The Galaxy Z Flip 7 will definitely steal the hearts of fashion lovers with its flawless design and bigger screen. But with the same old camera and a high price tag, is it actually worth buying?
Design
Samsung has been focusing on making its phones lighter and thinner for a while now, and we saw this in the S26 Ultra and Z Fold 7 too. Now, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 is 1 millimeter thinner and 1 gram lighter than its predecessor. It might not seem like a big change on paper, but you’ll feel it in everyday use.
The color palette has also become more attractive. You can get the Galaxy Z Flip 7 in four colors: Blue Shadow, Coralred, Mint, and Jetblack. Just keep in mind that you can only buy the Mint model from Samsung’s website.
When you receive the phone and open the box, you won’t see anything special inside. You get a USB-C cable, a SIM ejector tool, and some papers that nobody reads. There’s no charger, no screen protector, and no case.
Display
The biggest change in the Galaxy Z Flip 7 is the outer display, or the Flex Window. Now, when closed, the secondary display is 4.1 inches and covers almost the entire panel, and its refresh rate has gone from 60Hz to 120Hz. When open, it has a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X main display with a 120Hz refresh rate and an impressive brightness of 2600 nits. Its aspect ratio has also changed from 22:9 to 21:9, so it looks less like a TV remote now.
As for the sound, it has less bass and lower volume compared to phones like the S25 Ultra or iPhone 16 Pro, but it’s slightly better at sound separation than the older model.
Camera
The camera hardware hasn’t changed, and you get the Galaxy Z Flip 7 with the same 50MP main and 12MP ultrawide cameras that deliver a satisfactory performance. However, compared to the Z Flip 6, you won’t see any massive improvement, and the differences are very minor. Given how slow Samsung is at upgrading the cameras on the Flip series, this phone is still quite far behind the market flagships.
Thanks to the larger outer display of the Z Flip 7, taking selfies with the main camera is more enjoyable than ever, and the Flex Window practically eliminates the need to use the 10MP selfie camera in many scenarios.
Video recording hasn’t changed compared to the last generation either. You can record in 4K resolution at 30/60fps with both the front and rear cameras, and I can say that compared to other competitors, it has more noise even in daylight.
Performance
This is the first time Samsung is using an Exynos chip in the Flip series instead of Snapdragon. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 uses Samsung’s Exynos 2500 chip and 12GB of RAM, which is significantly more powerful than the Z Flip 6’s chip with the same amount of RAM. It works really well for everyday use. It’s smooth, apps open quickly, and you won’t see any issues with overall performance.
In benchmarks, this chip doesn’t score highly compared to a flagship and isn’t very powerful. I think you’ll agree with me that we expect a more powerful processor for a phone we’re paying over a thousand dollars for.
Battery & Charging
Becoming thinner hasn’t resulted in a smaller battery capacity. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 is equipped with a 4300mAh battery, which is a nice bump up from the 4000mAh one on the older model.
In my tests, you can get around 18 hours of web browsing and 9 hours of YouTube playback. It definitely performs better than the previous model, and I’d say it holds a charge about 10 to 15 percent longer.
But unlike the battery capacity, the charging speed hasn’t changed at all. With 25W wired charging, it takes about an hour and a half for the phone to fully charge. In 30 minutes, it only hits around the 45 percent mark. And if you’re using the 15W wireless charging, you’re going to be waiting around three hours for a full charge.
OS & Updates
Right out of the box, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 runs on Android 16 and One UI 8, and Samsung is promising an impressive 7 years of OS updates, which is rare among its rivals.
Visually, One UI 8 isn’t a massive departure from One UI 7. I’d say that with a few minor tweaks, the interface just feels a bit more modern and actually a lot more like iOS. Also, up until now, Samsung DeX was only available for their standard phones and the Fold series. But now, they’ve finally brought their desktop software to the Z Flip 7, so you can go ahead and use it.
