I test mind-boggling 4mm thin Samsung phone that folds in HALF – & it has huge perk your posh iPhone is missing

The Irish Sun

7 days ago

THIS is it. Samsung has finally done it.
For years, phone makers have been trying to make foldable phones work. Well, I've been trying out the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 for a few weeks – and it actually delivers on the dream.
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The Sun's tech editor Sean Keach has been testing out the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
Credit: Sean Keach / The Sun
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At a glance, it just looks like a regular mobile
Credit: Sean Keach / The Sun
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But it folds out into a tablet in the blink of an eye
Credit: Sean Keach / The Sun
Foldable phones are meant to fit in your pocket like a regular mobile, and then fold out to give you a massive screen. The idea is that you get a phone and a tablet in one. But so far, the bulk of these devices have had a load of compromises. The main one? They're usually as thick as tree trunks.
Now Samsung has managed to slim down its latest foldable to just 4.2mm thick unfolded. It's shockingly thin. I reckon you could use it as a frisbee if it didn't start at £1,799.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, £1,799 or £75 a month
And even folded, it's just 8.9mm thick. That's only marginally beefier than the 8.25mm
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SAMSUNG GALAXY Z FOLD 7 DESIGN – THE LOOKS
If I was using this mobile on the tube, folded over into a smartphone, no one would look twice.
It looks just like a regular Samsung phone. There's a line down the side, but you'd ignore it as a design quirk.
At the same time, if I unfolded this and lay it out flat on the table, you'd think it was a tablet. There's no visible crease down the middle (unless you tilt it to a sharp angle). It just looks like a regular Samsung slate. You'd probably remark on the svelte side profile, but that's it.
And this is the magic to Samsung's new phone.
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It doesn't look like a rubbish version of a phone and a similarly dodgy tablet. This looks good no matter which way you're holding it.
I'm using the Blue Shadow colour option. It's eye-catching and I really like it – but you might prefer the safer Jetblack or Silver Shadow versions instead.
Sun's tech editor shows NEW 4mm thin folding Samsung – & teases 'flip iPhone' too
It also comes in a very fresh Mint option but you can only get that directly from Samsung.
There's not much else to note on the outside. There's a very prominent camera bump on the back, which is possibly the only disappointing design aspect – but there's no real way around it. If you want top pics, you need big sensors and lenses.
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The exterior smartphone-style screen is a 6.5-inch OLED panel with a 2,520 x 1080-pixel resolution. This is high-end stuff – no scrimping.
And inside you've got an enormous 8-inch OLED display with a 2,184 x 1,968-pixel resolution. Again, that's high-end tablet territory.
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Lay it down while closed and it's only marginally thicker than an iPhone
Credit: Sean Keach / The Sun
It's still dwarfed by full-size tablets, of course, but this puts it in iPad
Mini
territory. You're meant to use it for watching telly, or reading an ebook, or playing a video game.
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And when you're just texting or scrolling through Instagram, you'll be fine with the regular mobile display.
But ultimately, the choice is yours. Fold and unfold at will.
SAMSUNG GALAXY Z FOLD 7 PERFORMANCE & FEATURES – THE POWER AND PERKS
Alright, so it looks good – but does it work well?
Performance is a non-issue. It has a blisteringly fast Snapdragon 8 Elite processor made by US chip giant Qualcomm. Chuck whatever you like at it – browsing, gaming, the works.
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Computing speed hasn't been an issue on top-end phones for years now, and it's the same story with Samsung's latest mobile.
It comes with 256GB of storage as standard, but you can upgrade this.
And for memory – that's the active space for whatever you're doing in the moment – you get 12GB, with an option to pay for 16GB.
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The only thick part of the phone is the hefty rear camera array
Credit: Sean Keach / The Sun
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The 16GB is chucked in with 1TB of storage. So it's the storage space you're more likely to be paying for there, as the 12GB of memory will be plenty for most people.
Multi-tasking is no problem at all. And because you've got a tablet here, you actually can multitask.
You can have several apps open at once. Just drag and drop them from the tray into your desired position.
So you could have a YouTube video and your messaging app stacked on top of each other on the left, and a web browser taking up the full right-side of the screen.
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The cameras are impressive and taking stunning snaps
Credit: Sean Keach / The Sun
That's the sort of thing that simply isn't possible on a regular phone screen.
This phone is also running on Google's Android software (albeit skinned with Samsung's own look), so you get access to all of those perks too.
That means the vast array of apps on the Google Play Store, and Google's anti-malware protections.
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But you'll also bag access to Google's extremely powerful
Gemini
AI assistant.
SAMSUNG GALAXY Z FOLD 7 – THE KEY SPECS
Here's the list of specs you need to know about...
Cover display: 6.5 inches (2,520 x 1080 AMOLED)
Main display: 8 inches (2,184 x 1,968 AMOLED)
Weight: 215 grams
Main Camera: Wide (200MP) / Ultra-Wide (12MP) / Telephoto (10MP)
Front Cameras: 10MP / 10MP
Operating System: Android
Battery: 4,400mAh
Processor: Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite
Picture Credit: Samsung
I've used a load of AI chatbots and virtual helpers, and I've generally been most impressed by Gemini. I love my iPhone, but we've still yet to see the best version of Siri.
For instance, I've used Gemini as a
the voice
chat feature that lets you have a live conversation with it. It's a free tour guide in your pocket.
Gemini is powerful, easy to use, and keeps getting smarter. And you can access it at
lightning
speed just by holding down the lock button on the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Neat.
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If you've used an Android phone before then the whole Galaxy Z Fold 7 interface will feel very familiar. It's very customisable, works based off of apps, and is snappy and performant.
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When unfolded, the gadget is strikingly thin – at just over 4mm thickness
Credit: Sean Keach / The Sun
Battery life is great, all things considered. And by all things, I mean having two large and pixel-dense screens plus a phone body that's wafer thin.
Samsung has managed to stuff a fairly sizeable 4,400mAh battery inside this thing. You can easily get through a day with this device, which is all that matters.
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And finally, let's talk about the camera.
This mobile isn't just for show. The days of foldable phones being just a gimmick seem increasingly to be behind us.
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You only see the crease on the 8-inch AMOLED tablet display when you're viewing it at an off-angle
Credit: Sean Keach / The Sun
And that means Samsung has also fitted this mobile with a proper high-end camera that rivals the best.
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Or rather, five cameras. You've got a 10-megapixel one on the front, and another inside when the tablet opens up.
And on the back of the phone (usable in all views) is a series of three powerful shooters. That includes a 200-megapixel wide-angle camera, a 12-megapixel snapper for ultra-wide capture, and then a 10-megapixel telephoto lens for zoom.
The selfie cameras are fine and capture very respectable snaps.
Of course, the real
photography
comes from the rear camera array, which takes brilliant pics even in rubbish lighting conditions. The pics are sharp, detailed, and colour-accurate.
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And if you're into zooming (always fun!) then you can go right up to 30x.
Only 3x is optical zoom (so actual zoom from the camera lens) and then the rest is digital. So you will get a quality drop off the deeper you zoom in – but it's still pretty effective. You won't win any photography awards at 30x zoom, mind.
If there was one downside, it would be that I wish the optical zoom was higher – even at 5x. For a high-end smartphone, this feels like a slight misstep.
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When the phone is flipped open, you can take selfies using the rear camera while enjoying a face preview on the outside screen
Credit: Sean Keach / The Sun
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I should also note: there's a preview mode when you're snapping in tablet view. So as you're shooting pics, you can have them appear on the left half of the screen. So you can instantly see if your pic was rubbish and you need to go again.
And there's something called Cover Screen Preview.
So if you want to take a selfie with the main camera, you can spin the phone around and see your face on the exterior display.
Then you can
snap
yourself easily using that preview, while getting the full heft of the main camera array (which is also facing you, because you've got the phone flipped open as a tablet).
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The phone is very easy to open and close – and it's lightweight in the hand too
Credit: Sean Keach / The Sun
SAMSUNG GALAXY Z FOLD 7 PRICE – SHOULD YOU BUY IT?
It all sounds pretty dreamy, right? Well that's until you get to the checkout.
You come crashing down to
Earth
and realise you're about to spend £1,799 on a phone – or £1,899/£2,149 if you want 512GB or 1TB of storage.
Even without any mobile add-ons or interest, the base price divides up to £74.95 a month over two years.
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Even Apple's top iPhone can only be customised up to £1,599 (that's £66.62 a month). Of course, that doesn't fold.
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Samsung has managed to cram in a fairly large battery, so you'll get through a day of use without much bother
Credit: Sean Keach / The Sun
And there's not really anything as strikingly thin as this on the foldables market.
I've reviewed dozens of mobiles over the years, and it's rare that I'm shocked by a phone. This Samsung mobile wowed me.
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And everyone that I've let hold this thing has been impressed too. I haven't had a single person say: "What's the point?"
It's finally thin enough that people get it. It's clearly pocketable. The inner screen has an obvious use. The whole package makes sense.
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The only giveaway that this is a foldable phone is the gap on the side of the mobile
Credit: Sean Keach / The Sun
This is the bleeding edge of smartphone design, so it makes sense that it
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If you want a cheaper foldable, Samsung certainly has thriftier options. And rival gadget makers like Google and Huawei have very
nice
foldables too.
But it's impossible to deny that Samsung has crafted something very beautiful here, and it feels special.
I can't recommend this mobile to absolutely everyone. It's an expensive device that won't fit in with a lot of budgets.
If you're a gadget fan on the Android side of the mobile divide, I've got no doubt you'll love this. I think even Apple die-hards would struggle not to be impressed by Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7.
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And if this is just too expensive for you, feel safe in the knowledge that this tech will trickle down. Svelte foldables won't always cost mega
money
, but breakthroughs like this will always be pricy at first.
Samsung has achieved something brilliant here, and phone enthusiasts among you should (and undoubtedly will) consider buying one you've got the spare cash.
This device can very effectively replace both your phone and tablet. And so in some ways, that means the price isn't as intense as it might first seem. It's also something that the iPhone hasn't managed –
SAMSUNG GALAXY Z FOLD 7 – THE PROS AND CONS
Here's what you need to know...
Pros:
Thin enough to function as a phone and a tablet
Looks brilliant – a real showstopper
Powerful processor, great camera, and stunning displays
A multi-tasking powerhouse
Cons:
Very expensive for most people
Large camera bump
Optical zoom could be better
There are loads of times during a day where I'm using my phone and wish it had a tablet-sized screen, but I can't be bothered to pull my actual tablet out of my bag.
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This solves that issue with ease. And for some phone fans, that'll make the price feel bang on.
The Sun says:
A foldable phone to convert the doubters – Samsung has crafted an impossibly thin (and endlessly tempting) super-phone that comfortably doubles as a tablet. It's a top buy, if you can afford it.
4.5/5
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, £1,799 or £75 a month
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This is a brilliant example of how useful foldable phones can really be
Credit: Sean Keach / The Sun
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All prices in this article were correct at the time of writing, but may have since changed.
Always do your own research before making any purchase.