at all
- Price is high for most people
Looking back at the original Galaxy Fold from 2019, the progress is clear. That first Fold had a fragile screen, a tiny front display, and felt thick and awkward in your hand. The Z Fold 7 feels like Samsung finally nailed it. Holding it, you forget you’re using a foldable because it’s so close to a normal phone in size and weight.
Design and Display
The cover screen is six and a half inches, which is big enough to use without frustration, and unfolding the phone gives you a nice eight-inch tablet-sized display. Both screens are bright and sharp, and the 120 hertz refresh rate makes scrolling and animations smooth.
You can still see the crease in the fold and feel the hinge under your finger, but honestly, it’s something you stop noticing after a while—like the notch on many phones.
Samsung didn’t boost the water resistance rating this year, which is disappointing but maybe next time.
Performance and Battery
Inside is the latest Snapdragon eight Elite chip, with up to sixteen gigabytes of ram and one terabyte storage. It flies through everyday tasks, though the speed bump over last year isn’t very noticeable unless you’re really pushing it.
The battery holds up well, easily lasting a full day, even with lots of apps, photos, and AI features running. I’m glad Samsung kept wireless and reverse wireless charging, which some phones drop when trying to get thinner.
Cameras
Samsung finally gave the Fold the same main camera as the Galaxy S twenty-five Ultra, a two hundred megapixel beast. Photos look great, sharp, and colorful. The ultra-wide lens now autofocuses and can do close-up shots, which is nice. The three times telephoto works well, but if you zoom in digitally past three times, the quality drops fast.
Selfie cameras are decent, and video recording has improved with better stabilization and HDR support.
Software and AI
One UI eight remains smooth and easy to use, with plenty of options to customize. Some design elements look a little too close to iOS, but nothing major.
The AI features, like photo editing and background noise removal, work well but aren’t groundbreaking enough to sell the phone on their own. Gemini, Samsung’s AI assistant, is handy on the big screen but still just a chatbot.
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is finally a foldable phone that feels like it could replace both your regular phone and your tablet. It is expensive and not without flaws, but the slim design, light weight, and large screen make using it a real pleasure. For the first time in years, I actually found myself thinking about switching away from my iPhone.
If you have the budget and want a foldable that works well every day, this is the model to consider. It quickly became my favorite gadget and might just become yours too.
