[Review] Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 – Built for perfection, but nobody’s perfect.

The last time Samsung released their flagship with a number 7 in its name, it didn’t turn out well. Samsung Galaxy Note 7, despite came in beautiful design and was highly-promising before it went on sale, was a disastrous for such a big company like Samsung. 9 years later in July 2025, Samsung once again launched it’s 7th generation of a flagship device, now in foldable categories, and after spending almost 3 weeks with that device, I believe Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 has what it takes to be a worthy (and lucky?) number 7 for Samsung.

The Design

The thing with big companies like Samsung and Apple is not “if”, but “when”. After so long sticking with the same remote-control design for it’s foldable, many wonders if Samsung is actually capable of doing what China manufacturers have done with their foldable. Sleek, slim form factor with a powerful hardware inside. Now in Galaxy Z Fold7, Samsung has shown when they do it, they will do it well. In fact very well.

Galaxy Z Fold7 is one of the slimmest, thinnest and most solid foldable phone I have ever use to date. It’s barely thicker than a flagship slab phone, as in the photo below vs iPhone 14 Pro and VIVO X100 Pro. Not just that, it’s noticeably lightweight in hand, even lighter than Samsung own slab phone, the Galaxy S25 Ultra and as of now, at 217 gram, it is the lightest foldable phone ever.

The Hinge & the Crease

The hinge mechanism which Samsung called Armor FlexHinge is one of the most sturdiest hinge I have seen. It incorporates a multi-rail structure and advanced Armor Aluminum for enhanced durability. Samsung remains as the only foldable phone that can fold or unfold the phone at most of the angles, solidly.

To add to that, the Armor FlexHinge also reduced crease visibility on the inner display. Although as a foldable users for years, from one model to another model, I can say the concern towards the hinge is overhype. Many reviewers still talk about it, many people still ask about it, but trust me, you will ignore the crease after few days of using the phone. Be it during gaming, or even writing notes using the S-Pen, the crease never bother me.

Just that for now, the S-Pen is the one who will not bother me, forever..

Goodbye, S-Pen.

Samsung said, based on their market research, most of their users do not really need or use the S-Pen. I kinda agree, because I rarely pull out the S-Pen that comes with the official case of my Z Galaxy Fold6. However for me, S-Pen feature is one of the most unique thing for Galaxy Z Fold7, that differentiates it from many other foldables out there. Yes I know there isHonor Magic V5 that supports a Magic Pen, but the S-Pen offers more in terms of functionality, and precision.

I think it’s a miss opportunity for Samsung by ridding it completely. I don’t know how milimetres Samsung saved by removing the layer of digitizers, but I believe having a thicker device from 8.9mm to 9.9mm (just in case the digitizers add up to 1.0mm) is better than having device that has no difference with other brands.

A flagship camera, finally.

Luckily Samsung isn’t just match the other foldables in the form factor. It also match their camera performance. For the first time ever, we finally get a flagship camera specification on Galaxy foldable device, at least for the main camera. Samsung throw in the same 200MP ISOCELL HP2 sensor used in Galaxy S25 Ultra. The results are superb with accurate color reproduction, enough level of details although in some conditions, the photos tend to look a bit too soft.

The ultrawide camera also gets upgrade where it now supports autofocus, despite using the same hardware as Galaxy Z Fold6. The other upgrade in the camera segment is the inner selfie camera. Gone now the under-display camera (UDC) and Samsung replace it with the same 10MP SONY IMX374 camera, just like the one at the cover display, although the inner is a bit better with a wider field of view (FoV).

Let’s see some photo samples here.

Solid Performance, Impressive Cooling

Galaxy Z Fold is a flagship lineup, and the performance has never been a concern. Galaxy Z Fold7 continues the high standard, despite it comes in a thinner form factor. It still uses the same Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy which is clocked higher than any other Snapdragon 8 Elite on the market. Despite that, during my 3 weeks period of testing, torturing, maximizing (& enjoying) the raw power of this chipset, the phone never throttles. It feels warm in hand, but the temperature remains in early 40c maximum (it’s pretty hot here now in Malaysia though) as per reported by temperature readers from various apps.

To add to the solid performance, for the first time ever, someone with heavy wallet can enjoy a 16GB of RAM inside Samsung Galaxy Z Fold device. Just that you need to opt for the 1TB model, that cost a hefty RM9,899 here in Malaysia. For the rest, it’s the same 12GB RAM, which to be fair, is good enough for most of us here.

The Same Not-so-big Battery

Samsung once again, refuse to use the China’s silicon carbon battery technology. So consumer once again have to live with the same 4400mAh battery in the largest inner screen for a Galaxy Fold (8-inches vs 7.6-inches in Galaxy Fold6). It is reported that a Google engineer said the lifespan for silicon carbon battery is significantly shorter than the lithium polymer battery, so this might be one of the reason why Samsung decides to stick to the same technology. Although to be fair, assisted by the more efficient processor, the battery life in Galaxy Z Fold7 is nicely optimized, and in my daily usage of testing, it can last till the night. So it doesn’t change my charging habit at all.

The thing with big companies like Samsung and Apple is not “if”, but “when”.

As I mentioned earlier, the matter with this big company is not “if”, but “when”. So maybe Samsung will upgrade once the technology is more matured (or when consumer start backlash or their engineering employees got retrenched).

Conclusion

Samsung has come a long way with the Galaxy Z Fold7. The company took I’m sure the not-so-easy decision in removing the S-Pen, just to ensure the rest of the aspects match or even better than the other foldables. Galaxy Z Fold7 comes in a very slim and lightweight form factor, simple and professional design, powerful performance and a matured UI. Yes it’s pricier than most of the other foldables out there, but this is Samsung we talked about. They are not afraid to play with the prices, because they know they will still do well. Just I hope the rest of other brands won’t follow the same strategy when pricing their products.