Plus, the Galaxy Z Flip FE makes its official debut, although it's not what you'd call affordable.
For those who would prefer the flip phone aesthetic to face the harrowing parts of life, there's the Galaxy Z Flip 7. This is Samsung's seventh-generation flip-style foldable, and it's significantly better in all sorts of ways. The Z Flip 7 features a larger cover screen and a larger internal display. And, DeX fans can rejoice, because the little flip phone that could can now be plugged into a monitor to support a full-blown desktop mode.
Samsung also used its Unpacked event to announce a "fan edition" of its folding flip phone. The device is called the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE. It is a decidedly different experience from the regular Z Flip 7, however, and for the starting price, it doesn't seem like a foldable worth wielding.
The Galaxy Z Flip 7 features a 4.1-inch Super AMOLED display on the front, known as the Flex Window. It's increased in size from the last generation's 3.4-inch display, and Samsung has upgraded it to a 120Hz refresh rate. It made taking pictures of the device difficult, sure, but it does look good in person. The Z Flip 7 can also now officially proclaim it has a bigger cover window than any of the new Moto Razr flippables. The inside display of the Z Flip 7 is a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED with a 21:9 aspect ratio, up from 6.7 inches. That's about on par with Moto's Razr lineup.
Unlike the Z Fold 7, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 runs Samsung's homemade Exynos 2500 processor. It's available with 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of internal storage. Samsung also introduced DeX capability to the device for the first time. I've never used it powered by an Exynos processor, so it'll be interesting to see the experience of desktop mode coming out of a device that folds up compactly.
The Z Flip 7 in its various stages of fold. Image: Florence Ion / Android Faithful
The camera hardware still features a 50-MP sensor, albeit with the requisite improvements that come with every new iteration. The front-facing camera on the inside of the device has been upgraded to a 10-MP sensor, similar to the one found on the Z Fold 7. However, the ultra-wide sensor in the "rear" camera configuration is the one to use for shooting selfies with a group of friends, as it has a 123-degree field of view.
The battery receives the most significant upgrade on the Z Flip 7. It features a 4,300mAh battery, an increase from the 4,000mAh battery in the Z Flip 6. Samsung promises 31 hours of video playback time on a single charge.
The Galaxy Z Flip 7 starts at $1,100. It comes in Jet Black, Blue Shadow, and Coral Red, which appears strikingly bright in person. It's available for pre-order now and will launch on July 25.
Want to save $200 on a foldable that's a glimpse of the Z Flip 7? That would be the Z Flip 7 FE. It comes only in black and white color options, which Samsung said is meant to exhibit a "minimalist" look. Like most fan edition smartphones that Samsung has launched, the Z Flip 7 FE has all the hallmarks of what makes it a flip phone: a 6.7-inch display, a 3.4-inch Super AMOLED cover screen, and the signature dual rear camera system featuring a 50-MP camera and a 12-MP ultra-wide camera.
The specifications are dialed down, however. The Exynos 2400 SoC powers the device, along with 8GB of memory and up to 256GB of internal storage. The battery is 4,000mAh, which is approximately the same as last year's Z Flip 6.
The Z Flip 7 FE is a fun little device to handle and flip open and closed. However, that price makes me skeptical that it's the "fan edition" of the device. I understand that it's $200 less, but it only comes with 8GB of RAM. That's a mid-range specification, not something that proclaims itself the edition for fans!
The Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE starts at $900. Like the rest of the lineup, you can pre-order it now.
