Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 FE vs. Galaxy Z Flip7

GSM Arena

5 hours ago

Samsung is diversifying things in its foldable lineup this year and is now offering two clamshells in addition to the book-style Z Fold7. There's the Galaxy Z Flip7 which brings new displays and a bit of a reimagining of the form factor, and then there's the Galaxy Z Flip7 FE that's more or less the Z Flip6 with a new label on the tin. But with both rocking the same cameras, just how many reasons can one come up with to spend the premium for the Z Flip7 over the FE? Let's explore. Table of Contents: Design
Display
Battery Life
Charging
Speaker Test
Performance
Cameras
Verdict
For starters, you can compare the complete specs sheets or directly continue with our editor's assessment in the following video or in the text below. Size comparison Samsung
Galaxy Z Flip7 FE Samsung
Galaxy Z Flip7
The two phones weigh about the same and at just under 190g the burden on your pocket will be similar to that of a regular-size non-bendy phone. But while weight is the same, proportions are different, and meaningfully so. The FE is a bit chonkier when folded, and marginally thicker when unfolded, while the 'premium' Flip is slimmer in both states, and thus posher and more… advanced?
The flip side is that the Z Flip7 is indeed wider, and in open-state operation feels like a more unwieldy handset, while the FE's 3.3mm narrower body is easier to reach across. It's not a huge deal, but if you're concerned with compactness, it's probably worth picking up both phones in the store to see if one's a more comfortable fit than the other.
When it comes to build, both phones have Gorilla Glass Victus 2 panels on the outside and Armor Aluminum frames. The Z Flip7's hinge may be more advanced if you trust the marketing, but both handsets are rated for the same 210 falls by the EU's standards (whatever the implications of that are for real-world use). Both phones are also IP48-rated, so they should be able to keep solid particles larger than 1mm at bay (duh) and they should be able to survive being submerged down to 1.5m underwater for as long as 30 minutes. Display comparison Samsung
Galaxy Z Flip7
Possibly the greatest differentiator between these two Flips are the displays. The Z Flip7 FE stays true to tradition (or is stuck in the past, depending on how you look at it) and features a small-ish 3.4-inch notched cover display and a tall 22:9 6.7-inch foldable panel.
In contrast, the Z Flip7 embraces modernity and opts for an edge-to-edge 4.1-inch cover panel, and an even roomier 6.9-inch bendy display on the inside.
We'll have to admit that the Z Flip7 FE feels a little cramped on the cover, with the camera viewfinder image looking almost tiny, when you go into the native 4:3 photo aspect. You can live with it, of course, and works just fine for its intended purpose, but the larger screen estate on the Z Flip7's cover is a lot more welcoming. On the inside, the Z Flip7 does have a small advantage too - with displays more is simply always more.
Both phones put out roughly the same brightness on the inside, whether in manual operation or with the adaptive brightness boost. The FE is some 200nits behind its stablemate on the cover, but even its 1150nits are a good enough result, we reckon.
The internal displays are both capable of 120Hz refresh rate with Samsung's usual adaptive behavior. The FE maxes out at 60Hz on the cover, while the Z Flip7 proper is smoother there, at up to 120Hz - we wouldn't say it's a gamechanger of a difference, but it's nice to have. Battery life
The Z Flip7 FE uses the same 4,000mAh capacity battery as the Z Flip6, while the Z Flip7 is treated to an extra 300mAh. Between the higher capacity, newer chipset, and larger display(s), the Z Flip7 manages to outlast the Z Flip7 FE in two key metrics - video playback and web browsing are meaningfully better on the more upmarket model. You could probably find the Z Flip7's call time an advantage too, while gaming longevity is about the same on both in our testing. Overall, this is looking like more of a decisive win for the Z Flip7 than we'd have expected. Charging speed Samsung
Galaxy Z Flip7 FE
4000 mAh Samsung
Galaxy Z Flip7
4300 mAh
There's no winner in the charging speed section with both Flips being typical Galaxies and charging pretty slowly, especially beyond the 90-ish percent mark. In a way, if both are slow, neither has an advantage, but we can't be sending you from a Galaxy comparison straight to a Motorola store.
Both phones support wireless charging too, with the same specs from Samsung that should mean up to 15W with proprietary pads and who knows how much with third-party units (WPC listings say 5W). Both models also feature the same battery health options with charging limits and smart adaptation to your habits. Speaker test
There's not a whole lot to set the two Flips apart in the speaker department. In typical Galaxy fashion both have stereo speakers - a bottom-firing one and a front-facing one above the display that doubles as earpiece.
In our testing, both earned 'Good' ratings for loudness. That said, the Z Flip7 does have a bit of an advantage to our ears, thanks to a fuller, more open presentation. The FE is plenty good enough though. Performance Samsung
Galaxy Z Flip7 FE Samsung
Galaxy Z Flip7
Z Flip7 and Z Flip7 FE are the first Galaxy foldables to use in-house chipsets - all other Zs had Snapdragons, even when the Galaxy S-series models from the same time had a Snapdragon/Exynos divide. The Z Flip7 is based on the Exynos 2500 platform (a first), while the Z Flip7 FE's E2400 was already found on the S24 generation in certain regions.
The Exynos 2400 is made on a 4nm process and features a 10-core CPU in a 1+2+3+4 configuration with 6 big and 4 small cores (unlike the 3nm E2500 which has a 1+2+5+2 setup with 8 big and 2 small ones). The Xclipse 940 GPU is 10 fewer than the Xclipse 950 in the Z Flip7's Exynos.
The Z Flip7 FE comes with 8GB of RAM, while the Z Flip7 has 12GB. The FE can be had with either 128GB or 256GB of storage, and the Z Flip7's two options are more generous - with either 256GB or 512GB. Benchmark performance
The FE is predictably a notch below the regular model, scoring lower across the board. Both phones throttle hard and fast though, so 'peak' results are nowhere near sustainable. In practice, you should be fine with either phone - operation is nice and smooth on both.
Both phones launch on Android 16 with One UI 8 on top - that's as cutting edge as you can get on a Galaxy, and essentially on any Android too. Samsung's 7-year update policy (for both major OS releases and ongoing fixes) applies to both, though we kind of feel that the FE might be a little slower to get the big updates. Camera comparison
You'd think there would be some difference between the camera systems of the two tiers of Flips, but Samsung chose not to bring any upgrades to the Z Flip7, and the Z Flip7 FE is also inheriting the Z Flip6's camera hardware, unchanged.
Whichever Z Flip7 you choose, you'd be getting the same 50MP main camera on the cover, alongside a 12MP ultrawide unit that's missing autofocus, as usual. On the inside, there's a 10MP selfie camera - also with fixed focus. Image quality
The two phones' identical camera hardware leads to more or less identical photos - whatever minute differences you might be able to spot should be mostly due to shot-to-shot variation or similarly insignificant differences between the ISPs of the two Exynos chipsets. Overall, you can count on very good photos from the main cameras, with well-presented detail, pleasing colors and wide dynamic range.
Daylight photo samples, 1x: Galaxy Z Flip7 FE • Galaxy Z Flip7
2x zoom shots won't be giving you reasons to pick one over the other either.
Daylight photo samples, 2x: Galaxy Z Flip7 FE • Galaxy Z Flip7
There's a bit more of a noticeable split in the ultrawide photos, where the Z Flip7 is consistently sharper than the Z Flip7 FE. The Z Flip7 FE isn't looking so bad as to make us suspicious we've gotten a lemon, but we're not entirely sure it makes sense for its photos to be softer than the Z Flip7's. Make of that what you will.
Daylight photo samples, 0.6x: Galaxy Z Flip7 FE • Galaxy Z Flip7
Selfies have subtle differences between the two phones from scene to scene, but there's no real pattern and both models deliver generally solid internal camera results.
Selfie samples: Galaxy Z Flip7 FE • Galaxy Z Flip7
In the dark, the two main cameras produce similar results too, with each phone getting grainy shots in Photo mode and cleaner images in Night mode. Dynamic range and colors are pretty great, and not at all different between the two.
Low-light photo samples, 1x: Galaxy Z Flip7 FE • Galaxy Z Flip7
Low-light photo samples, 1x, Night mode: Galaxy Z Flip7 FE • Galaxy Z Flip7
The parity remains the same at 2x, as well.
Low-light photo samples, 2x: Galaxy Z Flip7 FE • Galaxy Z Flip7
Low-light photo samples, 2x, Night mode: Galaxy Z Flip7 FE • Galaxy Z Flip7
Comparing the ultrawides in Photo mode, the Z Flip7 FE is again softer, but both phones' shots are so noisy that you'd probably want to use Night mode, where the differences are insignificant.
Low-light photo samples, 0.6x: Galaxy Z Flip7 FE • Galaxy Z Flip7
Low-light photo samples, 0.6x, Night mode: Galaxy Z Flip7 FE • Galaxy Z Flip7 Video quality
The video recording capabilities are identical in theory, though the end results are somehow slightly different. By this point we're not surprised that the Z Flip7's ultrawide clips are sharper, but for one reason or another, the FE has a slight edge at 1x zoom. In the dark it's more of a coint toss between the two.
Below we have a few framegrabs from the videos taken by the two phones at each focal length so it's easier to compare to one another.
Daylight video samples, Galaxy Z Flip7 FE: 0.6x • 1x • 2x
Daylight video samples, Galaxy Z Flip7: 0.6x • 1x • 2x
Low-light video samples, Galaxy Z Flip7 FE: 0.6x • 1x • 2x
Low-light video samples, Galaxy Z Flip7: 0.6x • 1x • 2x Verdict
Samsung's two-Flip approach for 2025 came as a bit of surprise but it's seemingly not without merit. The existence of a 'high-end' Flip and a 'mass-market' Flip means more people can have Flips, which seems like a winning strategy. And, with the FE, those being on some sort of a budget won't have to feel too bad about getting last year's model (which, the Z Flip6, at the time of the FE's launch, is still the more sensible option in terms of value).
Choosing between the two Flip7s shouldn't be too difficult. The Z Flip7 proper is the best flip-phone Samsung has to offer, standing out from previous iterations thanks to its slimline design and larger cover display (with the larger internal display being more of a by-product of the push for slimness and resulting reshuffling of components). It's also got improved endurance, which is an unexpected but always welcome development.
The Galaxy Z Flip7 FE, meanwhile, will get you most of the way there. It's not quite as premium-looking, the cover display is smaller, battery life isn't as good. But it's still a foldable, cover-screen selfies are very much feasible, endurance is… alright, and the camera experience is nearly the same as on the non-FE. But then the FE is easier on your wallet.
The narrower body.
The lower price for almost the same experience.
The larger cover display.
The larger internal display, maybe?
The overall more premium looks.
The longer battery life.