I replaced my Galaxy S25 Ultra with Samsung Z Fold 7 – and didn’t regret it

Key takeaways of zdnet

• The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is an excellent upgrade on its predecessor, thanks to its thin and light design, a strong hinge and a broad coverscreen.
• This is very expensive at $ 2,000 for the initial configuration.
• But you will dig better hardware, especially if you are familiar with the foldable phone from the global market.

More Buying Choices

Galaxy jade fold 7 Samsung’s largest design overhall is overhaul since Z Guna 2 in 2020, and it is back with a blast. In the last three years, the Korean tech veteran did a slight refinement for each generation, resulting in a stale design. But the new Galaxy Z fold 7 captures its Chinese rivals at the end, even defeating them in many ways.

CNET Survey: 64% people say that foldable smartphone to ‘no thanks’

I have been using the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 for the last one week and are happy to say that Samsung has made hardware near some damn. You get an easy-to-hold form factor, virtually no crease, a cover screen that is close to a regular phone, a solid hinge, and the main camera similar to the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

These upgrade come with a cost, however. Guna 7 will set you back to two gorgeous, but if you have the money, this is the phone that I advise the most.

How did I test Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7

I spent 10 days with the Galaxy Z Fold 7, during which I had my SIM card for a week. I used the phone as I do normally, but with emphasizing new, most important features. I also took more photos and videos to see whether there were no significant differences.

Also: I changed 7 Samsung phone settings to immediately improve battery life.

The test involves using new Galaxy AI features in day to day life, such as running live translate friends, who speak many languages, highlight unwanted objects in my photos, and discover other practical methods, new phones can improve our lives. What works here and what not.

A (almost) correct physical form

The Galaxy Z fold 7 only 4.2 mm thinned when it surfaced and bent 8.9 mm. For reference, it is more than a few millimeters of 8.25 mm iPhone 16 Pro Max and 8.5 mm Pixel 9 Pro. Samsung has its own Galaxy S25 ultra measurement of 8.2 mm, while foldable Oppo has found the N5 8.93 mm thick.

In all, the Galaxy Z fold is just 0.1 mm thick compared to the 7 most thin book-style foldable, The Honor Magic V5. A body has been added with a body that is lighter than all of them at 215 grams, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is currently the lightest book-style foldable on the market.

Also: Oppo’s new foldable phone is one of the thinning that I have seen – and I hope to follow OnePlus and Samsung suit.

This thin and light design makes the Galaxy Z fold phone the most comfortable to hold yet – if you hold it in the right hand. If you are of the left hand, the kaj corner can dig into your palm, which was also an issue on the anterior. He said, I was of a right hand, and I find it more comfortable to use Galaxy S25 Ultra and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is also more durable than before. It has a strong gorilla glass Victus Ceramic 2 on the covered screen, Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the back and a Titanium plate layer instead of a carbon fiber sheet below the screen for added performance durability. In addition, you get dust and water resistance with IP48 ratings.

Apart from this: I took a walk with the new Mata’s new Okle smart glasses – they defeated my Ray -Ban in every way

Samsung also improved the cover screen. This is no longer correct on the narrow form factor, enables the 6.5-inch AMOLED screen with a 21: 9 aspect ratio, so apps make better conversations and play well with the whole slab feeling like a phone. It is bright enough to look out and has a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate and HDR10+ support similar to the inner display. Being able to text, scroll via social media, and browse the web on the Samsung cover screen, feel refreshed.

Full-screen trade-off, but crease has gone

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 has a broad folding screen compared to its predecessor. I have loved my experience on this fast and vivid panel, but it is not as immersive as before.

Samsung clung to an under-display camera (UDC) for years, which made reading, browsing and gaming experience better than any other foldable. Utility-wise, its quality was worse than the new punch-hole 10MP camera-and I will prefer a new setup for video calls any day-but I also remember the under-display camera. I hope it returns to the future with better quality.

Also: I used Huawei’s $ 3,600 tri-foldable, and it made every phone that I have ever felt old.

Once you admit that the camera is not going anywhere, you can appreciate the eight -inch Ltpo Amoled 2x panel of the Galaxy Z fold 7, with a 2x panel with support for HDR10+ and 120Hz dynamic refresh rate support. I love its vivid color and high-contrasting look. But as before, the inner display attracts more smell than the cover screen.

Coming into the best part of the folding screen, there is really no crease. Samsung’s new butterfly Kaj Tantra has successfully rejected it. In fact, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 has a minimum crease on any book-style folding phone that I have used. Oppo Paati N5 comes close, but in Vivo X Fold 5 and Honor Magic V3, there are slightly deep creases between the screen.

It is not that it matters when interacting with Big display, but low crease means more lighting position and a comfortable viewing experience in angles.

Kaj, also, is more premium than other foldables. If you are coming from one of the previous Z folds, then the Galaxy Z fold 7 will not be at 150 degrees excluding the 7 box, but it gets better because you use it. After a week’s use, my unit is no longer flat to about 135 degrees. I had a similar experience with Honor Magic V3, which also has a butterfly hinge.

If I had to choose between UDC and deep creases between a thematic fold 6 screens or 7 of 7 with less crease, then I would choose later.

I cannot indicate why the Galaxy Z fold 7 feels more premium than other foldables on the market, but it is probably a combination of many factors: thin and mild design, at least the crease and flat side that are not angranemic (in the right hand). It is a little difficult to reveal, but you will get used to it within the first 48 hours.

Samsung removed another feature on the Galaxy Z Fold 7: The S Pain, and I don’t remember it. I never used it on my fold 5 or fold 6 and if it helps dilute the phone, I have no objection to disappearing from a stylus that is to be stored in an external case.

Useful AI and in the end: a camera upgrade

Samsung’s new folding Android 16-based UI 8 runs, with the most complete suit of artificial intelligence characteristics in Samsung’s Galaxy AI. The phone runs smoothly, thanks to Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite SOC, paired with 12 GB or 16 GB RAM.

I was actually found useful in some AIs of the phone. For example, the AI selection facility allows you to click anything on your screen to take action. From transferring interview recording to remove unwanted objects in my photos, there are many useful AI devices that actually work.

Also: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra was almost unusable to me – until I downloaded this one app

Recently, OnePlus is coming from the phone, I think it can be benefited by displaying the same pop-up for on-call facilities like Samsung Transcribe and Translate. So far, you need to swipe and tap on live translate tiles from the quick panel to use the feature, which is not easy to use.

Samsung finally gave the same primary camera in the form of his flagship S-series phone. The main camera of the Galaxy Z Folds 7 Sports A 200MP, which is borrowed directly from the Galaxy S25 Ultra. It is accompanied by a modest 3x 10MP telephoto camera and a 12MP ultravide-angle lens.

This camera system produces live -looking shots in most of the scenarios. I recommend to shoot most of the photos in 200MP mode, so you can harvest them later and still maintain details, because 3x tele lens is not the best.

I wish let Samsung users switch between the lenses in 200MP mode. So far, you get options for 1x, 4x, and 5x (you can zoom at any level from 1x to 5x) but to convert to ultravide, you need to switch to 12MP mode and then tap on 0.6X. This is a minor inconvenience that I have faced regularly in the last week.

Samsung has also improved the shutter speed, so the moving subjects have been captured better than before. The dynamic range remains very good, while the portrait mode still struggles with edge detection. Galaxy AI again comes into the game and gives you the most polish photoboper-removal tool.

Also: How earthquake alerts work on Android – and to make sure they are capable on your phone

Another cool feature for videographers: Audio eraser can now automatically find out what to tune and your gallery has a specified button. This made my voice a little robot, but it made good good to press the background noise.

Let’s talk about battery life

Unfortunately, Samsung did not upgrade the battery capacity on its new foldable. In fact, it has not increased the size of the battery in five generations; The Galaxy Z Fold 7 has the same battery in the Galaxy Z Fold 3. This means that you get a 4,400mAh cell, with a minor 25W wired charging and 15W support for wireless charging.

When I first saw this number on paper, I was worried that a wonderful hardware would be compromised with a suspicious decision, especially when competitive devices have 5,500mAh+ silicon-carbon battery.

Also: I replaced my Galaxy S25 Plus with S25 Age (and Samsung can do the same)

As it turns out, the Galaxy Z fold 7 is a full one day device for medium phone users (about 5-6 hours of daily screens over time). I am not affected by charging speed, though.

I usually do an average of about nine hours on my phone daily and I have to charge my Z fold every evening every evening for my evening social media scrolling. If you are a heavy phone user, then expect to plug your Z fold 7 after working day, or before your use includes too much navigation on 5G.

ZDNET purchase advice

Samsung improved with the weakest link of his book-style Galaxy jade fold 7 And the result is a close phone. I would prefer to have a large battery and a better zoom camera for this – Vivo X Fold 5 both have both – but Samsung’s foldable has American availability, long -term software support and a better user interface. In short, this is the most polish folding phone experience in my opinion.

However, this is not cheap. After the price of $ 100, Galaxy jade fold 7 Samsung has the most expensive fold, starting at $ 2,000. If you can spend that amount on the smartphone, you cannot do wrong with this phone. It is a generational leap over your predecessor, and if you can find a good exchange offer, I recommend upgrade from last year’s Z fold 6. If you are a professional professional or require a phone for productivity, then the Galaxy Z fold 7 should be on your radar.