For some time now new phone releases from Samsung and Apple have been evolutionary, rather than actually revolutionary, with Samsung’s big departure from this formula being its first foldable phone in 2019.
However, despite their revolutionary nature the Fold and Flip quickly fell into the same cycle, with each new model being really only a slight upgrade over the preceding one.
As a Z Fold 4 owner, I didn’t see the Fold 5 as a particularly big jump over what I had, so switched back to an S24 Ultra when it came time to replace my much-loved foldable. This meant that when the Z Fold 6 came out my S24 was only a few months old and I didn’t feel compelled to shell out $3.5K for what was still only a relatively minor upgrade, with a lesser camera.
But now Samsung has shaken up this status quo with the release of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 that is a complete revolution compared to previous updates, with a slick – and staggeringly slim – new design and big bump in specs. And suddenly my S24 is looking quite old indeed...
The two biggest things I missed about my Z Fold 4 were (rather unsurprisingly) screen related, with the ability to open it up for viewing videos or actually using it to work with by hooking up a portable Bluetooth keyboard and hammering out a few articles while waiting in airport lounges and the like.
The other was more unexpected – I loved the Z Fold 4’s narrow external screen, which made using it one handed far easier than the big, wide S24 Ultra. In fact, I didn’t realise quite how much I missed that fact until I got my hands on the Z Fold 7.
While the Z Fold 7’s external screen isn’t as narrow as the 4’s, the extreme slimness of its body makes up for it, making it equally delightful and effortlessly easy to use with one hand, while still having the ability to expand things out on the big internal screen.
Speaking of the big screen, Samsung has reduced the visibility of the crease over the Z Fold 4 and, while it is still visible, it isn’t a distraction in the way it could be on the older phone.
The Z Fold 7 is something of a gaming beast, effortlessly handling graphically intensive games on the big, vivid screen.
One unexpected downside to the screen, however, comes when watching video – the new dimensions now mean that the internal screen is almost close to square, with a 6:5 aspect ratio, making watching a 16:9 widescreen video roughly the same size it is on the S24 (which has a 19.5:9 aspect ratio).
Still, it’s not a massive issue really, and the Z Fold 7 makes up for this when it comes to gaming, where a lot of apps and games now resize themselves to take full advantage of the big screen.
Which is a good thing, because the Z Fold 7 is something of a gaming beast, effortlessly handling graphically intensive games on the big, vivid screen. The Z Fold 7’s beefy eight core Snapdragon 8 Elite CPU and Adreno 830 GPU make short work of demanding games (and applications) with stable frame rates of up to 60fps possible.
But the star of this show is definitely the super-slim body that Samsung has somehow jammed everything into.
The metal and glass body feels superb in your hand, whether folded or unfolded, and the weight is just right too. It is rather slippery, however, and while a case will add back bulk (but only some, as Samsung offers some delightfully slim options there), it is definitely a necessity.
In keeping with Samsung’s tradition of not giving its most expensive phones the best cameras, the S25 Ultra has a better telephoto set up.
A weird quirk that would be solved by a case is the fact that it is quite fiddly to unfold, with the remarkably slim body and slippery nature of the metal casing making it hard to get a good grip on the edges.
Another weird quirk that would be lessened if you went in the direction of a thicker case is the fact that the Z Fold 7’s camera bulge is incredibly large, given the lack of real estate inside the slim body. This means it is utterly incapable of sitting flat on a surface unless you place it screen down. Which is annoying at times.
However, these are minor niggles in the grand scheme of things, and that big camera bulge makes for a much better camera than on previous Folds, which is far more important than a slightly wobbly phone.
The Z Fold 7’s rear camera packs a mighty 200MP main sensor with a 24mm wide lens, a 10MP/67mm telephoto set up with a 3X optical zoom and a 12MP ultrawide. This produces crisp and vivid photographs, with Samsung’s typical oversaturation evident – it's something you will be used to if you are a Samsung user, but it can be a bit jarring to a newbie - while it is also capable of shooting video at up to 8K/30fps, 4K/60fps, 180p/240fps and 720p at a staggering 960fps.
However, in keeping with Samsung’s tradition of not giving its most expensive phones the best cameras, the S25 Ultra has a better telephoto set up (even the older S24 Ultra packs a bigger 50MP/115mm 5X optical zoom set up) and the Z Fold 7’s camera is noticeably worse at coping with low light situations than its single screen counterparts.
The Z Fold 7 is a work powerhouse that, paired with a bluetooth keyboard, is a superbly capable mobile workstation.
This is thrown into sharp relief with the cameras (and particularly lenses) available on comparable Chinese competitor foldables like the Oppo Find N5, which still offers a lesser camera than its single screen flagship, but produces significantly better images than the Z Fold 7.
Another area Samsung is lagging behind the Chinese competition is battery life, with the Z Fold 7 packing a 4400mAh dual battery split across its two sections. While this is capable of powering the phone for a day of normal usage, it will need a top up if you are a heavy user, with gaming and photography hitting it particularly hard.
Of course, both the camera and battery performance are perfectly fine compared to other high-end flagship phones, rather than being drastically worse – it’s just the huge advances Samsung has made in every other area that make them stand out.
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is a truly impressive leap in Z Fold design and technology; its downsides are small in comparison with what it does well, and it sets the standard for foldable phones for the near future.
But is it worth the hefty asking price? If you are a true power user who will make full use of the bigger screen and sheer processing power it has to offer, then it absolutely is. The Z Fold 7 is a work powerhouse that, paired with a bluetooth keyboard, is a superbly capable mobile workstation.
If you are more interested in the camera, then the price proposition becomes considerably more shaky, while if you just want the latest and greatest phone that still causes a bit of a spectacle when you unfold it, then the Z Fold 7 is a pricey luxury that does the job extremely well.
