Rating: 9/10
Foldables — the smartphone design shift that finally sparked excitement in a sea of slab phones. Initially, book-style foldables raised valid concerns about durability and practicality. But over the years, both the design and software have matured, making these devices more useful — and more usable — than ever before.
As someone who adopted foldables early and has been using them as a daily driver, I’ve long believed that the category has been on the right path. They’ve steadily improved, but there was always a caveat — be it the thickness, compromised cameras, or software hiccups. They felt futuristic, but not entirely finished.
That’s what makes the Galaxy Z Fold7 feel different. This is Samsung’s seventh-generation foldable, and for the first time, I didn’t feel like I was making a fundamental trade-off. Right from the first interaction, the Z Fold7 felt complete — not just a tech showcase, but a refined, well-rounded product that can comfortably replace both a phone and a tablet. In my case, it even takes over some of the tasks I’d normally rely on a laptop for — and yet, it doesn’t feel like I’m carrying all three.
This is the first foldable that genuinely feels like a complete device. But of course, the big question remains: how does it hold up in real-world use?
Galaxy Z Fold7 disappears in the pocket -- literally
You notice it the moment you pick it up. The Z Fold 7 is thin.Thinner than the Fold 6 by over 25%. Folded, it’s 8.9mm thick, and open, just 4.2mm. The whole package weighs 215 grams — lighter than both the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Galaxy S25 Ultra. And, if you can’t imagine the slim form factor – imagine this – the phone is as slim as an Rs 5 coin.
And yet, it doesn’t feel fragile. Samsung’s new Armour FlexHinge distributes stress more evenly, and the Armour Aluminium frame gives it a reassuring rigidity. Not only that, the added thickness to the Ultra Thin Glass makes the foldable screen feel more solid overall.
Over two weeks of regular use — tossing it in bags, sliding it in and out of jeans — I never once worried about it breaking. Despite being this thin, Samsung hasn’t compromised with important things like IP48 water and dust resistance rating.
One small gripe: the camera bump is thick enough that it rocks when you use it on a flat surface. But those are nitpicks. The Fold 7’s design finally crosses that invisible line from “novel” to “normal.”
A front and fold bigger displays add to the experience
The biggest update – apart from the new thin form factor – is the display size. The main screen grows to 8 inches this year from 7.6 inches on Z Fold6 and and Samsung has done something subtle but important — they’ve made the crease almost gone. If you’ve ever hesitated because of the crease, this is the time you should stop worrying about it.
The inside display is Dynamic AMOLED 2x with a resolution of 2184 x 1968 and supports dynamic refresh rates between 1Hz and 120Hz. It's immersive, especially when watching content or working on sheets. I found myself editing in Google Docs or reading long PDFs with more comfort than I ever could on a slab phone.
But that’s not the charming part here. The added screen state and a more rectangular screen is a gem for productivity work. You see more content at a time, and you get more space to do the split-screen work. And, this is why I mentioned that the Galaxy ZFold7 has managed to replace my phone, tablet and even laptops to an extent. This review has been written and published using the Z Fold7.
Let’s talk about the cover display. It’s now 6.5 inches (up from 6.3), with a 2520 x 1080 resolution. And, this also solves the biggest gripe users have always had with the Galaxy Z Fold – the narrow cover display. I used to love the slim form factor of the previous folds, but after using this wide cover display, I feel that this is a more welcome change here. Due to the regular aspect ratio, apps and games appear in regular size, and it makes the cover display far more usable than all other foldables from the company.
The displays are bright — 2,310 nits peak on the main panel — and colour accurate across the board. Simply put, both the cover and foldable display are one of the best you can find in a foldable phone.
Performance: A foldable powerhouse
The Galaxy Z Fold7 runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite paired with 12GB of RAM (16GB on the 1TB model), and it is a massive powerhouse. Being a foldable phone, multitasking is its forte — not just in theory but in practice.
My day usually looks like lots of research and finding news, interacting with people via Slack, WhatsApp, X, Instagram and other social media platforms. And, that’s not it, the web browser – Edge – usually has around 75 to 80 tabs open at a time. Or, you can say, I keep them open to get back to them.
While the performance is as good as Galaxy S25 Ultra, the added screen, more windows at a time result in better productivity and fun at the same time.
For instance, there are times I keep my Google Docs open in a small window, X open on one side for a post as a reference for the article and a Web browser to dig more details on the piece I am working on.
And then comes the gaming part. I usually play triple-A titles like CoD Mobile, Genshin Impact, BGMI, etc, along with some lightweight titles like Candy Crush and Subway Surfer. The performance is good, and I never noticed any throttling here. In fact, the thermals also stay in check without feeling uncomfortable holding the phone.
AI features: Galaxy AI meets Gemini
Samsung's Galaxy AI suite returns, but it’s Gemini Live that truly makes sense on a foldable. A long press of the side button launches a floating assistant window — it doesn't hijack your screen. You can chat, ask questions, or even share your screen and get context-aware help.
Gemini Live is always a welcome addition, and on Z Fold,7, it becomes even more useful due to its added screen size. I use it a lot to find a place in a picture or something in my fridge to cook something comforting.
There’s also generative photo editing — removing unwanted people, turning photos into comic art, or even running side-by-side before/after comparisons. The big screen makes this fun instead of frustrating.
Audio Eraser is now available not just in the Gallery app but in Voice Recorder and call transcripts too. I tested it on a noisy café recording, and it did a solid job of pulling my voice forward and dampening background chatter.
Camera: New for Z Fold7 with experience of Galaxy S25 Ultra
I have already done a detailed story on the Galaxy Z Fold7’s camera (Read here)
But, let me summarise the camera experience for you. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 marks a notable leap in foldable phone photography, thanks to its upgraded 200MP ISOCELL HP2 main camera—borrowed from the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Over several days of testing across New York City, the results reveal a dramatic improvement in detail, sharpness, and consistency compared to previous Fold models.
Daylight photos retain excellent dynamic range and neutral colour tones without artificial oversaturation. Samsung’s image processing has improved, with more natural skin tones and fewer HDR artefacts. The 200MP mode allows for incredibly detailed shots, especially useful for cropping or reframing, though the default 12MP binning still delivers great results.
Portrait mode sees better edge detection and more realistic blur. Low-light performance has been enhanced with faster focusing and improved noise handling. Night shots display deeper contrast and retain texture, though shadow recovery can still be hit-or-miss in extreme darkness.
The ultrawide and 3x telephoto lenses perform reliably during the day, but in dim environments, quality drops with visible noise and reduced dynamic range. The front camera and under-display inner selfie shooter are usable but still not flagship-grade.
Video capture is solid up to 8K 30fps, and the inclusion of Galaxy Log and manual video controls will appeal to enthusiasts. AI-based features like object eraser and new shadow removal tools work surprisingly well for quick edits.
Overall, the Fold7 camera system finally bridges the gap between Samsung’s flagships and foldables, offering serious photographers and casual users a much more capable, versatile shooting experience.
One UI 8 and Android 16: A tailored experience for big screen
Running on Android 16 with One UI 8, the Z Fold 7 takes full advantage of its format.
Circle to Search now works inside games and apps, Gemini Live supports screen sharing, and you can now drag-and-drop AI content directly across apps in multi-window mode. It’s a subtle but meaningful improvement in workflow.
The new Studio video editor feels like a real productivity feature, not a gimmick. It gives you layered video tracks, timeline editing, and transitions — almost like Final Cut Lite on your phone. And crucially, it only ships on the Fold 7 for now.
As always, Samsung promises seven years of updates, which brings peace of mind.
Battery: It’s small, but lasts long enough
Galaxy Z Fold7 has the 4400mAh battery with 25W fast charging, and on paper, it does feel underwhelming. And, it might not be as good as the Galaxy S25 Ultra – those extra mAhes come into play. But, the Galaxy Z Fold7 is well optimised and the Snapdragon 8 Elite is power efficient – just enough to not give users that battery worries – especially if you are looking at a full day of usage. With mixed usage of both front and foldable displays, the phone lasted for an entire day without raising my heart rate.
The 25W fast charging also manages to charge the phone from 0 to 100% in around 1 hourand 15 minutes. Which is not blazing fast, but not tortoise slow.
Should you buy it?
That’s a big question to ask. Samsung has been making Galaxy Z Fold phones for seven years now. Some devices saw iterative changes and updates, some saw bigger changes. For instance, the Galaxy Z Fold2 got a bigger cover display and improved inner display. The Galaxy Z Fold3 added to it by offering a better hinge mechanism and experience. The Galaxy Z Fold6 altered the hinge gap and made it more practical and more industrial with the sharp design language.
And, then comes the Galaxy Z Fold7 – it combines everything that Samsung has worked upon in the last seven years – put it up into a form factor that’s practical, slim and worthy of being called – a foldable phone that’s ready for the masses.
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 isn’t just the thinnest, lightest Fold yet — it’s the first one that feels ready for daily life without asterisks. The design is refined, the displays are a joy, performance is top-notch, and the AI tools — especially Gemini Live — feel like real value-adds.
The Rs 1,79,990 is not an ordinary price, and the battery could have been a little bigger here. But none of these feel like dealbreakers anymore. That’s a big shift, and for what it's worth, the battery life is good enough, too.
If you are looking for a cutting-edge foldable smartphone with the least amount of compromise, the Galaxy Z Fold7 checks most boxes.
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