Galaxy Z Fold 7 expectations: Samsung is setting a high bar for its next foldable with all this pre-launch hype

Tom's Guide

a day ago

Samsung really wants you to know its working on some new foldable phones. And it's also hoping that will get you excited about the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7, even if the rumors about those devices haven't yet gotten your heart racing.
It started a week ago when Samsung posted a teaser that promised "cutting-edge performance and seamless AI integration optimized for the foldable format."
"It's what users have come to expect from Galaxy Ultra," Samsung said of its upcoming foldabe, raising the specter of a second, higher-end Galaxy Z Fold model. (That's likely not the case, though, as we'll get to in a bit.)
Then, while Apple was wrapping up its WWDC keynote a few days ago, Samsung decided to remind us once more that new foldables were on the way. And this version was going to be even more slender than previous models.
"The newest Galaxy Z series is the thinnest, lightest and most advanced foldable yet — meticulously crafted and built to last," Samsung's latest teaser claimed. "The Ultra experience is ready to unfold."
Two consecutive weeks of foldable-touting posts sets the stage for a big announcement, which rumors claim will be happening in July. All that's required now is for Samsung to produce new foldable phones that live up to this hype.
Unfortunately, if you go by the rumors that have emerged around either the Galaxy Z Fold 7 or Galaxy Z Flip 7, that's going to be tough for Samsung to do.
There's always the possibility for surprises, of course, but the chatter around the next round of foldable phones from Samsung covers a lot of the improvements you'd expect — new chipset, larger displays and other enhancements here and there — but nothing that seems to herald a new era for foldable devices.
In fact, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 sounds like a pretty run-of-the-mill upgrade. It's set to feature a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, though models released outside of the U.S. may turn to Exynos chips instead. Both the main screen and cover display are tipped to be bigger, and Samsung could use a bigger battery in this year's model. But the camera setup on this foldable flip phone isn't likely to change.
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 sounds a bit more promising, in that it's expected to adopt the 200MP main camera already found on the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S25 Edge. That upgrade will go along with larger screens plus the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, according to rumors.
But based on its teasers, Samsung seems to want us to focus on the thinness of its phones, the Galaxy Z Fold model in particular. The current Galaxy Z Fold 6 is 5.6mm thin when unfolded — just a little bit more slender than the ultra-thin Galaxy S25 Edge. But rumors suggest the Galaxy Z Fold 7 could shrink further, with a reported thinness between 3.9mm and 4.5mm.
A phone that thin would certainly impress. But I'm not sure it moves the needle for people who've yet to consider a foldable device over a phone with a more conventional design. If you've been holding out on giving foldable phones a try, does it really matter to you that Samsung is shaving a millimeter-and-a-half off the thickness of its flagship device? I'm guessing the answer is no.
Rather, I think the thing that will convince more people that foldable phones are the wave of the future will be when they offer capabilities that take advantage of that flexible design. Multitasking that makes the most of that enlarged interior display — reportedly 8 inches on the Galaxy Z Fold 7! — seems like a prime area for Samsung to make its mark.
To be fair, current Samsung foldables do offer some multitasking features, even if more apps could be optimized for foldable displays. And in its June 4 Galaxy Z Fold teaser, Samsung mentions "seamless AI integration optimized for the foldable format," which would seem to imply that Galaxy AI features geared toward its foldable phones could be in the works. If so, then that would certainly lend some muscle to that "Ultra experience" the phone maker keeps touting.
But it's also noteworthy that amid all of Samsung's talking points about its foldables — They're thin! They're light! They're versatile! — the affordability of the Z Fold and Z Flip aren't being mentioned at all. And in light of price hikes last year that upped the cost of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 by $100, that's a little worrisome.
I understand that foldables are going to cost more than conventional phones. And though the Z Fold 6 is very expensive at $1,899, the best foldable phones from OnePlus and Google aren't exactly inexpensive in their own right, either. But at some point, Samsung's going to have to shift its focus away from making everything thinner and lighter to making a foldable phone that more people can afford.
There had been talk of that happening with an FE edition of the Galaxy Z Flip, which would be a smart move on Samsung's part, given that two of the three Motorola Razr (2025) models cost less than the $1,099 Z Flip 6. But the rumor mill has been quiet on the prospect of a cheaper Z Flip model lately, making me wonder if it's going to be a part of the next Galaxy Unpacked event that brings us new foldables.
I keep circling back to Samsung's use of the word "Ultra" in its recent foldable teasers and wondering whether the upcoming models will live up to that branding. Certainly, a 200MP main camera on the Z Fold 7 would put camera capabilities on a par with the Ultra and a thinner design would be nothing to sneeze at.
But I think it's going to take more than the standard upgrades you'd expect to see to live up to the hype Samsung's looking to generate. That could be anything from record-setting battery life — remember, most foldables struggle to last long on a charge — or features that are unique to the Fold and Flip. If they're Galaxy AI exclusives, all the better.
Deliver something like that, and I'll tip my hat to Samsung at the next Unpacked. Roll out the same-old same old — and at the same price — and I won't be the only one wondering what all the pre-launch fuss was about.