Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 review

Competition

The Galaxy Z Flip7 launches at $1100/€1200 which is no pocket change but it's about what you can expect for a brand-new high-end clamshell foldable. That segment isn't at all crowded and the latest Flip is essentially competing with a recent Razr, before you start making concessions and looking at older/lesser Flips (and Razrs).

So the Razr 60 Ultra (or Razr Ultra 2025 in North America) will get you a more powerful chipset, better battery life and much faster charging. A case could be made that the Razr has a better cover screen implementation (for everything except 2x zoom). And the Moto's photo and video quality is no worse than the Galaxy's. Plus it's a good deal cheaper already (at least in Europe). Hmm.

Of course if you want to save some cash, you could explore other options - say, a couple of Galaxies. The Z Flip7 FE and the Z Flip6 are more or less the same phone, so at first glance it's looking like the cheaper 6 is a better deal. With essentially the same camera system on all these Flips, and the largely irrelevant chipset specifics, the Z Flip7 is left with better battery life (over the Z Flip6, at least) and a larger cover display (that's not necessarily a lot more useful). Sure, the new one looks and feels cooler and Samsung is putting a price on that.

Motorola Razr 60 Ultra • Razr Ultra 2025 • Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 • Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 FE

Now, if you want a smartphone that looks and feels cool, Samsung has you covered in at least one different way - the S25 Edge. It won't bend in half, but it's as thin as they come, and has a touch better camera system than the Flip7's. And it's cheaper.

What does bend in half and retails for about Z Flip7 money is the Z Fold6. Admittedly, the Z Fold7 does bring a host of improvements, but they come at a significant premium and the previous generation has the fundamentals pretty well dialed in.

If you're approaching the Z Flip7 from a pocketability standpoint, you could also entertain a couple more trivial options that will likely be better than the Z Flip7 in many practical ways, but won't be quite as... visually appealing.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge • Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 • Google Pixel 9 Pro • Apple iPhone 16 Pro

Verdict

We didn't go in expecting dramatic changes and we didn't get those with the Galaxy Z Flip7. Perhaps the most notable development is in the physical appearance of the clamshell, and the slim body coupled with the new large cover screen make it that extra bit more of a looker than previous attempts. The fact that we've also gotten higher battery capacity and a meaningful improvement in endurance is also not to be overlooked.

Some of the Z Flip7's pros are as true now as they were true of the previous generation. One UI is about as feature-packed as there is and remains a key Galaxy selling point in every comparison despite, in this particular case, Samsung's continued refusal to unlock the full potential of the cover screen. The camera system may not exactly be top-cameraphone-grade, but it's pretty great for a clamshell.

Some of the Z Flip7's shortcomings aren't unique to it - whether it's the painfully slow charging that in one way or another is a problem for every Galaxy, or the high thermal throttling that comes with the form factor (or simply the high-end chipsets). We wouldn't call this making excuses, but rather establishing perspective.

In the end, the Galaxy Z Flip7 is an excellent clamshell foldable - but maybe not for everyone, and maybe not at its launch price.

Pros

• Stylish, sleek, compact body.
• Large and bright displays all around.
• Improved battery life compared to the previous generation.
• Feature-rich software with generally useful cover screen implementation and all the AI on board.
• Versatile camera system for the form factor.

Cons

• Glacial charging speeds.
• Cover screen could be even more functional.
• Heavy throttling under prolonged load.

Pricing

These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales.

256GB 12GB RAM	$ 600.01	£ 589.99
512GB 12GB RAM	$ 649.99	£ 637.35
Show all prices