Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 review: Ultra-slim foldable phone with incredible power

For the last few years, Samsung's foldable phones have been somewhat iterative, with minimal design changes and incremental upgrades, particularly in terms of processor and software.

Now, with the latest Galaxy Z Fold7, the South Korean tech major has incorporated refreshingly radical changes in design language along with a powerful Qualcomm processor and meaningful value-added generative Artificial Intelligence (gen AI) features. Here are my thoughts on Samsung's most expensive phone.

Design, build quality and display

The first thing you notice when you hold the Galaxy Z Fold7 is its remarkable compactness. When folded, it measures 8.9 mm in thickness, almost the same as any regular bar-shaped phone. But, when unfolded, it measures just 4.2mm. This engineering marvel makes it the slimmest foldable phone to date.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7.

Even with the oddly protruding camera module on the back, the phone can slip in and out of the pant pocket with ease. And, it is super light too. It weighs just 218g, 24g less than its predecessor.

The incredibly slim form factor may give you the wrong impression of the device being fragile, but it is made of sturdy materials. The cover display is protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 shield, and the back panel is safeguarded by Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Furthermore, the device comes with an IP48 dust-and-water-resistant rating. This means it is protected against dust particles larger than 1mm and can also be able to survive when submerged in fresh water up to five feet for close to 30 minutes.

The enclosure is made of advanced Armor Aluminium material. Inside, the company has used a high-grade titanium frame below the display. It also features a specially designed lightweight but sturdy 3rd-gen Armor FlexHinge. The foldable display, which doesn't show any visible crease in the middle, is made of the latest flexible OLED technology and comes with a new UTG (Ultra Thin Glass), which is said to be 50 per cent thicker and more resistant to scratches compared to previous iterations.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7.

It should be noted that Samsung Display division has produced the flexible screen for Galaxy Z Fold7. It has undergone robust durability tests to ensure the display lasts for several years.

It was tested for 500,000-fold operations. This translates to over 10 years of use for average users folding their device about 100 times a day. Even if the user fold for 200 times a day, it is still durable enough to last more than six years. This way, Samsung has covered all bases to ensure the device serves the owner more than half a decade.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7.

That said, the device, is pretty expensive. So, I still recommend prospective Galaxy Z Fold7 buyers to get a nice folio cover case for the protection against damages during accidental falls, which may cause ugly dents and scars.

Our review unit is Blue Shadow. It looks lovely in the sunlight. Also, the frosted glass finish on the back does a fine job with repelling the sweaty finger smudges. The device is also available in Silver Shadow, Jetblack and Mint (online exclusive) colour options.

It features a 6.5-inch full HD+ (2520 x 1080p) Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a pixel density of 422 pixels per inch (ppi) and support 120Hz adaptive refresh rate.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7.

With an aspect ratio of 21:9, the cover display is the same as any standard phone. It's great for one-handed usage; be it browsing the internet, or doom scrolling on social media apps.

Inside, it houses a wide 8.0-inch QXGA (2184x1968p) Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with pixel density of 368 ppi and support 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. The crease in the middle is barely visible. It is perfect for consuming multimedia content.

The side-mounted fingerprint sensor is amazingly quick to register the finger impression and unlock the home screen.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7.

The only drawback of the thinnest phone design is that Samsung couldn't accommodate digitizer layer on the display panel, which is used to register input from the S Pen stylus. It is not a deal breaker, as most Galaxy Fold device owners don't use the S Pen much.

Also, people find it a chore to carry around a stylus separately, as previous foldable devices never came with a built-in holster like the iconic Galaxy Note series.

Performance

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 ships with a custom-built Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy and comes. It works super fast, supports multi-screen functionalities, and multiple apps can run in the background without affecting the performance.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7's CPU and GPU performance score on Geekbench 6.0.

Also, the device showed no signs of lag when playing graphics-rich games or while using generative AI features such as real-time audio transcription, Gemini Live, circle to search, or photography tools such as object eraser. It waltzed through the day without any issues.

The device runs Android 16-based OneUI 8. It has a clean and familiar user interface. Given how expensive the device is, it's nice that Samsung is offering seven years of Android updates (up to 2032)

As far as battery life is concerned, it houses a 4,400mAh battery with a 25W charging speed. It can easily last a full day under normal usage with Wi-Fi connectivity at home and the office.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 supports several Galaxy AI features such as real-time language translator, audio transcriptor in addition to Google's generative Artificial Intelligence Gemini Live, Circle to Search and more.

However, if you are fully reliant on the cellular network for internet all day and plan for long sessions of multimedia consumption on OTT apps, you may need a power bank by the end of the evening.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7's camera sample.

Photography

It boasts of a triple camera module— main 200MP wide-angle camera (with Quad Pixel AF, OIS, F1.7, Pixel size: 0.6μm, Field-of-View(FOV): 85-degree), with 12MP Ultra-Wide Camera Dual Pixel AF, F2.2, Pixel size: 1.4μm, FOV: 120-degree) and 10MP Telephoto camera(PDAF, OIS, F2.4, Pixel size: 1.0μm, FOV: 36-degree, 3X optical zoom) with LED flash on the back.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7's camera sample.

It captures excellent pictures in almost all light conditions. It does a fine job of enhancing the skin tones of human faces and flowers, appearing a little vibrantly colourful than what we see through our eyes.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7's camera sample.

I am not complaining, as the pictures are nice and worthy to be shared on social media platforms.

With portrait mode, it does a fine job of naturally blurring the background of the subject to deliver a perfect bokeh effect.

It also supports optical zoom up to 3X and digital zoom up to 30X. The photo quality remains fine up to 10X-15X zoom, but as the zoom increases further, grains begin to accumulate.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7's camera sample.

At night, it takes crisp photos with less noise. There is definite improvement in terms of photo clarity over the predecessor.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7's camera sample.

Also, the phone supports several gen AI photography tools such as object eraser, audio eraser, glass reflection removier and others. The device works buttery smooth without any sign of sluggishness as such.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7's camera sample.

With ultra-wide angle mode, it can cover vast area of the field in the frame.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7's camera sample.

The Galaxy Z Fold7 features a 10MP selfie camera on the cover display and the foldable display inside.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7's camera sample.

They take pretty good selfies in a bright sunny environment. Indoors with controlled light conditions, the pictures are of decent quality.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7's camera sample.

Final thoughts

With the Galaxy Z Fold7, Samsung has reached really close to the perfect foldable phone design. When folded, it is as compact as a regular phone and more importantly, the cover display has the right 21:9 aspect ratio to use apps normally and doesn’t feel cramped up for space while typing messages or reading messages. When unfolded, the flexible display is great for multimedia consumption. Besides the sturdy build quality, it excels with smooth performance and photography.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 is available in three configurations-- 12GB RAM + 256GB storage, 12GB RAM + 512GB storage and 16GB RAM + 1TB storage -- for Rs 1,74,999, Rs 1,86,999 and Rs 2,16,999, respectively.

It comes in Blue Shadow, Silver Shadow, Jetblack and Mint (online exclusive) colour options.

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