I’ve been buying Samsung foldables for years, but the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the first one that, as a reviewer, I managed to fit in my pocket. all year duration. And after all that time, I have a lot of ideas about where Samsung fell short, what it did right, and what worries me about the Galaxy Z Fold 8.
Galaxy Z Fold 7, one year later
The best: This hardware stood the test of time, with only a couple of scars
Frankly, the entire appeal of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 was the hardware. Samsung finally caught up to the rest of the market, offering a much slimmer foldable phone that delivered the experience we were looking for all along: a fairly normal phone that opens up to reveal a larger canvas.
And, truly, they achieved it.
I’ve tested almost every other foldable device released over the past year (Oppo Find N6, Honor Magic V6, Motorola Razr Fold, etc.) and the Fold 7 is in general My favorite hardware of the bunch. In addition to the ineffable charm of Samsung’s industrial design, it feels better in my hand. However, that is a personal opinion and everyone will have slightly different opinions here. I can fully acknowledge the shortcomings, like the lack of grip when opening the screen or that horrible camera bump that makes it impossible to use this on a table without sending alerts in Morse code. But I think it’s hard to ignore how well Samsung did here.
It also aged well. I’ve been using Galaxy Z Fold 7 for a year and never applied a case in all that time, just a case on the back and a screen protector on the front screen. There are a couple of scratches on the chassis, which happened for many people even without falls it seems, but for the most part it has gone unnoticed for the past year. The interior screen is also in good condition, no bubbles on the screen protector or anything.
Bad: It’s like a hand warmer in your pocket.
Heat is something complicated in folding ones. Whatever happens, physics just doesn’t agree with this form factor, especially with how thin it has become. Samsung is not alone here, but oh man Does the Galaxy Z Fold 7 get hot?
Even with light use, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 gets quite warm. Most of the time, it doesn’t. overheatbut it’s quite jarring to grasp. This has been even more true this summer, as temperatures in North Carolina have been consistently in the 90s, approaching or exceeding 100 degrees (F) quite frequently. Through that, the Fold 7 has been running incredibly hot, especially on days when I try to use it outdoors during a round of disc golf in that heat.
Once again, you are not alone. Razr Fold, Honor Magic V6, Oppo Find N6 all get hot too. But the Fold tends to heat up faster with daily use, regardless of the ambient temperature. It’s something I’d love to see Samsung work on, even if it means adding a millimeter somewhere.
Good: Folding tallboy pickaxe
As far as the design goes, I think it’s as good as we can expect a “tall” foldable to be. It’s thin enough to function as a regular phone, the outer screen’s aspect ratio is completely usable in apps and typing, and the inner screen is solid too.
You simply couldn’t ask for anything better here, and that’s why it seems like wide foldings are the logical “what’s next.” This form factor is great for browsing the web and opening a larger canvas for apps, but split-screen multitasking often feels a bit cramped and media doesn’t benefit from this larger size either. Broader devices will open up (of course, why not, pun intended) with foldables to a new audience and new use cases. That’s why I’m glad Samsung opted for a split configuration where you get one of each form factor.
Bad: The cameras simply cannot be called “Ultra”
Let’s be real here. The cameras on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 aren’t very good, especially for a $2,000 smartphone. The 200MP main sensor is perfectly acceptable, but it doesn’t have much depth in shots and often feels lifeless. It is true that phones like the Oppo Find X9 Ultrawhich basically runs through everything else, but Samsung’s cameras here don’t even hold up that well in the foldable market. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold has Google’s usual consistency, the Oppo Find N6 and Honor Magic V6 pack impressive hardware into slim designs, and even the Motorola Razr Fold is a lot Better than the Fold 7 in basically every way.
I’ve gotten some good shots with the Fold 7 in a pinch (see below for a gallery of shots I’ve taken over the past year), but it’s never the first device I grab to capture a scene.
I’m lucky enough to have several phones with two hands at any given time at this job, which gives me the opportunity to carry a better camera along with the Fold 7. If I weren’t in that position, I’d have a harder time living with what Samsung is offering here.
And it’s not really getting better.
Galaxy Z Fold 8, the wide one, will have a worse main camera and will not have a 3x telephoto lens. Meanwhile, Samsung is launching the exact same camera setup on the “Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra,” albeit with a better ultra-wide shooter, and that’s completely ridiculous, at least assuming the leaks turn out to be true.
Good: One UI continues to refine its rough edges
Software-wise, Samsung’s One UI is in a pretty good place.
Samsung’s skin on Android 16 is still pretty heavy, but it’s packed with features and feels better thought out than in previous years. And while Samsung is slowly making its way into Liquid Glass territory (boo), it’s also being good about supporting the Fold’s internal display. In One UI 8.5, for example, Samsung modified the notification tray to slide down depending on where your finger was on the screen. It’s something that Google did in previous versions of Android for tablets, and that Samsung reintroduced in its latest generation of Galaxy tablets last year. It has its quirks on the Fold 7, but I’m glad to see it.
Worst: Battery life is atrocious
Without a doubt, the worst thing about the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is its battery life.
Everything else I’ve talked about here isn’t a big deal in daily use, but the Galaxy Z Fold 7’s battery life is just miserable. Even at times when it’s used as a second phone just for Android Auto, my smartwatch, and the occasional message or phone call, it still drains most of its battery in a day. When it’s my primary device, I’m lucky to go to sleep with more than 10% battery left. I carry battery banks with this constantly because it causes more battery anxiety than any other smartphone I’ve used in recent years.
and it is it only got worse with One UI 8.5also.
Samsung needs to fix this, and yet…
This is what worries me most about the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series. Samsung is It finally offers larger 4,800 mAh (Wide) and 5,000 mAh (Ultra) batteries, but that doesn’t seem like enough. Not when even the Motorola Razr Fold has a 6,000mAh battery that powers my Fold 7. It’s also a problem considering that it looks like the Fold 8’s chipset will be a full-powered version, rather than the slightly toned down one on the Fold 7. That’s a recipe for mediocre battery life at best, and no improvement at worst.
Bonus: What I wouldn’t give for Qi2 magnets
As a final note, I think the biggest problem I’m seeing with Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8, at least in terms of my personal use, is the continued ignorance about the built-in Qi2 magnets.
I get it, slim phones make it difficult to include. But the biggest modification I made to the Fold 7 was putting in a cheap little magnetic ring, and it was a enormous improvement of quality of life. Yes, you’ll be able to do this with a case, but I’m actually a little less inclined to use a case with foldables. It just doesn’t feel right and as I mentioned, I will never tell anyone to own one of these devices without having insurance. If you’re already paying for insurance and aren’t particularly accident prone, I’m all for no cases.
Either way, I really hope this happens next time. It’s ridiculous to me that Samsung has continued to ignore Qi2 magnets until now, and the Fold 8 will be the last time I buy a new Samsung device without built-in Qi2; If this continues for another year, it is simply unacceptable.
So what’s next?
A year with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 has really solidified my feelings about foldable devices. I will always have one of these in my pocket and they just keep getting better. But despite the huge step forward that the Fold 7 was over previous generations, all this time has really shown me how much room for improvement there is, especially compared to what Oppo, Honor and Motorola are releasing.
And that brings us to what’s next.
Samsung is set to launch its new Galaxy Z Fold 8 series this week, consisting of the “Fold 8 Ultra” as a direct replacement for the Galaxy Z Fold 7, and the Fold 8, which adopts a new, larger form factor that is preparing to do battle. with the first foldable iPhone. I’m still very There’s a lot of uncertainty between these two, but I’m certainly leaning toward the new shape just to try something new and because I think the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra could be a bit of a cruel joke.
But, with both, I’m concerned that Samsung hasn’t addressed any of the “bads” I’ve talked about here. Battery life will still be terrible, the cameras don’t look any better, and I’m not sure we’ll see improvements in overheating with the upcoming processor tweaks.
I guess we’ll find out soon. Stay tuned for practical coverage this week! Samsung event It takes place on July 22.
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