Samsung Galaxy Fold 7 review: This one is a winner

When Samsung first introduced the Galaxy Fold back in 2019, it was more akin to a bold, futuristic prototype – exciting, but flawed. Fast-forward to 2025, and we now have the Galaxy Fold 7: a product that feels like the perfected vision Samsung had all along. It finally fixes all the major criticisms: the narrow cover screen, the thick profile, the deep crease, and long-standing reliability concerns.

The Fold 7 is also significant because, after years of arguably lagging behind forward-thinking foldables from Chinese brands, Samsung’s pioneering product has reclaimed the top dog status. The Galaxy Fold is once again the apex predator, outplaying the competition and reaffirming Samsung’s engineering dominance. This is a full-circle moment for Samsung.

The king is back. Maybe it will only hold the top spot until a next-gen challenger appears at some point in the coming months, who knows. But boy, is it back.

Something felt off when I first held the Galaxy Fold 7 during my early briefing session.The phone felt super-thin. I expected that, but I was still surprised by just how thin it was. I remembered holding the Honor Magic V5 around the same time – the phone that promptly claimed the “thinnest foldable phone” title with its reported 8.8mm thickness, outdoing the Oppo Find N5’s 8.9mm. The Galaxy Fold 7 was supposed to be 8.9mm thick, so, if there was to be any perceived difference between the two, it had to be in the Magic V5’s favor.

Yet, the Fold 7 subjectively felt just as thin, if not thinner than what I felt when playing with the Magic V5. I couldn’t have known it at the time, but eventually, a bunch of objective, real-world measurements came out, and it was proven that the Galaxy Fold 7 is, indeed, thinner than the Magic V5. Turns out Honor didn’t count some components, like the factory screen protector, into its measurements.

Regardless of all that, I have a bigger point to make, and it’s that foldables have become thin and light enough! Seriously, I’m holding the Fold 7 and I’m like... I don’t need this phone to be any thinner than that. It’s great as it is! Any future improvements should be focused on other areas.

The weight is also a big deal, but check this out: the Fold 7 is now lighter than the Galaxy S25 Ultra! At 215g, it’s perfectly convenient to hold and use. At no point have I wished for it to be lighter.

Now, for all the design prowess on display here, this has to be the phone with the worst wobble when put on a table! Seriously! Due to it being so thin, and the camera being big and offset to the side, it really doesn’t look good when laid flat on a surface. The silver lining here is that since the Fold 7 is now so thin, you can comfortably put a case on, without it getting too bulky, and I guess this will, to a large extent, deal with the wobbling.

Samsung has also finally fixed the Fold’s cover screen, thanks to a wider, 21:9 aspect ratio. The 6.5" display is spacious and perfectly usable. You no longer feel forced to open the phone just to get simple things done, like typing out a message, for example.

Both the cover and inner displays feature outstanding brightness, variable refresh rate up to 120Hz, and rich color modes ranging from vibrant to natural. In direct sunlight, the panels crank up to impressive brightness levels for excellent readability. One thing to note, though: when the phone gets hot, which doesn't take long on a warm, sunny day, the ultra-bright mode gets automatically disabled promptly.

Display Measurements:

What is of note here is the improved crease. This has also been one area where Samsung tended to be behind some competitors like Oppo or Vivo. However, the Fold 7 catapults Samsung right up to the top again, as the Fold 7 has a pretty much imperceptible crease. You literally don't feel anything as you slide your finger across the middle of the screen. You can still see it if you look at the screen from an angle, you can see there’s something there, but physically – it’s pretty much flat, for all intents and purposes. This has partly been achieved thanks to the new, stronger and thicker “ultra-thin” glass layer on top of the flexible panel. Not only does it eliminate the crease, but it’s also tougher – how cool is that?!

Really, Samsung has nailed it here. Foldables have officially entered the mature phase.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold 7 finally inherits the full 200 MP main camera from the Galaxy S25 Ultra. This is the upgrade we’ve been waiting for. Fold users are paying top dollar, and they now get top-tier camera performance to match.

Aside from that, the 10 MP 3x telephoto camera hasn’t changed much, while the 12 MP ultra-wide has been upgraded with a new sensor.

The new main camera on the Galaxy Fold 7 produces shots that are roughly the same as those from the Galaxy S25 Ultra. This is the type of top-tier performance Fold users deserve. After all, they’re paying $2000 for this phone!

In terms of zoom capabilities, the 3x camera on the Fold 7 does its job well ⁠⁠– I can’t see any real issues in 3x photos.

Naturally, quality starts to suffer as we zoom beyond that, as the Fold 7 isn’t equipped with a longer-range periscope shooter, unlike the S25 Ultra.

There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the ultra-wide camera on board, either.

I’m very much satisfied by the video recording quality with the Samsung Galaxy Fold 7. To my eyes, it’s not too far from that of the Galaxy S25 Ultra in most situations.

Our detailed PhoneArena Camera Test reveals that there are certain nuances where the overall video performance of the Fold 7 isn’t quite up there with the S25 Ultra, but again, for most day-to-day scenarios, the difference won’t be too visible.

Compared to the Fold 6, I find the look of video produced by the Galaxy Fold 7 to be slightly less overprocessed and HDR-y, which is a good thing.

Being equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, we’d be right to expect top-notch number-crunching capabilities from the Galaxy Fold 7. Of course, it doesn’t disappoint.

In day-to-day use, the Fold 7 flies. The benchmark results paint a picture that doesn’t surprise. The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy brings a very substantial performance boost over last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, but the Fold 7’s particular implementation slightly trails that in the S25 Ultra. This is understandable, considering the much thinner profile of the Galaxy Fold 7, which, I’m sure, is a real pain to optimize thermals for.

Under prolonged heavy load, there is considerable throttling observed, but it’s not really any different from what we see on the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Galaxy Fold 7 Software

One UI 8 with Android 16 is overflowing with useful features

One UI 8, based on Android 16, strikes me as a very mature operating system. It is very colorful ⁠⁠⁠⁠– way more than most other Android implementations, and that’s perfectly fine. Samsung has seriously invested in making One UI 8 look and feel both modern and unique, and it shows.

Beyond that, Samsung’s One UI 8 continues to be an extremely feature-packed piece of software, complete with all sorts of features, including super-advanced ones like DeX, which can turn the phone into a desktop computer. Samsung has largely succeeded in its quest over the years to add and refine meaningful functionality to its Galaxy phones, while slowly getting rid of old stuff that didn’t catch on with consumers.

The usual suite of AI features is, of course, on board, complete with the industry-standard object removal and generative fill algorithms in the photo gallery. Speaking of which, some improvements have been made specifically for the Fold. For example, when editing a photo in Photo Assist, you can see both the original and the edited picture side by side when using the large, inner display.

Gemini is also very well represented in One UI 8. You can even speak to Gemini Live while using screen sharing (or when using the camera), so it can assist you with whatever you’re doing.

One of the few major concerns with the Galaxy Fold 7 is the 4400mAh battery, which hasn’t grown from the Fold 6. This type of battery capacity is not as impressive as what many Chinese makers are using nowadays, so let’s just say that it’s normal for users to be concerned about the battery.

My personal impressions are that the 4400mAh unit is perfectly sufficient for a full day of use. I didn’t notice a dramatic drop in battery life compared to the other foldable I’ve been daily-driving, the Huawei Mate X6. The battery life is definitely not as amazing on the Fold 7, that much is certain, but it’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination. I can’t see anyone having too much trouble to go though a full day of intense use.

Now that we don’t need the Galaxy Fold to get any thinner or lighter, perhaps Samsung will focus on getting silicon-carbon battery tech inside the Fold 8?

When it comes to charging, this is another area where I'd like to see Samsung make major improvements going forward. The Galaxy Fold 7 is limited to the same old 25W charging.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold 7 is a terrific foldable, that much is certain. I don’t know if it’s overall the best foldable out there, because it absolutely is the most complete and impressive book-style foldable phone.

From the record-thin and light design, to the outstanding screens and performance, to One UI 8, which is overflowing with great features, the Galaxy Fold 7 is a true powerhouse of a phone that will serve its future owners very, very well.

Once you get over the super-premium starting price of $2000, I don’t think there will be many people out there who’ll regret buying the Galaxy Fold 7. It is that solid. Besides, don’t forget that Samsung is often running great deals on its flagship phones, so chances are you won’t even need to shell out the full $2000 to get it. Just be sure to check for any running promotions before making the purchase, and you’ll be fine!