I spent a week with Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7, and this is a bigger jump than expectation

Key takeaways of zdnet

• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 has officially launched with an initial price of $ 1,099
• With a large cover screen, thinner form factor and better battery life, it is the best of Samsung that takes on foldable yet
• To better compete better in the foldable market, it can use a better camera system and rapid charging.

The Galaxy Z Flip Lineup has been the most popular among Samsung’s foldable devices, and its appeal is clear-which cannot benefit from a device with all functionalities of a regular smartphone that can also be shaped in a small phone for everyday use?

With its latest addition to the lineup, Galaxy Z Flip 7The Samsung bowed to the most attractive feature of the phone, making it even more portable with a slimmer design, while power users and everyday users are more capable than the intention of improving the user experience.

Also: 24 hours later with Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Why am I leaving S25 Ultra behind

However, at $ 1,099, Z Flip 7 is still in the high price range of the phone. To determine whether it is worth your money, I replaced my daily driver, an iPhone 16 Pro, with Z Flip 7 for the entire weekend – the results surprised me pleasant. Let’s dive into the right.

Flexwindo refresh we are waiting

The most visible, and perhaps anticipated, the change is flaxwindo (external screen). The screen is now big, extending from one corner of the phone to another, barely visible with bezels – a big upgrade from its predecessor, as seen in the picture above. Not only is it the most aesthetically appealing to see, Moto Razra 60 is available as Ultra, but it is also more practical.

4.1-inch Flexwindo is bright, with a peak of 2,600 notes and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. It also has a visionboster, a feature that increases external visibility, making it the highest and highest-functional flaxwindo yet. When using Z Flip 7 on the outdoor walk, I was able to see the screen without any real stress, even beating down on my phone with NYC Sun and reflecting the footpath and every bright building in the city.

Also: iOS 26 Envy? 5 iPhone features you can already use on your Android (Samsung included)

So, why does it make a win? To get more than only apathy from chlameshell design, you need to be able to use the external screen for basic functions, and the larger screen and the faster the fastest rate makes it attractive to woo it to open your phone.

Within the first 24 hours of using the phone, I found myself to use the cover screen, such as taking photos, looking information and even more information with previous models to do basic functions such as. This is likely on older models, limited screen size and low smooth fresh rates were not really enticing to prevent me from opening the phone.

After a full weekend, I saw that I was leaning so much on the cover screen that it really separated me from my specific, not ideal, from the habits of phone use. These are accidentally involved on social media, when I go to see a notification, which I got a big win.

Of course, you can work with a good lock app and add social media apps to your cover screen, and with a large screen, and you can be able to really get a good experience. He said, if you want a full-on-app experience on the cover screen, even if you enable it through a good lock, the functionality is limited and possibly you will need to open your phone.

One thing was useful for the cover screen, reaching the latest AI features, which takes me to the next section.

Easy AI Access

If you care about AI on your mobile device, this cover screen makes it easy to get immediate help without opening your phone. Mithun Live is now accessible on the cover screen, whether it is through a long press of side button or through the app. This can quickly answer questions for you or access the apps that take action for you, such as making notes or adding a calendar event.

If you often use multimodal AI aid, as I do, you will be happy to know that now you can share the camera right with your flexwindo – which means that you pursue your phone and use camera to get multimodal gemini aid from Mithun Live.

Now, instead of proposing to your iPhone 16 Pro on a water bottle or other items to avail multimodal aid, I can just open the phone and set it to the nearest surface to ask a question. It becomes easier to take photos or watch videos in a chlameshell design, which unlock you usually unlock many experiences with a standard brick phone.

Also: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 Fe Hands-on: ‘Cheap’ foldable phone made me very confused

You can also use a personal now bar and now a feature limited to the first, Galaxy S25 Ultra from the cover screen. This makes it easier to achieve a quick timber of personal insight, such as the weather, summary of the event, summary and news. Beyond these, a UI 8 brings other assistant AI features such as better photos and audio editing.

Additionally, the purchase of Galaxy Z fold 7 or Flip 7 will also come up with six months of Google AI Pro, which retails for $ 19.99 a month. The scheme gives you access to some of Google’s most advanced AI Prasad, including Google’s most capable model, Gemini 2.5 Pro; Flow, Google’s AI film production tool is made with VO3 Fast, which makes hyper-e-artistic videos; More.

If you are older in AI or want to try it, it is clearly a good way to reach some of the latest features.

More power in a slimmer package

Flip 7 is slim, coming at 13.7 mm thick compared to the previous year’s 14.9 mm. While the difference in measurement may take minimal, it is visually less chunky, as seen in the image below. This makes it more comfortable to slip into your pocket, reduces the uncomfortable feeling of having two small phones over each other.

Even though it is a slimmer, Samsung did not compromise on major components, including a 6.9 -inch internal performance compared to a 6.7 -inch screen on the Galaxy Z Flip 6, and a large 4,300mAh battery (above 4,000mAh) that can handle the video playback for time for 31 hours, according to Samsung.

Also: Your Android phone and Watch are getting a major upgrade for free – Samsung models include free

During my daily use, I have no issue with being final all day. In fact, I am finishing my days with too much juice, as I am usually hovering around a 30% mark. In the part, I characterize the extended battery life to the fact that, as mentioned above, I was spending much less time on my phone because the cover screen told me what I needed to know. A warning with the battery is how long it takes to charge me; Waiting for 25 W wired charging is as painful as watching the boil of water.

Instead of the expected Snapdragon 8 Elite, Z Flip 7 is powered by an exinos 2500, the first 3Nm in-house processor, which was released only last month. The difference of performance between the two chipsets should not be noticeable, besides the in-house processor, other than other new experiences such as dex support on other experiences such as Z Flip enables new experiences, allowing users to plug their phone into a monitor and use it like a desktop computer.

Back to screen: When I first heard about the increase in the screen, compared to other glasses, it drowned out of noise. However, after using it for a weekend and scrolling on social media, although less than normal, I remembered how much I really enjoyed using the phone with a big screen.

Usually, which shuts me out of a large screen model, it has a bulkier device to move around-so I bought 6.3-inch iPhone 16 Pro vs 6.9-inch iPhone 16 Pro Max. With Z Flip 7, I was able to avail the 6.9 -inch screen for my ticket scroll, while most of the time was using a 4.1 -inch phone.

Also: I spent a week in New York City with Samsung Z. Fold 7 – and it spoiled me a big time.

It is the same camera specs as last year, with a 50mp wide-angle and 12MP ultravide sensor. In last year’s Z Flip 6, this camera system was a major boost from Z Flip 5, and ZDNET found that when it did not offer a flagship-tier performance, it was still a competent system, which was well excellent in a state of light and produced vibrant, wide photos.

Samsung has also claimed to upgrade to image processing, including enhanced nightography and 10-bit HDR for more detailed videos, promoting and separating the quality of the camera from the preceding models. I took many pictures at the end of this week, were satisfied with my walk, works, hangouts, and more, and the results. Below are some pictures that I have taken in different light situations and settings so that you can take a look for yourself.

ZDNET purchase advice

I really enjoyed my experience Samsung Galaxy Flip 7Overall, Samsung upgraded the glasses of Z Flip 7 in almost every way, addressing the complaints of most users about the preceding and made it a strong competitor in the flip phone market.

You can now order your order for the initial price of you $ 1,099 (Now with a discount of $ 50), and many publicity and offers are already active. Colors include coralrade, jetblack, blue shadow and online-exclusive mint and storage size, and storage sizes are 512GB from 256GB.

Also: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 vs Motorola Razra Ultra: I tested both foldables, and here is the winner.

If you are a power user who can benefit from a better camera system and get more than your cover screen with better refresh rates, peak brightness and more app interoperability, then you can consider Motorola Razra Ultra. However, it begins with a high premium of $ 1,300. For more information about how they compare, read here of ZDNET.

You can put my latest stories and technical adventures on social media. Follow me on Twitter/X @sabrinaa_ortiz And on Instagram @sabrinaa.ortiz,