My weekend with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7

Imagine my surprise when, out of the blue, my friend Florence Ion sends me a WhatsApp message that she is passing through Petaluma on her way to camping and hopes to drop her brand new Samsung Galaxy Fold 7 with me to use for the weekend. Granted that's not nearly enough time for a full review of a smartphone, but I quickly noticed a few key standouts with the device during my short time with it.

I'll cut right to the case. This foldable feels more like a regular phone in my pocket than any book-style I've used to date. It's slim and manageable, without sacrificing the latest tech and durability in its hinge and display. The screen crease on the inside, once a big deal for foldables, now barely shows up in daily use. Yes, the price is high and the now missing S Pen support is a huge bummer, but this phone really does push the foldable category forward in meaningful ways.

Book-style foldables have always had this reputation of being chunky and heavy, and for years that’s been true. But things have changed a lot in the past six years since the original Galaxy Fold. After just a weekend with the Z Fold 7, I can tell you this phone is as slim as everyone is going on about online. It’s hardly thicker than the USB-C port when unfolded which tells me we're near the limit of thinness.

The Z Fold 7 measures 8.9 millimeters thick when folded, not counting the camera bump, and that puts it right in the same ballpark as some of the candy bar phones I've spent time with this year. The S25 Ultra is 8.2 millimeters, the S24 Ultra is 8.6 millimeters, and even the Google Pixel 9a is 8.9 millimeters thin. What this says to me is foldables are finally in the same thinness ballpark as, let's say, some of the bulkier smartphones.

Weight-wise, it’s about 215 grams, which is close to the S25 Ultra’s 218 grams. It no longer feels like a different kind of phone in the pocket. Previous foldables always felt like bricks and you could tell right away they were different. That's not the case with the Z Fold 7.

The cover display remains quite tall, with a 21:9 ratio, but it’s more manageable than before. I found I could mostly operate it one-handed without much trouble, unlike other foldables like the Motorola Razr Ultra, which is way too tall when unfolded to use easily with one hand. The cover display is well protected by Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2, which which comes in handy when propping the phone glass-side down on rough surfaces while using the camera.

Inside, the display is a large and beautiful 8 inches. It’s bright with excellent colors, and I had no trouble using it outdoors in sunlight. The biggest noticeable change is how much the crease has started to become a non-issue. Honestly, it’s only noticeable when you first open the phone after pulling it out of the box, and quickly fades away during day-to-day use. The technology has matured to the point that the foldable crease really doesn’t matter anymore. Rumors point to that crease disappearing even further with next year's crop of phones so cross your fingers on that one.

One thing that struck me is the hinge. Samsung managed to shrink it down to make the phone even narrower and it’s a really solid, durable hinge. This also makes the phone tough to open if you don’t have a case. The sides are so narrow now that my fingers have less surface area to grip and lift the phone open. The hinge does its job holding things tight, but I found myself occasionally worried I’d drop the phone trying to open it. I prefer a durable hinge, but I would have liked the convenience of a little notch or easier spot to pinch into in order to pry it open.

Performance-wise, the phone flies thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. With seven years of promised updates, combined with that powerful processor, this phone should definitely last you a long time if you choose not to upgrade each year. For $2000, you just might want to keep it for a while, and the update promise makes that far more tenable. Samsung’s trade-in values remain great too, so it’s pretty tempting to keep upgrading, but if you resist that, the Z Fold 7 is built to stay relevant for years.

I didn’t dive deep into the camera system during my short time with this phone, but I did shoot with the updated 200-megapixel ultra-wide camera. That’s probably the biggest camera upgrade this year. It delivers a lot of extra detail, which is often sacrificed in ultra-wide lenses on other phones to cut costs. So I’m happy about that and curious to explore the camera more with more time.

At around $2,000, this is the most expensive Z Fold yet. Also, there’s no longer S Pen support which is incredibly disappointing for stylus fans, but that thinness doesn't come out of thin air! I do hope prices come down over time on these types of foldables, but that trend doesn’t seem to be materializing right now.

All in all, I’m glad I got to spend some time with the phone. It feels like foldables are getting closer to being everyday devices instead of niche gadgets. Be sure top keep your eyes open here on the site as well as an upcoming episode of the podcast for Florence Ion's full review!