
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 hands-on: It's shockingly thin and light...and $2,000?!
That simply couldn't be the case this time around — not with a possible iPhone Fold on the horizon. So what did Samsung do? It made its thinnest book-style foldable yet — 26% thinner than the Galaxy Z Fold 6. And this thing is even lighter than the iPhone 16 Pro Max. To me, that's a game changer.
Samsung also made both the main and cover displays way bigger while giving the Fold 7 a proper Ultra camera setup with a 200MP main shooter.
You know what Samsung also gave the Z Fold 7? A $100 price hike in the U.S. Yup, this foldable is $2,000. (In the UK, the phone remains at £1,899.) And that's on top of another $100 price bump for the Galaxy Z Fold 6 last year.
I had a chance to go hands on with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, and here's my pros and cons so far.
Galaxy Z Fold 7 preorder: up to $1,150 off w/ trade-in @ SamsungFree storage upgrade! Samsung is knocking up to $1,150 off Galaxy Z Fold 7 preorders when you trade-in an older phone. Additionally, you'll get a free storage upgrade with your preorder. The phone features an 8-inch AMOLED (2184 x 1968) 120Hz main display, 6.5-inch AMOLED (2520 x 1080) 120Hz cover display, Snapdragon 8 Elite CPU, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. On the rear you get a 200MP f/1.7 main wide-angle lens, 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide lens, and 10MP f/2.4 telephoto lens. Selfie cams include a 10MP f/2.2 main display and cover camera. In our Galaxy Z Fold 7 hands-on, we called it the first foldable we'd want to carry and use all day.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
Price
From $1,999/£1,799
Main display
8 inches AMOLED (2184 x 1968, 1-120Hz)
Cover display
6.5 inches AMOLED (2520 x 1080, 1-120Hz)
Chipset
Snapdragon 8 Elite
RAM
12GB (16GB for 1TB)
Storage
256GB/512GB/1TB
Rear cameras
200MP wide (f/1.7), 12MP ultra-wide (f/2.2), 10MP telephoto (f/2.4, 3x optical, 30x space zoom)
Cover camera
10MP (f/2.2)
Main display camera
10MP (f/2.2)
Charging
25W
Battery
4,400 mAh
Dimensions
158. 4 x 72.8 x 8.9 mm (folded), 143.2 x 158.4 x 4.2 mm (unfolded)
Weight
215 grams (7.5 ounces)
IP Rating
IP48
Colors
Blue Shadow, Silver Shadow, Jet-black, Mint
This is not a typo. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 starts at $1,999 in the U.S. and £1,899 in the UK. For those in the States, that's $100 more than the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and by far the most expensive flagship phone you can buy.
That starting price gets you 256GB of storage; 512GB and 1TB versions are also available if you're willing to pay more.
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is available to pre-order starting today, and it has a release date of July 25.
The best thing I can tell you about the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is that the 'penalty' for carrying a foldable phone is essentially gone. This phone is astonishingly thin and light, so much so that you may forget that you're carrying or holding a foldable.
Measuring 8.9mm when folded and 4.2mm when unfolded, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is 26% thinner than the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and 48% thinner than the original Galaxy Fold.
By comparison, the new Honor Magic V is 8.8mm thin when folded and 4.1mm open, so it's a touch thinner. But you can't buy that phone in the U.S.
In my hand, the Fold 7 feels slim and sleek, though the camera bump is bigger compared to the Z Fold 6.
Despite slimming down, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is designed to be tougher than its predecessor. It features a new Armor FlexHinge with a 'water droplet design' and 'multi-rail structure' for increased durability. In addition, the Fold 7 uses a grade 4 titanium lattice and 50% thicker ultra thin glass for the main display.
How about the front? The cover display uses Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for better protection from drops and scratches.
There's three main color options for the Z Fold 7, and two of them are boring. I'd skip over the Jet Black and Silver Shadow and go right for the bold and vibrant Blue Shadow.
Samsung has enlarged both the cover and main display for the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which is pretty impressive given that you're getting a more portable device.
The front display has grown from 6.3 to 6.5 inches, while the main display is now a whopping 8 inches. That's a pretty big jump from 7.6 inches on the Galaxy Z Fold 6.
I put the Z Fold 7 side by side with its predecessor, and I noticed a huge difference in real estate when watching the trailer for Superman. As the Man of Steel battled a fire breathing beast, the action just felt more immersive.
At the same time, the front display is taller and wider, so I felt less cramped when typing urls in Chrome. That's another foldable 'penalty' you used to have to pay with Samsung's devices.
As for the crease that can appear where the phone folds in half, it's still there in the main screen. It's just less noticeable than it was for the Z Fold 6.
One major downside (at least for some) is that the Galaxy Z Fold 7's display no longer supports S Pen input. That's likely due to the thinner design.
Finally, flagship-level cameras have graced the Galaxy Z Fold line. The Fold 7 packs a 200MP main sensor, a 10MP telephoto with 3x zoom and 12MP ultra wide (now with autofocus).
Samsung backs this all up with its improved ProVisual engine, which promises better image quality and especially video quality in low light. You can see a Fold 7 vs Fold 6 example below. And the Z Fold 7 now shoots in 10-bit HDR video by default.
I tried out the cameras briefly, and I was actually most impressed with the upgraded 10MP selfie camera. You now get a wider 100-degree field of view, vs 85 degrees on the Z Fold 6. So you can fit a lot more in the frame.
The main cameras seemed sharp enough in Samsung's hands-on area, especially when I shot a nearby wall with colorful graffiti. However, the max zoom seemed to be 30x. So you don't get the 100x Space Zoom that the Galaxy S25 Ultra supports.
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 offers all of the same Galaxy AI features as the Galaxy S25 series. But there's some welcome optimizations for this foldable's big screen, thanks to Samsung's One UI 8 software that runs on top of Android 16.
For example, when using the Generative AI feature I turned a cat into a fish eye lens illustration, I could see the before and after side by side.
Gemini also gives you more flexibility on the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Long press the side button and you can summon the assistant and put the AI result view anywhere on the screen. And because Gemini is multi-modal (unlike Siri) you can share your camera view and ask questions live about what you're seeing — like what kind of plant was in front of me.
Other noteworthy Galaxy AI features on the Fold 7 include the ability to use the popular Audio Eraser feature in more apps (like Voice Recorder and phone call recordings) and using Circle to Search while you're playing games to get timely tips when you're stuck.
Just as you'd expect for a phone that costs two grand, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. That's the same silicon Samsung uses in its Galaxy S25 phones, which regularly outpace other devices for CPU and GPU performance.
The benchmarks will have to come later, but I will say that the Fold 7 felt very fluid during my hands-on time with the device. I ran two apps side by side without any hiccups and also removed people from an image and got a stunningly realistic result in several seconds.
The good news is that the Galaxy Z Fold 7 battery is the same size as the Galaxy Z Fold 6's power pack at 4,400 mAh. That's pretty remarkable given how much thinner this foldable is than its predecessor.
The bad news is that we may not see much of a jump in endurance, although Samsung is promising 24 hours of video playback on a charge. That's an hour more than the Z Fold 6, so maybe the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip is eeking out some efficiencies there.
Once again the Z Fold 7 offers 25W charging, which is a bummer as I'd like to see 45W for a phone this pricey.
Samsung has made a statement with the Galaxy Z Fold 7. While it might not be the thinnest and lightest foldable in the world, it's darn close, and you'll immediately notice the difference when you pick up this foldable. It's staggeringly thin and light for a phone that unfurls to an 8-inch display.
Also staggering is the price. $2,000 is a lot of money to spend on a phone. But you are ostensibly getting an iPad mini-style tablet and flagship phone in one gadget — without feeling like you're lugging around two devices.
And Samsung has finally added flagship-quality cameras to the Fold 7, making the Ultra-premium a bit easier to swallow. For now, I'm super impressed with this design despite the price hike — so much so that I'd like to live with this as my everyday phone just to see what happens.Stay tuned for my full rated Galaxy Z Fold 7 review.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Verge
4 hours ago
- The Verge
OnePlus Nord 5 review: selfie-centric midranger
The OnePlus Nord 5 does exactly what the company's Nord phones have always done: deliver strong specs at a relatively low price. It's one of the more powerful phones at this price point and should easily outstrip Samsung and Google's more expensive alternatives. This is a function-over-form phone, one where the key selling points are a powerful processor and long battery life, which are the boring mainstays that tend to matter the most in midrange models like this. The problem for the Nord 5 is that other midrange phones in the markets where it's available — including Europe and India, but not the US — offer even faster chipsets and bigger batteries, leaving the new OnePlus phone a little stranded and reliant on an above-average selfie camera to help it stand out. 7 Verge Score Performance sits at the heart of the Nord 5 sales pitch. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 chipset was designed for more expensive phones than this, albeit when it launched a little over a year ago. Combined with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage in the base £399 / €449 (around $530) model, and 12GB RAM and 512GB storage for £100 / €100 (around $125) more, it offers potent specs for the price. That lends itself well to gaming, which explains why OnePlus has opted for a display that's big, bright, and fast: a 6.81-inch OLED panel with a 144Hz refresh rate. I'm still skeptical about such high refresh rates in phones — few games are ever going to break past 120fps anyway. OnePlus says it's repositioned the antennae to perform better when the phone's held in landscape mode for gaming, though manufacturers have been touting that sort of work for years. Battery is the other half of the performance equation, and the 5,200mAh capacity here is good, too. I spent my first week with the phone traveling (which is how I discovered one annoyance: there's no eSIM support), which is always demanding on power, and never felt much battery anxiety. It'll last a day comfortably, and about halfway into a second, but I think you'd struggle to make a full two days without a top-up. The 80W wired charging delivers a full charge in 45 minutes, including bypass charging that powers the phone directly, without overcharging the battery, if you wanted to keep it plugged in during long gaming sessions. The major concession to price is that there's no wireless charging. The problem is that for all that power, this isn't the most capable phone at this price point. The Poco F7 is slightly cheaper than the Nord 5 and comes with a better chipset, bigger battery, and faster charging. The OnePlus phone wins on refresh rate, but that's hardly enough to make up for being comfortably less powerful elsewhere, meaning the F7 is still likely to hit higher frame rates during demanding games. Anyone looking for gaming performance first and foremost will likely be drawn to the F7, so what can the Nord 5 offer elsewhere to make up the difference? The most unique element of the hardware is the Plus Key, a new button that replaces OnePlus' traditional Alert Slider. This is a customizable key that, by default, does the same thing the Alert Slider did — it lets you cycle between ring, vibrate, and silent modes. But it can also be set to open the camera, turn on the flashlight, take a screenshot, and more. It's not fully customizable, though, so you can't set it to open any app or trigger custom functions. The Plus Key can also be used to take a screenshot and add it to Mind Space, an AI tool that analyzes images to summarize them, create reminders, or generate calendar events. It's remarkably similar to Nothing's Essential Space, which does almost the same thing — also using a dedicated hardware key — but unlike Nothing's version, you can't add voice notes to give the AI more information, get summaries of longer audio recordings, or even open Mind Space itself using the Plus Key, so OnePlus' take on the software is more basic. There's little else to complain about on the software side. The Nord 5 ships running OxygenOS 15, based on Android 15, and will get a respectable (but certainly not category-leading) four years of major OS updates and six years of security support. One extra bonus is easy wireless file-sharing between the phone and a Windows PC, Mac, iPad, or iPhone, though you'll need to install the O Plus Connect software on the other device — and sadly, there's no support for the full Mac remote control found on the OnePlus Pad 3. OnePlus has made an unusual choice by prioritizing the phone's selfie camera, which features a 50-megapixel sensor that's larger than the average selfie cam. I'm not a natural selfie-taker, but the results are good and packed with detail. They're not markedly better than rivals in normal lighting, but that's because most phone cameras now handle daylight comfortably. The portrait mode is the only small weak point, struggling to separate the strands of my hair most of the time. But this camera comes into its own at night: the large sensor and fast f/2.0 aperture helping the Nord 5 to capture impressive detail in the dark, when most other selfie cameras fall apart. If you need a phone to capture you and your crew on nights out and at dimly lit dinners, this might be the one. The main 50-megapixel rear camera is good but not great. It struggles with fast-moving subjects like pets and kids, and you'll need a steady hand to get great shots at night, but that's all typical for phones at this price. Colors tend to be a little oversaturated and artificial from this lens; the 8-megapixel ultrawide is more subdued but loses much more detail in shadowy spots. The Nord 5 faces stiff competition on both sides. You could spend less for more power with the Poco F7 or spend £100 / €100 (around $125) more for Google's Pixel 9A for comfortably better cameras, tougher water resistance, and more years of software support. The Nord 5 isn't a bad phone. But it's unclear what its unique selling point is. OnePlus has leaned into power and performance, but it has been outplayed by Poco. The Pixel 9A, while more expensive, beats it on camera and design. Even its dedicated AI button is done better elsewhere, for less, in the Nothing Phone 3A. The Nord 5's best hope for finding an audience is its selfie camera, which is better than any other phone around it, at least in low light. But as selling points go, that feels like a minor one. Photography by Dominic Preston / The Verge Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It's impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit 'agree' to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don't read and definitely can't negotiate. To use the OnePlus Nord 5, you must agree to: There are many optional agreements. Here are just a few: Final tally: there are six mandatory agreements and at least 10 optional ones. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Dominic Preston Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Gadgets Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Mobile Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All OnePlus Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Phone Reviews Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Phones Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Reviews Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Tech


Forbes
4 hours ago
- Forbes
Samsung Makes New 5 Year Trade-In Offer To Galaxy Z Fold 7 Buyers
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 can be bought through Samsung's new trade-in scheme. Samsung Samsung wants to capitalize on its trade-in pricing supremacy with a standalone trade-in program that isn't directly linked to buying a new phone. But how do these static valuations compare to Samsung's recent deals? The new U.K.-based scheme is fairly straightforward. If you want to trade in your phone (it will only accept Galaxy S and Galaxy Z models at this time) without buying a new handset, you can do it through this portal. Samsung will then gift you store credit that lasts for up to five years and be used to buy anything Samsung sells. Forbes Samsung Makes $963 Offer To Galaxy Z Fold 7 Buyers By Janhoi McGregor There is also an option to trade-in and instantly buy a new device. Samsung will accept more brands through this route, including Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo, Sony, and other devices it doesn't normally accept. Typically, when trading-in to buy a new phone, Samsung will group any handsets not made by Apple, Google, or itself under a single 'any other Android' category, which comes with a single price, so this is a clear change of strategy. While we're on price, Samsung's valuations fall short of previous deals if you're swapping in a Samsung phone. The news is much better for Apple handsets, though. More on that shortly. For now, here's a selection of what the new trade-in scheme is offering for 512GB used phones. Forbes A New Samsung Galaxy S26 Design Upgrade Makes Perfect Sense By Janhoi McGregor Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 - £665 ($893.49) (up to £735 for the 1TB model) Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra - £453 ($608.65) Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 - £402 ($540.13) Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra - £340 ($456.82) Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra - £216 ($290.22) Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra - £181 ($243.19) Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max - £615 ($826.31) Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max - £455 ($611.34) Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max - £335 ($450.11) Google Pixel Fold - £290 ($389.64) Google Pixel 8 Pro - £256 ($343.96) Pixel 7 Pro - £110 ($147.80) The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 smartphone is displayed at a Samsung store in Seoul on July 10, 2025. ... More Samsung unveiled on July 9, the new generation of its foldable smartphone, the Z Fold7, dramatically slimmed down in an attempt to jumpstart this still-niche market. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP) (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images In a promotion last month, Samsung U.K. suddenly raised trade-in prices that competed with Samsung U.S. valuations. For the unaware, U.K. and European trade-in pricing has historically been poor. Instead, the Korean company prefers to bundle free hardware in its British promotions, like a free tablet, earbuds, or a chromebook. That changed in June with an offer that raised trade-in prices to the highest I have ever seen them on this side of the pond. Here's a selection of those prices up against Samsung's new trade-in scheme. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra June price: £581 ($784.06), new scheme price: £453 ($608.65) Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra June price: £449 ($449.39), new scheme price: £340 ($456.82) Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max, June price: £230 ($310.39), new scheme price: £335 ($450.11) Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max, June price: £500 ($674.75), new scheme price: £615 ($826.31) As you can see, the new scheme won't pay as much for some Samsung handsets, but it will pay more (than the last major promotion) for Apple phones. The new scheme's pricing also appears to be based on the current pre-order deal for the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which makes me wonder if Samsung's valuations—for this scheme—will change based on whatever offer the company is running that day. If they broadly stay as they are, this is a solid good option for people looking to lock in a decent trade-in price to use later (as store credit). That's important because these valuations do change as the phones age and lose software support, which was the case with the Galaxy S20 Ultra earlier this year. But always check if Samsung is running a promotion on its site, or the Samsung Shop app, because there's a decent chance you will find a better price for your used phone.


Android Authority
7 hours ago
- Android Authority
Samsung DeX is taking a step back with One UI 8, and I don't like it (yet)
Zac Kew-Denniss / Android Authority Samsung DeX has been around for eight years, and for many, it's become a core part of the Samsung experience. DeX gives us the ability to turn our Samsung phones and tablets into ultra-portable laptop replacements, provided all you need is Android apps and a browser. While DeX has gained plenty of features since its introduction, it's still fundamentally the same as it was in 2017. That's changing with One UI 8, though, as Samsung has rebuilt DeX upon Android 16's desktop mode. There's potential for greatness here, but Samsung has had to take a significant step backwards to prepare for a leap forward, and the DeX experience is lacking features and stability. Are you looking forward to the new DeX? 0 votes Yes NaN % No NaN % Performance Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority While One UI 8 is stable on the Z Fold and Flip 7, it's still a beta on my Galaxy S25, so that may contribute to some of the issues I'm experiencing. The first issue I'm facing is resolution. By default, DeX won't go higher than 1080p, with the MultiStar Good Lock module enabling higher resolutions. One UI 8 and the new DeX remove the 'I <3 Samsung DeX' menu from MultiStar and add the 'high resolution for external display' toggle to the main MultiStar menu. Unfortunately, it doesn't work when toggled, and my S25 won't let me go above a very fuzzy-looking 1080p. I double checked my HDMI cable and adapter with my S24 Ultra, in case they were at fault, but that phone, on One UI 7, worked in 1440p without issue. Performance in general is a problem. This shouldn't be surprising; Android 16's desktop mode, which this is based on, is nowhere close to finished and often crashes and freezes. This new version of DeX is better than the experience on Pixels, but not by much, and it's a far cry from the polished and smooth DeX we're used to. At one point, simply opening the display settings menu crashed my S25 and forced it to reboot. Missing features Zac Kew-Denniss / Android Authority As I mentioned in the last section, the 'I <3 Samsung DeX' menu was removed from MultiStar in One UI 8, and while the resolution toggle is available elsewhere, everything else in this menu is gone. The two missing Good Lock features I miss most are 'run many apps at same time' and the ability to change the delay for when the taskbar and header bar reappear when the mouse moves to the top or bottom. By default, DeX will only allow you to run five apps at a time on your external display. That isn't enough for me, and losing the toggle that removes that restriction severely limits how useful DeX can be. Likewise, I always found that the taskbar and header bar would come back too quickly if my mouse moved near those areas, so I always used the slider in One UI 7 and older (pictured above) to adjust that. Then again, that slider wouldn't be much use in the new version of DeX. Opening an app, game, or video in full-screen doesn't hide the taskbar or header bar at the moment. I'm hoping that's a bug rather than a deliberate choice, so we'll see if that changes in future updates. There's potential The bugginess and missing features are a necessary evil. Google's implementation of a desktop mode holds a lot of promise. Google already worked with Samsung to get it working, and a partnership between these two companies has often worked well in the past, especially the newer versions of WearOS, which borrowed heavily from Tizen. Samsung often makes great features that struggle to gain traction because convincing developers to adapt their apps to one group of phones is difficult. With Android 16 and beyond bringing desktop mode to the masses, there's more of an incentive for developers to get on board. We can't overstate how beneficial it is for Samsung to have Google, the company behind Android, on its side. Instead of doing all the work on its own and strapping DeX on top of Android, Samsung can now rely on Google to bake it in and contribute. With Google set to merge Chrome OS and Android into a single platform, a DeX built atop that could become the computer replacement we've dreamed of since 2017. Zac Kew-Denniss / Android Authority This new version of DeX is Samsung taking two steps back to set up a leap forward. But it could, and should, have been handled better. Samsung tablets already have two versions of DeX. Classic, which is being replaced by the One UI 8 version we're discussing here, and a 'New' DeX. The 'New' DeX on the Galaxy Tab series is a pared-down version that uses the regular Android launcher instead of a desktop and opens all apps in a window by default. Samsung should have taken this approach in One UI 8. Sure, the existence of 'New' Dex on the Tab series would have made naming complicated, but it would be better than the situation we find ourselves in. There are people out there who regularly use DeX for everything from media consumption on TVs to a work laptop replacement. There's a chance Samsung will work quickly and restore functionality before One UI 8 rolls out widely, but if that doesn't happen, the new version of DeX should've been an option, not a choice we've been denied. What do you think of the future of Samsung DeX? Does it look bright, or could this be the beginning of the end? Let us know in the comments.