Galaxy Z Fold7
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 achieves widespread consensus as a breakthrough in foldable design, with virtually all reviewers praising its dramatic thinness (26% thinner), improved usability through a wider cover screen, and meaningful hardware advances including a flagship 200MP camera and reduced crease.
However, significant disagreements emerge around three core trade-offs: the extreme thinness raises durability concerns for some reviewers; the camera, while improved, still cannot match traditional flagships in zoom range and aperture control; and battery performance remains a persistent weakness despite chip efficiency gains.
The $2,000 price point and removal of S Pen support are criticized universally, while the severe camera bump wobble and modest software improvements disappoint fans hoping for more transformative changes to justify the cost and thinness sacrifices.
[+] Strengths
- +Dramatically thinner and lighter design — the Fold 7 is 26% thinner than its predecessor at 8.9mm when folded and lighter than flagship slab phones, making it feel like a normal phone in hand.
- +Wider cover screen and improved display aspect ratio make it feel more like a regular smartphone when closed, while the inner 8-inch display offers significantly improved usability.
- +Flagship-class 200MP main camera matching the S25 Ultra, with improved selfie camera quality and autofocus ultrawide for macro photography.
- +Noticeably reduced crease thanks to thicker glass and improved hinge design, delivering a more seamless viewing experience.
- +Seven years of OS and security updates plus strong Galaxy AI integration including multitasking improvements and context-aware features.
[-] Drawbacks
- -$2,000 price point with a $100 increase from the previous model, making it extremely expensive with limited value proposition for mainstream consumers.
- -Significant camera bump causes instability, making the phone wobble severely when placed on a table without a case.
- -S Pen support has been completely removed to achieve the thinner profile, eliminating a key differentiator from previous Fold models.
- -Battery capacity unchanged at 4,400 mAh despite competition offering 6,000+ mAh, with slow charging speeds remaining at 25W wired and no silicon-carbon upgrade.
[~] Debates
- ~ design+The unprecedented thinness is a meaningful hardware achievement that transforms how the Fold functions as a daily driver.-The extreme thinness raises durability concerns, especially given Samsung's willingness to make aggressive design choices.
- ~ camera+The camera upgrade to 200MP flagship-level specifications represents a major improvement for foldables.-The camera system still falls short of true flagship capability due to space constraints and lack of advanced zoom.
- ~ battery+Better chip efficiency delivers improved battery longevity compared to previous Fold models.-Battery life remains substandard, requiring mid-day charging on heavy use.
- ~ software+Android 16 and Galaxy AI provide robust multitasking and AI capabilities optimized for larger screens.-Three-app multitasking isn't practical as windows become too small for regular users.
[+]The Consensus
ID_GRP: POSITIVE_FEEDBACK// Dramatically thinner and lighter design — the Fold 7 is 26% thinner than its predecessor at 8.9mm when folded and lighter than flagship slab phones, making it feel like a normal phone in hand.
"They've made it way thinner and way lighter."
"It's 26% thinner than last year's Fold 6. That is a massive genon upgrade."
"the ZFold 7 is 26% thinner than last gen."
"It's like pretty much a normal phone in a foldable form factor. It's incredible."
"And the Fold 7 doesn't just accomplish light and thin, it sets a new standard."
// Wider cover screen and improved display aspect ratio make it feel more like a regular smartphone when closed, while the inner 8-inch display offers significantly improved usability.
"The cover screen is now bigger. It's 5 mm wider... which makes this so much more comfortable to use."
"it improves the aspect ratio on the front. It moves the phone even further away from that TV remote like narrow experience and even closer to just normal phone territory"
"it still unfolds into one of the biggest tablets you can fit in your pocket. 8 in now corner to corner."
"The inner screen is eight inches now"
// Flagship-class 200MP main camera matching the S25 Ultra, with improved selfie camera quality and autofocus ultrawide for macro photography.
"that is essentially a true flagship camera and all the pixel peeping benefits that come with it on a fold."
"finally the ZFold 7 does get the same main camera as the Galaxy S25 Ultra."
"managed to squeeze in the same 200 megapixel main wide camera as you get on the S25 Ultra."
"It's pretty cool that you don't have to compromise camera quality with such a thin foldable, and that Samsung found a way to pack this ultra level camera into the ZFold 7."
// Noticeably reduced crease thanks to thicker glass and improved hinge design, delivering a more seamless viewing experience.
"it is a noticeable improvement in how subtle, how shallow the crease feels."
"the ultra thin glass that you have over the inner screen is now 50% thicker... this has resulted in finally a much less noticeable crease."
"Now, that redesign didn't totally delete the crease, but it's better than it's ever been, and it's still not noticeable when you're actually using the phone."
// Seven years of OS and security updates plus strong Galaxy AI integration including multitasking improvements and context-aware features.
"class leading 7 years of OS updates"
"all the Galaxy AI tools... they're all fast and they're all ideally improving over time."
"Galaxy AI, in my opinion, is the most complete AI package on any smartphone at this point in time."
[-]The Drawbacks
ID_GRP: NEGATIVE_FEEDBACK// $2,000 price point with a $100 increase from the previous model, making it extremely expensive with limited value proposition for mainstream consumers.
"It was already expensive, now it's even more expensive."
"$2,000, it's very expensive"
"this new ZFold 7 is now $2,000."
"that something is $2,000 for the Fold 7."
// Significant camera bump causes instability, making the phone wobble severely when placed on a table without a case.
"this camera I think now is gonna have to take my trophy for the most I've ever seen a phone rock on a table with no case on it. This one is absolutely diabolical."
"this is almost definitely the single wobbliest phone I have ever tried to rest on a surface."
"The wobble on this thing is pretty severe"
"This is a super wobbly phone."
// S Pen support has been completely removed to achieve the thinner profile, eliminating a key differentiator from previous Fold models.
"first of all, the smallest deal, they removed S Pen support."
"No S Pen support is a blow."
"we've lost the S Pen functionality"
"S Pen support is completely gone... in the process of thinning has been chopped, which hurts a lot for me."
// Battery capacity unchanged at 4,400 mAh despite competition offering 6,000+ mAh, with slow charging speeds remaining at 25W wired and no silicon-carbon upgrade.
"it feels like they're leaving something on the table here by not doing silicon carbon."
"4,400 mAh battery is a joke."
"battery size of the Z Fold 7 is the same as what we've got on the Z Fold 6. And surprisingly, it's also about the same as the Z Fold 1, which came out in 2019."
"only 4,400 [mAh]... This is a problem"
[~]The Great Debates
ID_GRP: CONTESTED_POINTSdesign
While most reviewers praised the thinness and lightness as a major breakthrough, some expressed concerns about the extreme thinness making the device feel precarious or brittle, particularly with the aggressive camera bump and hinge stress.
[+] For
"there are actual meaningful hardware updates this time."
"Because that's how light and thin the Fold 7 felt in the hand. It was for a moment. Genuinely mind-blowing."
[-] Against
"if I'm honest, I'm mildly concerned because it is super thin and you need like extremely rigid materials to keep this thing durable."
"I do not foresee this thing surviving on this planet for more than a few minutes. And I do think Samsung has finally gone too far."
camera
Reviewers largely praised the 200MP upgrade and improved selfie camera, but some noted the camera system still has trade-offs compared to traditional flagships, particularly the lack of periscope zoom and occasional oversaturation in processing.
[+] For
"you can see the benefit of having that 3x optical lens and also the 200 megapixel main camera on the Fold 7... Particularly for longer range zoom, it does make a difference."
"the image quality is better this year"
[-] Against
"it's not fully on the level of a slab phone camera system"
"you're not going to get any laser autofocus. You're not going to get close to the zoom capabilities of the Ultra Phone."
"The phone still tends to oversharpen things as a lot of Galaxy phones tend to do"
battery
One reviewer reported improved battery life despite the same capacity, attributing it to chip efficiency, while others noted the Fold 7 still underperforms competitors and requires charge before evening on heavy use days.
[+] For
"you get overall better battery life here than you would with the ZFold 6, even though they have the same battery capacity."
[-] Against
"When I turn up the usage to a heavy day, I need to charge before dinner"
"Chinese smartphone manufacturers are still well ahead of Samsung... battery life"
software
Reviewers agreed on strong Android 16 and Galaxy AI foundations with 7 years of updates, but some felt multitasking features could be more practical or that the software didn't offer enough exclusive features versus other Galaxy devices.
[+] For
"all the improvements that the latest version of Android has to make big screen multitasking and multi-wind better will all be here."
"the multitasking features seem really good and they seem to be a big focus again this year."
[-] Against
"I know you can open three, but this to me is just not practical... smaller windows would be too small for my liking."
"I wish I saw more that made it stand apart feature-wise from like the other Galaxy devices."