Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: An extremely premium foldable experience

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 has one of the best form factors on the foldable market. The device is incredibly thin, the Cover Screen has a wide 21:9 aspect ratio, and the phone feels good in your hands and pockets. However, despite the improvements to the design, the Z Fold 7 isn’t perfect, and there are some compromises aside from its incredibly expensive price tag.

I like the foldable form factor, but the Galaxy Z Fold series has had a significant flaw until now: its slim cover screen. Until now, the front screen on the Z Fold series has had an annoying aspect ratio, especially if you’re using it for a long time. Samsung finally fixed this on the Z Fold 7. I’ve used it like you’re supposed to use a phone with this form factor: using the primary Cover Screen for your everyday phone needs and then opening up to the larger display when you need that tablet experience, when you’re watching content or playing games. I found that with the Z Fold 6, I had to open the device to text friends, which should be a choice and not a need.

To dive deeper into the design elements, the handset is 4.2mm unfolded and 8.9mm folded, and weighs 215g. The Cover Screen is also 72.8mm wide and 158.4mm tall, giving it a 21:9 aspect ratio. To compare it with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the other foldable available in Canada, the Z Fold 7 is thinner and taller, but isn’t as wide. I like how wide the 9 Pro Fold is, but the Z Fold 7 feels more premium than its competition. This is not only due to the thinness, but the handset is nearly bezel-less, both inside and out. As much as I love the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 is absolutely a premium experience in terms of its design.

There’s one big design flaw, however; the Galaxy Z Fold 7’s camera bump is horrendous. It’s incredibly wobbly when you’re laying your phone down flat on a surface. The camera bump is quite big, but I think Samsung could have fixed this problem by switching the orientation of the cameras and making them horizontal instead of vertical. Anything would have been better than this current experience. But for it to be my only design complaint, I might just be nitpicking. The Z Fold 7 comes in Blue Shadow, which is the Hero colour and, in my opinion, looks the best. Other colour variants include Silver Shadow, Jet Black, and the Samsung-exclusive colour, Mint, which also looks pretty nice.

Moving away from the best part of the phone, the worst element of the device is its 4,400mAh battery. After using the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, I’ve learned that battery capacity isn’t everything, and there’s much more to an experience. However, the Z Fold 7’s battery is an issue. I find it doesn’t last until the end of the day, sometimes not even making it until the end of the workday. I’ve felt that on any day where I have plans in the evening, I have to charge the handset during the day as well. I’m not using anything too intensive; sometimes, I watch a few YouTube videos, play Marvel Snap, and listen to music on Spotify. I’m unimpressed with the battery experience. When you’re making a phone this thin, it makes sense that there are some trade-offs, and the battery is first to go. It’s just unfortunate. I’ve reached out to others in the industry, and many are noting similar experiences, which makes me believe there aren’t any issues with my review unit.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 features a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and 12GB of RAM. With this, I’ve been able to play a lot of Marvel Snap, stream videos from YouTube and Netflix, and even multitask while writing this article. I wrote this whole article, edited it, and uploaded it to MobileSyrup all on the device. Additionally, this handset is pretty snappy with no slowdown. I like that the Z Fold 7 can be considered an entertainment or a productivity device; however, it now doesn’t work with the S Pen, and the battery isn’t great, so it’s more on the entertainment side.

Pictures with the Z Fold 7 are crisp, but there’s a taste of Samsung’s oversaturation in each photo. This is the same primary shooter as in the S25 Edge, and similarly, it doesn’t seem to catch the same amount of detail as the S25 Ultra. While all pictures look good, there’s a bit of noise on closer inspection, which can happen if the handset isn’t capturing enough light in each shot. It’s worth mentioning, though, that I took these shots with the device using pixel binning. A 200-megapixel picture would capture even more detail, but it’s not as great if you’re somewhere with insufficient light.

However, the best aspect of the Z Fold 7 is that you can take amazing selfies with the rear-facing camera. It’s definitely one of the best selfie options on a smartphone. The handset has front-facing cameras on the front and inside; however, I’ve only taken shots with a rear-facing shooter. This is one of the first Z foldables without the under-display camera (UDC). Funny enough, I didn’t realize until someone pointed it out to me. The UDC typically only has a 4-megapixel sensor, so this is an upgrade, camera-wise. But I’m still in the camp, and a camera on the inner display isn’t even necessary.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is a fantastic device and offers the best two-in-one experience for a tablet and a phone. It’s hard not to recommend a device I like using so much. I wish the battery experience were a little better, but it hasn’t caused me too many issues, considering I have chargers throughout the day. However, travelling in New York wasn’t very pleasant, as I was always out.

Pictures from the camera are good enough for my needs. I’m not a content creator and mostly post images on Instagram or use them as camera samples.

The design is premium, and everyone who holds the phone is shocked by how thin it is. My mom, an avid Samsung Fold user, became giddy when I let her use the phone. It took her a moment to realize I handed her a foldable because she thought it was the S25 Ultra because of the handset’s design. And now, when I look at the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and leaks of the 10 Pro Fold, I can’t help but think that the handset looks dated and doesn’t have the modern elegance of the Z Fold 7.

Unfortunately, this is the most expensive phone in the country, and even though it’s more affordable than last year’s, it’s definitely not the choice for everyone. But if you’re looking for a premium experience and want to save money on a small tablet, I’d definitely recommend the Z Fold 7. I’ll even recommend the Z Fold 7 for anyone who wants a premium entertainment device and doesn’t mind spending the money on a future-proof device.