Battle of the bulge: Samsung unveils new thinner Galaxy Z Fold 7
The quest to be the thinnest is hotting up after Samsung launched its latest foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and new Galaxy Flips including an FE edition that is easy on the pocket.
The seventh generation of its book-style Galaxy Z Fold, which debuted at its Unpacked event on Wednesday redefines foldable phone design as the competition to beat the battle of the bulge takes centre stage.
Launch – Galaxy Z Fold 7
Samsung first teased bringing 'an Ultra-experience' to 'a smaller and more portable form factor' weeks ahead of the launch, pointing to a more advanced camera and plenty of AI.
It then noted that its 'newest Galaxy Z series is the thinnest, lightest and most advanced foldable yet'.
On launch night, Samsung also unveiled the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and the more budget-friendly Z Flip 7 FE in Brooklyn, New York on Wednesday, for those who want a foldable phone at a more cost-friendly price.
No race
Justin Hume, vice president for mobile at Samsung Electronics in South Africa told The Citizen that the company is not racing to be the thinnest.
'As much as we might be the thinnest right now, the purpose was about the form factor for the customer to utilise, because if you go thinner than this significantly, it does lose that ability to actually open the device properly, it feels a bit unnatural,' Hume said.
By comparison, Huawei's triple fold Mate XT is 3.6mm thick when fully unfolded, while Honor's recently unveiled Magic V5 measures 4.1mm thick when unfolded.
Between the first generation of the Galaxy Z Fold, which debuted in 2019, and last year's Z Fold 6, the phone became about 29% thinner and around 37 grams lighter, according to Samsung.
Hume said they could have gone thinner with the Galaxy Z Fold 7.
'So, right now, it opens at just 4mm thick, that is basically the size of a USB-C port. I think we are close, maybe it could go a little thinner. Whether that's practical or not, I don't know. But now it is very much about making sure that I'm not compromising any of the other hardware.'
ALSO READ: Samsung unveils Galaxy A series smartphones with 'awesome' AI [VIDEO]
'Excited'
Hume said they are excited about the Galaxy Z Fold 7.
'This is effectively the Galaxy S25 Ultra that is being split in half going to a 4mm wide device when opened, that's the size of a USB-C port.
'It's got a 200MP camera on board, full 8-inch display on the inside, unrivalled in terms of AI capability and camera quality display is available on these products,' Hume said.
In addition to being thin, the Z Fold 7 offers Samsung's best phone camera to date. The foldable has a massive 200-megapixel main sensor.
Camera
It also comes with a 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and a 12MP ultrawide. The company has once again tweaked the inside camera. It's no longer under the screen and offers a wider 100-degree field of view with 10MP of resolution.
For selfies, Samsung has once again gone with a 10MP sensor above the phone's cover screen. Rounding things out, the company has updated its visual engine to support 10-bit HDR capture.
No pen
Internally, the new phone features Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and a 4,400mAh battery. Samsung has dropped S Pen support, claiming stylus use on the Z Fold 6 was 'really low' and part of the reason the new foldable is so slim.
Samsung's new Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 foldable phones will launch with Android 16, becoming the first Samsung devices to run the new OS.
Making the Z Fold 7 feel as close to a standard phone as possible, with the added perk of a spacious screen when you open it, could help lure new customers who are hesitant to step outside of their comfort zone.
Galaxy Flip 7
Samsung also launched an upgraded clamshell foldable. The new Galaxy Z Flip 7 has a 4.1-inch edge-to-edge FlexWindow display with 1.25mm bezels.
That's good enough to give it the thinnest display bezel on any Samsung phone. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 boasts a 6.9-inch main screen, a 120Hz refresh rate, Exynos 2500 chipset, and a 50MP main camera.
It also works with Google Gemini, along with Samsung's own suite of AI features, including Now Bar and Now Brief.
Galaxy Flip FE
While foldable phone are still very pricey, Samsung's Flip FE is expected to appeal to those who want a foldable phone at the price of a midrange device.
The design of the new model doesn't include any of the flourishes found on the Z Flip 7, including the edge-to-edge Flex Window display or the larger internal screen.
Foldable phones
The thinness of a foldable phone has become a battleground for smartphone makers to appeal to consumers who want the large screen size the device has to offer without extra weight.
Foldables represented less than 2% of the overall smartphone market in 2024, according to International Data Corporation (IDC).
Samsung was the biggest player with 34% market share followed by Huawei with just under 24%, IDC added. Honor took the fourth spot with a nearly 11% share.
Availability and pricing
A major barrier for people wanting to make the leap to foldables is price. Last year's Galaxy Z Fold 6 cost R44 000 while the Z Flip 6 was marked at R26 000.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 will retail at R42 999 for the 256GB model, R45 999 for 512GB and R49 999 for 1TB.
The Galaxy Z Flip 7 will retail at:
Galaxy Z Flip 7 512GB – R27 499
Galaxy Z Flip 7 256GB – R24 999
Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE 256GB – R21 499
Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE 128GB – R18 499
Watches
Samsung also unveiled the Galaxy Watch 8 series during the Unpacked event, the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, Galaxy Watch 8 and the Galaxy Watch Ultra.
The Galaxy Watch 8 now features a thinner design reminiscent of last year's Galaxy Watch Ultra.
[REVIEW] Huawei Mate XT: No tri-fold gimmick smartphone, but it's pricey
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