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

At its current 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 had 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 should you’re within the Z Flip 7 or Z Flip 7 FE, you can too take a look at 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 12 months it looks as if 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 probably the most important 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 you have to 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 probably the most comfy foldable I’ve ever held

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

Probably the most important change with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 this 12 months is its improved, sleeker design, which makes it lighter and thinner than its predecessors. When unfolded, it is just 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). As compared, final 12 months’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, because of 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 somewhat 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 this planet? No, that title goes to the 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 in my view.

Moreover, what additionally shocked me concerning the Z Fold 7 is that the battery measurement 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, nevertheless it did not.

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The Fold 7 has bigger shows and an upgraded digicam

It has related specs to the S25 sequence

Wanting on the specs for the Galaxy Z Fold 7, there are a number of similarities with the Galaxy S25 sequence. Notably, the cellphone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, the identical chipset used throughout all the S25 lineup, and Samsung affords 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 coloration referred to 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 enhance over the Fold 6’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, enhancing multitasking and gaming experiences. I have never been capable of take a look at 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 may take a look at the total specs for the Fold 7 under.

The Fold 7 additionally options noticeably bigger screens this 12 months. Its outer display screen (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 whole lot of utilizing my Galaxy S25+, which has a 6.7-inch show.

Subsequent, the spotlight of the book-style foldable expertise is the interior 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 12 months, which is nice to see and makes utilizing the machine far more spectacular. Specs-wise, the interior show measures 8 inches and incorporates a Dynamic AMOLED 2X display screen with a decision of 2184 x 1968 pixels, and an adaptive refresh charge of 1-120Hz.

Turning to the again of the Fold 7, we see the same 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 large lens, a major leap from the Fold 6’s 50-megapixel large lens.

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The worth is the elephant within the room

The Fold 7 is a formidable foldable, nevertheless it leaves an enormous dent in your pockets

Whereas there’s rather a lot 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 costliest foldable machine thus far. Final 12 months, 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, should you personal an S Pen and hope to make use of it with the Z Fold 7, you will not be capable of. 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 weak to break from mud, grime, and sand than Samsung’s S25 sequence.

Should you personal a Fold 6, the modifications to the Fold 7 won’t make it price upgrading. Nonetheless, you probably have a Fold 5 or Fold 4, that is a distinct story, and the Fold 7’s upgrades supply appreciable worth that would considerably enhance your expertise should you get pleasure from utilizing a foldable cellphone day by day. I will 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, take a look at my preliminary impressions of the Flip 7 and Flip 7 FE, together with the brand new Galaxy Watch 8 series.

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