Overview: I believe the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is Samsung’s finest foldable but
There are many instances in life when thinner is not essentially higher, however within the case of tablet-style foldable telephones, slimming down is certainly for one of the best.
That’s my huge takeaway after a number of days taking part in with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, the most recent flagship foldable from the Korean tech big. It combines what I at all times appreciated finest about this model of foldable (specifically the unbelievable versatility of its show modes) with an virtually unbelievably glossy kind issue that makes it one of the best Samsung foldable but.
Sure, it begins at $1,999, making it the textbook definition of a premium or luxurious product. And past that, its battery life didn’t wow me throughout my testing, and what counts for brand new software program options right here largely simply deliver the Fold line up to the mark with earlier Galaxy telephones’ AI options. However there’s a lot else to love concerning the Fold 7 that when you’ve got $2,000 mendacity round and any a part of it sounds interesting to you, it’s nicely price your consideration. Plus, when you pre-order from Amazon, you will get a $300 reward card to melt the monetary blow.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Worth and specs

Simply seems like a standard telephone from this angle.
Credit score: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
As I already lined, this telephone goes to value you two grand to start out. Maybe the specs sheet will do a great job of explaining why:
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8-inch AMOLED internal show with 2184×1968 decision and 120Hz adaptive refresh fee
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6.5-inch AMOLED cowl show with 2520x1080p decision and 120Hz adaptive refresh fee
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Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset
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12/16GB RAM
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256/512GB/1TB reminiscence
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4,400mAh battery
In plain English, meaning you’ve obtained two very massive, high-quality shows to go together with one of many higher-end cell chipsets in the marketplace proper now. Even with a comparatively small battery dimension (extra on this later), it is a highly effective machine and the value displays that.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Design and shows

Even when folded, it is tiny.
Credit score: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is fairly incremental in quite a lot of methods, however its bodily design might be the largest space the place Samsung made actual adjustments this yr. I’ll get to why in a second, however first, let me say the colour decisions this yr are uninteresting: Blue Shadow, Silver Shadow, and Jet-black. Blegh. My pink iPhone 16 is probably not as highly effective a tool, but it surely’s obtained far more pizzazz, I’ll let you know that a lot.
Anyway, the lengthy and in need of it’s that Samsung made the Galaxy Z Fold 7 considerably thinner and lighter than any foldable I’ve ever used. It’s consistent with the current Galaxy S25 Edge, a telephone that provided thinness and little else as a main promoting level. (Extremely-thin telephones are additionally a significant theme within the cell world this yr.) Its 215g weight is completely agreeable within the fingers for a tool with two huge shows; it’s really lighter than the S25 Extremely, which notably solely has one show on it.
With a thickness of simply 8.9mm when folded and 4.2mm when unfolded, the Z Fold 7 actually must be seen and held to be believed. I’ve reviewed a handful of those tablet-style foldables through the years, and none of them have ever felt pretty much as good within the fingers as this one does. I’m nonetheless a bit skeptical total of the long-term viability of high-end foldables in comparison with common smartphones (they actually need to start out costing lower than $2,000), however from a pure usability standpoint, the Z Fold 7 is simply super.

Have a look at that little man.
Credit score: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
Each shows are additionally completely strong, as you’d count on from the spec sheet. The 8-inch internal show continues to be fantastic for watching movies on the go, whereas the 6.5-inch outer show works very nicely as an everyday telephone while you don’t really feel like unfolding the unit. I additionally didn’t actually discover the crease in any respect whereas utilizing the telephone in its unfolded state. It’s onerous to consider, however foldable makers have roughly discovered that half.
If I’ve one grievance on this division, it’s that there’s a noticeably thick bezel across the outer show. It doesn’t actually have an effect on usability, but it surely instantly stood out to me the primary time I used the Z Fold 7. It simply seems somewhat awkward, that’s all. Not a deal-breaker, by any means, however price stating.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Efficiency

Nothing to fret about, performance-wise.
Credit score: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
Let’s get the onerous knowledge out of the way in which first: Utilizing the GeekBench 6 benchmarking software program, the Z Fold 7 recorded a multi-core rating of 9,600. That’s really rather less than the ten,049 I registered on S25 Extremely earlier this yr, however nonetheless a really excessive rating total. I’m not satisfied the distinction of 449 factors really issues in any significant manner right here.
Put merely, this telephone works very nicely while you attempt to do just about something on it. Apps load rapidly, having a bunch of them open directly doesn’t noticeably gradual it down, and I didn’t discover any egregious examples of the telephone being uncomfortably heat to the contact after durations of use. Efficiency isn’t a difficulty right here.
I’ll say, although, that this isn’t a banner yr for brand new software program concepts from Samsung’s foldable workforce. So far as I can inform, the Z Fold 7 simply takes the AI options that had been current within the S25 telephones earlier this yr and evenly adapts them to the larger show. That does imply you will have a significantly better method to edit photographs than you’d on a standard smartphone (full with split-screen side-by-side modifying), however the precise modifying options don’t really feel notably new or novel right here.
The opposite major benefit of the foldable kind issue with reference to AI stuff is that you may drag and drop your creations from one app to a different utilizing split-screen view, which is sweet. Apart from that, there simply isn’t quite a bit to play with right here that wasn’t already round in a single kind or one other earlier than.Â
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Cameras

Your three rear lenses.
Credit score: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
To its credit score, Samsung delivered a reasonably beefy digicam improve this yr. The primary promoting level is the brand new 200MP major shooter on the again, which is an enormous soar from 50MP a yr in the past. Listed here are the complete digicam specs:
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200MP huge rear lens
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12MP ultra-wide rear lens
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10MP telephoto rear lens with 3x optical zoom
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10MP selfie cameras on each the outside and inside shows
To maintain it easy, the Z Fold 7 takes good photographs. The brand new 200MP major lens produces very fairly, clear, and vibrant photographs.

Brooklyn seems good by way of the Z Fold 7’s lenses.
Credit score: Alex Perry/Mashable
You can even get down with some good macro images. I like to recommend benefiting from this whereas flowers are nonetheless in bloom.

Fairly.
Credit score: Alex Perry/Mashable
Nighttime images is ok, too. One may argue that it makes photographs look somewhat synthetic, however our yard is almost not possible to {photograph} at night time, however the Z Fold 7 did a fairly good job of capturing it.

Left:
No nighttime mode.
Credit score: Alex Perry/Mashable
Proper:
Nighttime mode.
Credit score: Alex Perry/Mashable
The Z Fold 7 is able to as much as 30x digital zoom. The outcomes aren’t nice, to be trustworthy, however they hardly ever are in my expertise on telephones like this. You may get zoomed-in photographs which are technically clear and visual, however you possibly can inform that the software program is filling in some blanks to get there when you look intently sufficient.

Left:
No zoom.
Credit score: Alex Perry/Mashable
Proper:
30x zoom.
Credit score: Alex Perry/Mashable
Nonetheless, it’s not a disappointing digicam system by any means. Portrait mode is at all times there in your social media photographs, too. In all, I dig it.

Wanting good, my man.
Credit score: Alex Perry/Mashable
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Battery life
The one factor I discovered really disappointing concerning the Z Fold 7? The battery life.
At first look, the 4,400mAh cell dimension didn’t stand out to me as a result of that’s fairly regular for smartphones, and there are different elements at play, like energy effectivity, that make the dimensions of the cell not a fantastic indicator of whole battery life. Nonetheless, possibly I ought to’ve been extra cautious. In performing Mashable’s customary battery testing (which concerned taking part in a video in HD on the internal show at 50 p.c brightness till the telephone died), I obtained about 20 hours of life out of the Z Fold 7. Clearly, regular use that doesn’t contain a full day of video playback will in all probability squeeze some extra juice out of it. It’s not a uselessly small battery by any means, however for a $2,000 telephone, you’d prefer to have some extra life on a single cost.
Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 price it?
Battery quibbles apart, it is a actually good foldable telephone. I believe if you may make the value be just right for you (by way of trade-in or in any other case) and also you assume the shape issue would profit you in any manner, you may need discovered your subsequent telephone.
Galaxy Z Fold 7 is my favourite Samsung foldable but virtually solely on the again of its excessive thinness and strong efficiency. Its software program options aren’t actually something to put in writing residence about, however we stay within the age of diminishing returns, in order that’s to be anticipated at this level. It wins in sufficient different areas that this may very well be a pleasant on a regular basis machine for years to return, assuming there aren’t any long-term technical issues that wouldn’t present up in a launch window overview.
The place to purchase the brand new Galaxy Z Fold 7
Each Amazon and Samsung have pre-order provides accessible, as of this writing. The telephone will formally ship on July 25.