(Credit: Eric Zeman)
For the past several weeks, I've been testing a Galaxy Z Fold 7, the latest in Samsung's foldable lineup, and this very high-end phone lives up to the expectations I had when it was first announced, even if I do have some quibbles.
I'm not going to rehash benchmarks, since PCMag's full review has those, but will give some impressions of using it as my primary Android phone for an extended period of time.
The Size Is Right
(Credit: Michael J. Miller)One of my concerns about earlier Galaxy Folds was that using them when folded seemed a bit off; they were thick and oddly narrow. But the new model solves that. When folded, it measures 6.24 by 2.87 by 0.35 inches (HWD), not that much thicker than a Galaxy S25 Ultra at 6.41 by 3.06 by 0.32 inches. The Z Fold 7 weighs 7.58 ounces, negligibly lighter than the S25 Ultra at 7.69 ounces. So it's as easy to carry as a regular phone, and more importantly, it looks like one.
Then you flip it open and see the difference. Unfolded it measures 6.24 by 5.64 by 0.17 inches, with an 8-inch display. It is like carrying a tablet. Of course, this gives you a bigger screen, but it also means you have a bigger keyboard in apps that use one.
(Credit: Michael J. Miller)On a recent trip, I was able to take pictures with the phone and then use the larger keyboard for writing a travel blog. I won't say it's as easy to type on as a laptop or a full-size tablet, but I found it much better for longer posts than typing on a phone.
The Crease Is Notable, But You Get Used to It
When I've shown people the unfolded phone, everyone is impressed by the size, but I almost always heard complaints about the crease in the middle of the big screen. It's true – even if it's better in the current model, you can see it. Still, after the first few minutes, I pretty much forgot it was there. It never bothered me.
(Credit: Michael J. Miller)The Cameras Are Quite Good
As I mentioned, I used the Z Fold 7 to take photos on a recent trip, and I was pretty impressed. It now has the same 200MP camera as the S25 Ultra, with aperture of f/1.7 and an 85-degree field of view (FoV); and this worked very well for most landscapes and portraits.
… But the Zoom Camera Doesn't Match the S25 Ultra
Still, there were times when I missed the 5x optical Zoom lens on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. While the main camera on the Z Fold 7 now matches the S25 Ultra, the other cameras aren’t quite as strong. The S25 Ultra's ultra-wide camera has a 50-megapixel camera, but the Z Fold 7 only has the 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera used in previous years. And while the S25 Ultra has both a 50-megapixel f/3.4 telephoto camera with OIS, 5x optical zoom, and a 10-megapixel f/2.4 telephoto camera with OIS, 3x optical zoom, and a 36-degree field of view, the Z Fold 7 just has the one 10MP 3x telephoto camera, which seems identical to the one on the S25.
This allows you to get 3x optical zoom and 30x with what Samsung calls Space Zoom (hybrid optical+digital). It was good, but I noticed the difference in trying to capture images of distant objects; often, my results seemed grainy. This was most noticeable at concerts when I tried to get an image of a performer on a stage far away. I missed having a larger optical zoom.
Multitasking Is Better on a Big Screen
Having a larger screen means that it's easier to work with multiple applications. I found myself using this mainly for a split screen, with one application on the left and another on the right – for instance, having email and mapping open at the same time, or photos and a word processor. Other phones can do this, but the apps are often so small, it didn't seem worth it. I've found myself using the "Multi Window" feature more on the Z Fold 7 than I did on previous versions or any other phone.
There are a variety of ways to do multitasking. You can simply pull another app from the taskbar and place it where you want on the screen; you can choose an app from your recently used group and just hold the icon; or you can use the "sidebar" on the right-hand side to choose one or even set up pairs of apps that you want together. Again, the bigger screen made a significant difference here.
Samsung Extras
The Z Fold 7 also supports Samsung's DeX mode (as have all recent high-end Galaxy phones), meaning that you can plug it into a larger monitor, maybe even with a keyboard, and it comes up in a desktop-like experience. That's great when you are at home or in the office and want to use the device more like you would a desktop. It didn't seem any different on the Z Fold, but it's still a nice feature.
One extra feature that was on previous year's models but is missing from the Z Fold 7 is support for the S Pen, useful for drawing and sometimes for taking notes. I've liked having the feature on other Samsung phones, but I suspect most users won't miss it.
As always with this line, my biggest concern is the price. Starting at $1,999.99, this is one of the most expensive phones I've used. For most buyers, that would make sense only if it was replacing both a high-end phone and a tablet, but it might be a good tradeoff. Overall, however, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is by far the most useful foldable phone I've ever tried.