Latest news with #Flip
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 review: great-looking and fun, but iterative Android
Samsung's seventh-generation Flip phone trims the fat, gains a bigger cover screen on the outside and a larger folding display on the inside, but fundamentally doesn't reinvent the wheel. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 joins the book-style Z Fold 7 as Samsung's two flagship folding phones for 2025. Like its predecessors, the Flip's biggest selling point is that it takes one of the largest screens on a Samsung and folds it in half for a more pocket-friendly size. Costing from £1,049 (€1,199/$1,099/A$1,799) it is similar in price to the regular S25+ and super-thin S25 Edge, but with a slightly larger screen. The Flip 7 is slightly taller and wider than its predecessor accommodating the larger 6.9in inner display. It is also thinner than the Flip 6 by 1.2mm when folded, but you would be hard pressed to notice the difference, unlike the transformational change given to the Fold 7 this year. The new larger cover display on the outside fills the top half of the Flip 7 encircling the cameras and LED flash. It is able to fit more text from notifications and widgets on display, but it also looks far better than predecessors. Choose a good wallpaper and it looks stunning, particularly in the dark metallic blue colour. The Flip 7 has hardened glass on the outside, but the internal screen is still covered by a necessarily softer layer that picks up fingerprints, suffers from glare and can be easily marked. It requires more care than a regular slab phone. The Flip is water resistant but not dust resistant, so must be kept away from fine particles that might gum up its hinge. Main screen: 6.9in FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED Infinity Flex Display (397ppi) Cover screen: 4.1in AMOLED 120Hz (345ppi) Processor: Samsung Exynos 2500 RAM: 12GB Storage: 256 or 512GB Operating system: One UI 8 based on Android 16 Camera: 50 +12MP rear, 10MP front-facing Connectivity: 5G, nano sim + esim, wifi7, NFC, Bluetooth 5.4 and GNSS Water resistance: IP48 (1.5-metre depths for 30 minutes) Folded dimensions: 85.5 x 75.2 x 13.7mm Unfolded dimensions: 166.7 x 75.2 x 6.5mm Weight: 188g The Flip 7 has a Samsung Exynos 2500 chip, which is a high-end processor similar to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite used in the rest of Samsung's flagship phone line. It won't win any raw performance awards, but day to day it made the Flip 7 feel rapid with a solid gaming experience, even if the phone got quite warm during prolonged sessions. The battery life is falls slightly short of the Flip's predecessors lasting about 36 hours between charges while on a mix of 5G and wifi and actively using the screen for about six hours. That roughly matches the smallest S25 model and means the Flip 7 will see out a heavy-use day with most people needing to charge it nightly. Note that prolonged use on 5G had a greater drain on the battery than Qualcomm-equipped Samsung phones. The Flip 7 is one of the first Samsung phones, alongside the Z Fold 7, to run One UI 8 (Android 16) out of the box. It is one of the best versions of Android available offering deep customisation and solid performance. It looks and behaves very much like the software on the standard S25 line, including various AI tools across writing, image editing and generation, transcription and translation, and so on. It also has Google's AI services including Gemini and Circle to Search. The Now bar is great, showing currently ongoing activities such as sport scores, music playback, timers, alarms and other bits. The Flip 7 has some additional tools to make use of the folding form. The useful flex mode moves the content, site or app to the top half of the screen and puts controls on the bottom half when you fold the Flip into an L-shape. It also has multiple tools to use the outside screen. You can view notifications, answer texts, control music or system settings, access various widgets including a voice recorder and calculator, plus talk to Gemini without opening the phone. A handful of apps including Google Maps, messages, WhatsApp, Netflix and YouTube can be opened on the outside screen too. But to use other apps on the cover screen requires downloading Samsung's MultiStar plugin from the Galaxy Store, which is simple enough but should be a default feature. Samsung will provide Android and security updates until 31 July 2032. The camera is one of the weaker areas of the Flip 7. It has a 50-megapixel main and 12MP ultra wide camera on the cover screen and a 10MP selfie camera on the inside. The selfie camera is OK but not great, suffering in low light though perfectly fine for video calls. Instead you get much better results using the main camera for selfies with the cover screen as the viewfinder. The main camera does shoot great photos outdoors and in good light, with plenty of detail and solid colours, but can be a bit dark, grey and grainy indoors or in difficult lighting conditions. The ultra-wide camera is decent for landscapes but struggles in lower light settings. The camera has plenty of fun modes, including the ability to shoot photos and video partially folded like an old-school handycam or propped up for hands-free selfies. Overall the Flip 7 shoots decent photos but its cameras aren't quite on par with what you get on standard flagship phones. The battery has an expected lifespan of at least 2,000 full-charge cycles with at least 80% of its original capacity. The phone is generally repairable. Inside screen repairs cost about £294. Samsung offers a self-repair programme, as well as Care+ accidental damage insurance that reduces the cost of repairs to £119. The Flip 7 is made from recycled aluminium, cobalt, copper, glass, gold, lithium, plastic, rare-earth elements and steel, accounting for 18.2% of the weight. Samsung offers trade-in and recycling schemes for old devices, and breaks down the phone's environmental impact in its report (pdf). The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 costs from £1,049 (€1,199/$1,099/A$1,799). For comparison, the Z Fold 7 costs £1,799, the S25 Edge costs £1,099, the S25+ costs £999, the Z Flip 7 FE costs £849, the Motorola Raze 60 Ultra costs £1,099 and the Xiaomi Mix Flip costs £640. The Flip 7 is Samsung's most attractive flip phone yet, but the biggest upgrade is the larger cover display on the outside. The rest of the phone is pretty similar to its predecessors. The internal folding display is great, but soft and needs care. The fingerprint scanner in the power button is fantastic, but is placed a bit too high up the side of the phone. The cameras are decent but not up to the same standards of regular flagship phones, while the battery life is a bit on the short side. The software is great and comes with seven years of updates. But it all feels very iterative. The Flip 7 is the still the best way to fit a large screen in a small pocket, but it's crying out for the kind of transformational redesign given to its larger Fold 7 sibling this year. Pros: bigger outside screen, great large screen that folds in half, IP48 water-resistant, great software with seven years of updates, plenty of AI features, attractive design, fun. Cons: expensive, less durable than a regular phone and costly to fix, no dust resistance, camera lacks telephoto zoom and not up to par with regular flagship phones, not a major update.
Phone Arena
a day ago
- Phone Arena
Apple accidentally marketed the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7
Apple doesn't have a foldable iPhone out yet, so the company instead just marketed the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7. An 'Apple Support' account posted the trailer for the Flip, and then promptly took it down once people realized the mix-up, but not before it had been Chinese support account made the mistake a few hours earlier. A renowned insider for all things Samsung recorded the instance, because they knew that this wasn't going to stay up for long. A mix-up occurred when China's official "Apple Support" Weibo account accidentally posted a promotional video for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7, which was later promptly taken down. — PhoneArt (@UniverseIce) July 30, 2025 Naturally, and as is expected, users had a good laugh when they saw this happen. It's a classic case of 'oops, wrong account'. One possible explanation may be that both Samsung and Apple use the same agency in China, and some employee made an honest mistake. Others are convinced that this was a deliberate joke by some Samsung fan who is in charge of the account. While I think that that's pretty unlikely, I wouldn't rule out the possibility completely. If it was done on purpose, however, then the worker who did it might be in more trouble than they might have anticipated. The Flip 7 is one of the nicest flip foldables on the market. | Image credit — PhoneArena Samsung's newest foldables — both the Flip 7 and the Galaxy Z Fold 7 — have taken the industry by storm. The Fold 7 is crushing it in every market around the globe, and has left the Fold 6 behind in both hardware and popularity. Samsung fans have been waiting for the company to release a foldable phone like this for ages, and have finally gotten their wish. Of course, some folks are waiting for the foldable iPhone , which is slated to release next year alongside the Flip 8 and Fold 8. Apple took this long to enter the foldable industry because it wanted to make a phone with a completely invisible crease. However, some reports indicate that the company has had to compromise on that vision. If the foldable iPhone does come out next year, then I'm sure that the support account will have something more appropriate to post. Until then, this innocent mix-up is just a further reminder that Samsung is killing it with its foldables, and iPhone users are stuck waiting for Apple to make its move. When you switch to Total Wireless, keep your number & grab 3 mo. of 5G We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 review: great-looking and fun, but iterative Android
Samsung's seventh-generation Flip phone trims the fat, gains a bigger cover screen on the outside and a larger folding display on the inside, but fundamentally doesn't reinvent the wheel. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 joins the book-style Z Fold 7 as Samsung's two flagship folding phones for 2025. Like its predecessors, the Flip's biggest selling point is that it takes one of the largest screens on a Samsung and folds it in half for a more pocket-friendly size. Costing from £1,049 (€1,199/$1,099/A$1,799) it is similar in price to the regular S25+ and super-thin S25 Edge, but with a slightly larger screen. The Flip 7 is slightly taller and wider than its predecessor accommodating the larger 6.9in inner display. It is also thinner than the Flip 6 by 1.2mm when folded, but you would be hard pressed to notice the difference, unlike the transformational change given to the Fold 7 this year. The new larger cover display on the outside fills the top half of the Flip 7 encircling the cameras and LED flash. It is able to fit more text from notifications and widgets on display, but it also looks far better than predecessors. Choose a good wallpaper and it looks stunning, particularly in the dark metallic blue colour. The Flip 7 has hardened glass on the outside, but the internal screen is still covered by a necessarily softer layer that picks up fingerprints, suffers from glare and can be easily marked. It requires more care than a regular slab phone. The Flip is water resistant but not dust resistant, so must be kept away from fine particles that might gum up its hinge. Main screen: 6.9in FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED Infinity Flex Display (397ppi) Cover screen: 4.1in AMOLED 120Hz (345ppi) Processor: Samsung Exynos 2500 RAM: 12GB Storage: 256 or 512GB Operating system: One UI 8 based on Android 16 Camera: 50 +12MP rear, 10MP front-facing Connectivity: 5G, nano sim + esim, wifi7, NFC, Bluetooth 5.4 and GNSS Water resistance: IP48 (1.5-metre depths for 30 minutes) Folded dimensions: 85.5 x 75.2 x 13.7mm Unfolded dimensions: 166.7 x 75.2 x 6.5mm Weight: 188g The Flip 7 has a Samsung Exynos 2500 chip, which is a high-end processor similar to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite used in the rest of Samsung's flagship phone line. It won't win any raw performance awards, but day to day it made the Flip 7 feel rapid with a solid gaming experience, even if the phone got quite warm during prolonged sessions. The battery life is falls slightly short of the Flip's predecessors lasting about 36 hours between charges while on a mix of 5G and wifi and actively using the screen for about six hours. That roughly matches the smallest S25 model and means the Flip 7 will see out a heavy-use day with most people needing to charge it nightly. Note that prolonged use on 5G had a greater drain on the battery than Qualcomm-equipped Samsung phones. The Flip 7 is one of the first Samsung phones, alongside the Z Fold 7, to run One UI 8 (Android 16) out of the box. It is one of the best versions of Android available offering deep customisation and solid performance. It looks and behaves very much like the software on the standard S25 line, including various AI tools across writing, image editing and generation, transcription and translation, and so on. It also has Google's AI services including Gemini and Circle to Search. The Now bar is great, showing currently ongoing activities such as sport scores, music playback, timers, alarms and other bits. The Flip 7 has some additional tools to make use of the folding form. The useful flex mode moves the content, site or app to the top half of the screen and puts controls on the bottom half when you fold the Flip into an L-shape. It also has multiple tools to use the outside screen. You can view notifications, answer texts, control music or system settings, access various widgets including a voice recorder and calculator, plus talk to Gemini without opening the phone. A handful of apps including Google Maps, messages, WhatsApp, Netflix and YouTube can be opened on the outside screen too. But to use other apps on the cover screen requires downloading Samsung's MultiStar plugin from the Galaxy Store, which is simple enough but should be a default feature. Samsung will provide Android and security updates until 31 July 2032. The camera is one of the weaker areas of the Flip 7. It has a 50-megapixel main and 12MP ultra wide camera on the cover screen and a 10MP selfie camera on the inside. The selfie camera is OK but not great, suffering in low light though perfectly fine for video calls. Instead you get much better results using the main camera for selfies with the cover screen as the viewfinder. The main camera does shoot great photos outdoors and in good light, with plenty of detail and solid colours, but can be a bit dark, grey and grainy indoors or in difficult lighting conditions. The ultra-wide camera is decent for landscapes but struggles in lower light settings. The camera has plenty of fun modes, including the ability to shoot photos and video partially folded like an old-school handycam or propped up for hands-free selfies. Overall the Flip 7 shoots decent photos but its cameras aren't quite on par with what you get on standard flagship phones. The battery has an expected lifespan of at least 2,000 full-charge cycles with at least 80% of its original capacity. The phone is generally repairable. Inside screen repairs cost about £294. Samsung offers a self-repair programme, as well as Care+ accidental damage insurance that reduces the cost of repairs to £119. The Flip 7 is made from recycled aluminium, cobalt, copper, glass, gold, lithium, plastic, rare-earth elements and steel, accounting for 18.2% of the weight. Samsung offers trade-in and recycling schemes for old devices, and breaks down the phone's environmental impact in its report (pdf). The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 costs from £1,049 (€1,199/$1,099/A$1,799). For comparison, the Z Fold 7 costs £1,799, the S25 Edge costs £1,099, the S25+ costs £999, the Z Flip 7 FE costs £849, the Motorola Raze 60 Ultra costs £1,099 and the Xiaomi Mix Flip costs £640. The Flip 7 is Samsung's most attractive flip phone yet, but the biggest upgrade is the larger cover display on the outside. The rest of the phone is pretty similar to its predecessors. The internal folding display is great, but soft and needs care. The fingerprint scanner in the power button is fantastic, but is placed a bit too high up the side of the phone. The cameras are decent but not up to the same standards of regular flagship phones, while the battery life is a bit on the short side. The software is great and comes with seven years of updates. But it all feels very iterative. The Flip 7 is the still the best way to fit a large screen in a small pocket, but it's crying out for the kind of transformational redesign given to its larger Fold 7 sibling this year. Pros: bigger outside screen, great large screen that folds in half, IP48 water-resistant, great software with seven years of updates, plenty of AI features, attractive design, fun. Cons: expensive, less durable than a regular phone and costly to fix, no dust resistance, camera lacks telephoto zoom and not up to par with regular flagship phones, not a major update.
CNET
2 days ago
- CNET
Foldable iPhone Will Launch September 2026 for a Cool $1,999, Report Says
The trickle of leaks about Apple's first foldable iPhone continue, and we are starting to get a clearer picture of what's in store for the new kind of iPhone reportedly launching next year. The first foldable iPhone will be revealed in September 2026 during Apple's annual iPhone event, according to a report from financial services firm JPMorgan, at a price of $1,999. It will be part of Apple's iPhone 18 lineup, the report said. The iPhone will reportedly boast these features: Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Apple is the only major player in the industry without a foldable phone. Samsung, Google and Motorola have already jumped into the game, with the Galaxy Z Fold 6, Motorola Razr Plus and Pixel 9 Pro Fold raising the stakes with upgraded design features and better screen bending and flexing. US consumers are still lukewarm on foldables -- a recent CNET survey showed 64% of people we surveyed aren't willing or interested in buying a foldable phone within the next year, and just 13% are interested. So the iPhone "Flip" could be a game changer in the segment. However, CNET has some words of warning for the Flip to avoid being "a generic, redundant novelty" among competitors.
Engadget
6 days ago
- Engadget
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 review: More screen, more battery but something's missing
Samsung's annual foldable refresh includes a trio of devices this year. While the Z Fold 7 comes with a top-tier processor and cameras, the Z Flip 7 carries over many technical details from its predecessor. In fact, the most significant upgrade this year is a more expansive front display, or Flex Window, as the company prefers to call it. Samsung has also, somehow, added an even bigger battery to a slimmer foldable, which is technically impressive. However, the company made minimal software additions and modest improvements in places. The upgrades are good, but are there enough of them? Samsung has caught up to one of its few foldable rivals by substantially increasing the front display from 3.4 inches to 4.1 inches. The two camera cutouts are the only things interrupting this bright, vivid display. Despite bigger screens (and battery), the Flip 7 is also thinner than last year's model. It measures 6.4mm (0.25 inches) thick, down from 6.9mm (0.27 inches). That's equal to the Galaxy S25 edge, where the major selling point is its thinness. I shouldn't have to say this, but that thickness doubles when you fold it away: Samsung says it's 13.7mm (0.54 inches) when closed. However you measure it, this is the thinnest Flip yet. The Z Flip 7 has decent battery life, bigger screens and more AI smarts. However, the cameras are dated and Samsung isn't offering enough utility on this foldable's second screen. $1,220 at Amazon The Flex Window now has a 120Hz refresh rate, can reach peak brightness levels of 2,600 nits (matching the S25 Ultra) and features the thinnest bezel yet (1.25mm) of any Samsung smartphone display. The brightness increase is a crucial upgrade on a screen that's used mainly to glance at your device from across a desk or outside in sunlight. Samsung said it was able to further extend the display to the edges by applying a waterproof coating on components beneath the AMOLED display. This meant less bezel is needed around the screen's perimeter. Samsung also expanded the foldable's main screen to 6.9 inches — a notable step up from the previous model's 6.4 inches. The company also wisely shifted closer to a more typical smartphone display ratio of 21:9. While it's not quite the same as, say, the Galaxy S25 or iPhone 16, video content now fits better. Previous Z Flips had more elongated screens, making it hard to reach the upper corners when using one hand. While the Z Flip 7 has a better aspect ratio, it's also bigger, which unfortunately means it has the same issue. If Samsung had changed the aspect ratio while keeping the screen size, it might have struck the ergonomic sweet spot. Not for the first time, Samsung says it's further strengthened the Flip's hinge mechanism. While I can't attest to its longevity, the Flip 7 does close with a beefier 'thunk' than its predecessors. I like that it takes a little bit more strength to open because it makes the whole device feel more solid. If you're hoping this is the year where the display crease disappears, I'm afraid that isn't happening. For those who have never owned a foldable though, the Flip 7's crease is largely unnoticeable. The story of this year's Flip's cameras? More of the same. The Flip 7 has the same 50-megapixel f/1.8 primary setup with optical image stabilization (OIS) and a 12MP ultra-wide lens with a 123-degree field of view. There's a 10MP camera on the inside, too, but with the Flip's improved front screen, you really should be using the primary camera duo. The best images come from well-lit scenes. Samsung's Night Mode is a little aggressive, but it's still great for nighttime shots, even if it leaves an over-processed look on skin tones and faces. The Flip 7 defaults to 12.5-megapixel images, but you can switch to 50MP stills if you want all the detail — and you have a steady hand. There's no dedicated telephoto camera, which means the zoom is limited to a 2x crop, hindering the Z Flip 7's versatility. Once again: if you want a foldable with the best cameras, you'll have to go with the Fold series. Mat Smith for Engadget In regard to video capture, the Flip 7 can record video in 10-bit HDR, up from 8-bit, for more color accuracy and detail. And you can still hold the Z Flip 7 like a retro camcorder, which remains far more enjoyable than it should be. Despite the bigger screen, Samsung hasn't really evolved its Flex Window's software this year. There are a few improvements, though. When using the front display to take selfies and videos, interface icons and mode buttons will float around the display to get out of the way of what it detects you're trying to take photos of. If you're looking to use a special filter on your shots, the Z Flip 7 can show a live preview of each filter before you apply them. Two other software additions to the Flip series are the Now Bar and Now Brief, introduced in this year's S25 series. The Now Bar is Samsung's spin on the iPhone's Dynamic Island, displaying pertinent ongoing or time-sensitive information that isn't quite a notification, but something you might want to know about. This includes fitness metrics, weather or live updates from ride-share apps like Uber. You can tap into the Now Bar without opening the phone, and you won't have to unfold it if you're looking to interact with Google's Gemini Live either. It's another Android feature that seems well-suited to foldables, as you can talk to Gemini with minimal physical interaction on the Z Flip 7. To use most other apps, you'll still need to install the Multistar launcher (which is made by Samsung) in order to view and use basic software like Gmail and Chrome. This is the workaround for now, as Samsung hasn't expanded the approved list of six apps that are allowed to run on the Z Flip 7's Flex Window — a short list which bafflingly includes Netflix. Despite being even slimmer than last year's model, the Flip 7 has a 4,300mAh battery that's 300mAh larger than its predecessor's. That, along with a new processor (its homemade 3nm Exynos 2500), has led to a leap in longevity. In our standard battery rundown tests, the Flip 7 played continuous video for 18 and a half hours. That's a big jump from the 13-hour rundown I got from the Flip 6. I was so surprised I ran the test two more times to confirm and got similar results. The new chip never felt particularly sluggish, either, whether I was gaming, using Galaxy AI features or completing other taxing activities. That said, the phone would get warm, both in my hand and in my pocket, during camera testing and location-based tasks, like using Google Maps and CityMapper. In my day-to-day use, with heavy testing, I'd get through a solid day and a half before I had to think about recharging. Unfortunately, the Galaxy Z Flip 7's wired charging speeds still top out at 25W, which Samsung has the gall to call Super Fast Charging. It's the same speed as the Z Flip 6 (and the base S25), but when other phones are using 45W charge speeds (or higher), it's a little underwhelming, especially on a premium device like this. By refreshing the design and further slimming down the Z Flip, Samsung has made its smaller foldable easier to handle. At the same time, it's accomplished an engineering marvel by squeezing in larger screens and a more substantial battery. However, certain aspects of the Flip 7 are lacking, most notably the cameras, which haven't been changed since last year. Samsung also needs to put more work into its Flex Window. While the ability to use most apps on the smaller front display is here, it's still a fussy implementation and most of them aren't tailored for the tinier screen. There's untapped potential here and the Z Flip 7 doesn't push its category of foldables forward by much.
