The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is Samsung’s finest foldable but, however it’ll price you $2,000

At its latest Galaxy Unpacked event in New York Metropolis, Samsung lastly unveiled its newest foldable devices. The Galaxy Z Fold 7, Galaxy Z Flip 7, and the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE have been all introduced, marking a brand new chapter in Samsung’s foldable lineup.

I had the chance to attend Samsung’s summer time Unpacked occasion and see all of its new gadgets up shut. This story will primarily give attention to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, however if you happen to’re within the Z Flip 7 or Z Flip 7 FE, you can even try my preliminary impressions of them. That mentioned, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the Samsung foldable I have been most enthusiastic about, and the wait was undoubtedly price it.

Whereas the Fold 7 shares some similarities with the Fold 6, this yr it looks like Samsung has mainly reinvented the machine. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold telephones have develop into thinner and extra highly effective annually, and the Fold 7 represents essentially the most vital change but, that includes a brand new, ultra-slim design that does not compromise on efficiency or battery. Listed below are all the small print it is advisable know concerning the Galaxy Z Fold 7, together with my preliminary ideas, together with the positives and negatives I noticed throughout my time with the cellphone at Unpacked.

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The Fold 7 is essentially the most comfy foldable I’ve ever held

It is Samsung’s thinnest foldable ever at 4.2mm unfolded

Essentially the most vital change with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 this yr is its improved, sleeker design, which makes it lighter and thinner than its predecessors. When unfolded, it’s only 4.2mm thick, and when folded, it measures 8.9mm thick. It felt like a feather in my hand, solely weighing 216 grams (0.47 lbs). Compared, final yr’s Fold 6 is bulkier, measuring 5.6mm when unfolded and 12.1mm when folded, weighing 239 grams.

After I first held the Galaxy Z Fold 7, I instantly observed how far more comfy it was to hold, due to its thinner profile. I additionally discovered that utilizing the Cowl Display on the Fold 7 is less complicated, because it feels such as you’re utilizing an everyday cellphone reasonably than a foldable. For reference, the Galaxy S25 Extremely is 8.25mm thick and weighs 218g, leading to a distinction of solely 0.65mm and 2g in comparison with the Fold 7.

With all that being mentioned, is it the thinnest foldable on the planet? No, that title goes to the just lately unveiled Honor Magic V5, which measures a barely smaller 8.8mm when folded. Nonetheless, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 will truly be out there within the US, in order that’s a win for Samsung for my part.

Moreover, what additionally shocked me concerning the Z Fold 7 is that the battery dimension stays unchanged from the Fold 6, with a 4,400mAh cell. Given its slim design, I might have thought Samsung would have needed to compromise right here, because it did with the S25 Edge’s 3,900mAh battery, however it did not.

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The Fold 7 has bigger shows and an upgraded digicam

It has related specs to the S25 collection

Trying on the specs for the Galaxy Z Fold 7, there are a number of similarities with the Galaxy S25 collection. Notably, the cellphone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, the identical chipset used throughout the complete S25 lineup, and Samsung presents three storage choices: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. The cellphone is available in three colours: jet black, blue shadow, and silver shadow. Samsung’s web site may even supply an unique fourth shade known as mint. Throughout my time at Unpacked, I used to be mesmerized by the Fold 7’s blue shadow colorway, and it is my favourite of the bunch.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite within the Fold 7 is predicted to supply a notable efficiency increase over the Fold 6’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, enhancing multitasking and gaming experiences. I have never been in a position to check any third-party apps on the Fold 7 but, however from what I’ve seen thus far, One UI 8 and its first-party apps run very easily. Talking of One UI 8, it comes pre-installed on all of Samsung’s new foldable gadgets, which implies you may get Android 16 proper out of the field. You possibly can try the total specs for the Fold 7 under.

The Fold 7 additionally options noticeably bigger screens this yr. Its outer display (Cowl Show) is a 6.5-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X with a decision of 2520 x 1080 pixels, up from the Fold 6’s 6.3-inch exterior show. In my hands-on expertise with the cellphone, it jogged my memory a number of utilizing my Galaxy S25+, which has a 6.7-inch show.

Subsequent, the spotlight of the book-style foldable expertise is the internal show, and I could not cease admiring the Fold 7’s. Not solely is it bigger, however the crease line is even much less seen than final yr, which is nice to see and makes utilizing the machine far more spectacular. Specs-wise, the internal show measures 8 inches and incorporates a Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a decision of 2184 x 1968 pixels, and an adaptive refresh price of 1-120Hz.

Turning to the again of the Fold 7, we see an identical however improved digicam array in comparison with the Fold 6. It features a 12-megapixel f/2.2 Extremely Huge lens, a 200-megapixel f/1.8 Huge lens, and a 10-megapixel f/2.4 telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. The foremost improve right here is the 200-megapixel huge lens, a big leap from the Fold 6’s 50-megapixel huge lens.

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The value is the elephant within the room

The Fold 7 is a powerful foldable, however it leaves an enormous dent in your pockets

Whereas there’s quite a bit to love concerning the Galaxy Z Fold 7’s design and {hardware}, it additionally has some drawbacks price mentioning. First, the worth. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 begins at a steep $2,000 for the 256GB mannequin, making it Samsung’s most costly foldable machine thus far. Final yr, the Fold 6 was priced at $1,900. That was already a excessive worth, and now the Fold 7 is much more. Whereas it is a cool piece of know-how, the worth alone will deter many individuals.

Second, the Z Fold 7 now not helps Samsung’s S Pen. So, if you happen to personal an S Pen and hope to make use of it with the Z Fold 7, you will not have the ability to. Samsung explains this can be a results of making the cellphone slimmer, which meant eradicating the cellphone’s “digitizer layer.” Third, the cellphone has an IP48 water and dirt resistance ranking, not an IP68 ranking, so it stays extra susceptible to wreck from mud, dust, and sand than Samsung’s S25 collection.

If you happen to personal a Fold 6, the modifications to the Fold 7 won’t make it price upgrading. Nonetheless, in case you have a Fold 5 or Fold 4, that is a special story, and the Fold 7’s upgrades supply appreciable worth that might considerably enhance your expertise if you happen to get pleasure from utilizing a foldable cellphone each day. I am going to have extra to say concerning the Fold 7 within the coming weeks, so keep tuned to Pocket-lint.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is now out there for pre-order on Samsung’s web site and can begin transport July 25. For extra Samsung Unpacked protection, try my preliminary impressions of the Flip 7 and Flip 7 FE, together with the brand new Galaxy Watch 8 series.

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