I Finally Held a Foldable That Doesn't Feel Like Two Stacked Phones: the Galaxy Z Fold 7

CNET

7 days ago

If I closed my eyes and you put the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 in my hands, I would think you'd handed me one of dozens of ordinary phones that share a similar shape and weight. But when I'd open my eyes, and then unfold the two panels of this new phone, well, that's a whole different story.
I got to check out the Z Fold 7 with eyes wide open during Samsung's Unpacked event in New York last week, along with the Z Flip 7 and Z Flip 7 FE. I've used many foldable phones, but the feel of these struck me as being the future of the category.
Now Playing: Ultra Thin: First Look at the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7
02:45
At 8.9mm thick when folded and weighing 215 grams, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 doesn't feel much different than a standard slate phone. The 6.5-inch cover display makes it something I can see myself willingly using to scroll through social media, text and watch videos.
But when opened, Samsung's book-style foldable is anything but ordinary. At just 4.2mm thick, it boasts a wildly slim profile that steals the spotlight from even the 5.8mm-thick Galaxy S25 Edge. The 8-inch inner display is 11% larger than the one on last year's Z Fold 6, which should help with multitasking. And a Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 cover and Victus 2 back make it feel nice and sturdy.
The Z Fold 7 feels exactly like what foldable phones have strived to be all along: thin, lightweight and spacious -- and also as "normal" as possible, at least where it matters. It also features an impressive 200-megapixel main camera, just like the not-so-thin S25 Ultra.
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 weighs 215 grams, and has a more spacious display.
Joseph Maldonado/CNET/PCMag
In an exclusive interview, Drew Blackard, Samsung's senior vice president of mobile product management, told CNET that by slimming down the Fold and leveling up the cameras, the book-style phone "is now a mainstream form factor." After holding the phone, I can understand what he means. The Z Fold 7 does away with the thicker build and scaled-back cameras that previously characterized foldables, and introduces something that feels equal parts sleek and familiar.
Samsung is by no means the first company to launch a thin foldable; Oppo's Find N5, Huawei's Mate X6 and Honor's Magic V3 also boast impressively slim designs, to name a few. But with the release of both the Galaxy S25 Edge and now the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Samsung is doubling down on the skinny phone craze.
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 boasts the same 200-megapixel wide camera as the S25 Ultra.
Joseph Maldonado/CNET/PCMag
An Ultra experience on an ultra-thin phone
By bringing its 200-megapixel wide camera to the Z Fold 7 and S25 Edge, Samsung is proving you don't have to compromise camera quality for a slimmer build. It's a notable example of a foldable breaking away from the hardware limitations that have traditionally scaled back the cameras. It'll be interesting to see how competitors strive to match or outdo that feat.
The Z Fold 7 also has a 12-megapixel ultrawide and 10-megapixel telephoto camera, as well as 10-megapixel selfie cameras on the inner and cover screens. I look forward to testing the phone's cameras out in the real world.
Like the S25 series, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 packs a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. It comes out of the box with One UI 8 and Android 16.
What I'm perhaps most relieved about is that the Z Fold 7's battery maintains last year's 4,400-mAh capacity, despite the new phone's slimmer build. The biggest downside of the S25 Edge is its 3,900-mAh battery, giving it the lowest capacity across the S25 series.
I was fully prepared for the Z Fold 7 to take a similar hit, but its expanded real estate helped save it from that pitfall. Battery life is one of the biggest considerations when people buy a new phone, according to a CNET survey, so it's good Samsung didn't scale that back. We'll see how it actually holds up in my day-to-day use and if it's a match for my endless TikTok scrolling and photo taking.
Joseph Maldonado/CNET/PCMag
Not-so-slim price
The Galaxy Z Fold 7's cutting-edge specs don't come cheap. The phone starts at $2,000, which is $100 more than last year's Z Fold 6.
You're certainly paying a premium for both that slimmer build (the S25 Edge starts at $1,100) and the Ultra-grade camera (the S25 Ultra starts at $1,300).
The Z Fold 7 is available in jet black, blue shadow and silver shadow, as well as an exclusive mint color when you order on Samsung.com. Preorders are open now, and the phones arrive July 25.