5 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 Features That Convinced Me To Switch To A Foldable

I've been reviewing smartphones for close to eight years now. Throughout this tenure, smartphones have certainly evolved in several aspects such as displays, camera sensors, and battery technology. Alongside these improvements, foldable smartphones have become mainstream, with several manufacturers jumping onto the bandwagon after Samsung debuted the original Galaxy Fold in 2019. I've had the opportunity to use several of these folding phones, from all the generations of Samsung's foldables to those by Vivo, Oppo, OnePlus, Honor, and Google. While there have been marked improvements to thickness, weight, and software features with every iteration, I've never been convinced to switch to a foldable as my daily driver. The primary reason was that foldables felt too different compared with standard slab phones — until now.

Right from holding and using the phone to when it was in my pocket, most folding phones felt rather bulky and heavy. They made my pinky finger sore, and it almost felt like I was using two phones stacked on top of each other. Owing to this, I was quite skeptical of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, despite the brand shaving off quite a few millimeters of thickness. Once I got my hands on it, though, I was blown away by how comfortable the phone felt to hold. Along with the excellent build, what impressed me most about the Galaxy Z Fold 7 was the way its different elements come together to create a cohesive experience.

The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro was my favorite folding phone of 2024, as it was among the thinnest available at the time. This made it easy to hold and use for long durations, much like a candybar phone. While Chinese smartphone brands like Vivo and Honor kept pushing the envelope in terms of how thin a foldable could be, Samsung never focused on the in-hand feel, until the Galaxy Z Fold 7. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 was thick, heavy, and uncomfortable to hold. Add a case for protection, and the phone felt like a brick in your pocket. With the Z Fold 7, though, Samsung absolutely nailed the form factor. While the numbers on paper may suggest that phones from competing brands are thinner, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 feels slimmer than both the Honor Magic V3 and the Vivo X Fold 5.

In fact, it's only slightly thicker than Samsung's own Galaxy S25 Ultra, while being lighter, despite the Ultra being a slab phone that doesn't fold. Now that's a truly impressive feat. I was using a Xiaomi 15 Ultra before switching to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, and the latter feels way more comfortable to hold, both in the folded and unfolded positions. Apart from the thickness, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 has an extremely premium feel. The build quality alone was enough to convince me to put my SIM card into the Z Fold 7. Samsung has knocked it out of the park with this one.

Apart from the form factor, a huge deterrent for me to switch to a foldable phone was endurance. Samsung's folding phones have always had lower battery capacities compared to foldables from Chinese brands. The same is true of the Galaxy Z Fold 7. However, Samsung seems to have employed some sort of software sorcery to extract good battery life from the modest 4,400mAh cell. Apart from the first few days when the software was still learning my usage patterns, I've consistently gotten 5.5-6 hours of screen-on time when using the phone with Wi-Fi and 5G. That's quite impressive for a folding phone, let alone one that has a small-ish battery.

That said, the Vivo X Fold 5 with a massive 6,000mAh battery lasts for at least an hour more, while being similar to the Samsung in terms of thickness and weight. This makes me wonder how well the Galaxy Z Fold 7 would have performed if it shipped with a high-density silicon carbon battery. Nevertheless, considering how the Galaxy Z Fold 6 didn't even last me until midday on a single charge, this is a considerable improvement. I never once found myself worrying about the battery running out before afternoon, and that speaks volumes about Samsung's optimization. I wish the charging speed was faster, though, as the phone takes close to two hours for a complete top-up.

Samsung's One UI software is one of the best Android skins in terms of aesthetics and features. I would argue that it even tops Google's own Pixel UI, widely regarded as the Holy Grail of the Android world. Apart from the usual set of features and customizations, there are a few thoughtful UI elements in One UI 7 that make using a foldable a joyful experience. For instance, opening apps in a small window creates a tiny floating icon of that app that stays visible on the screen. When you tap on the icon, the app pops up in a small window for a short duration, so you can quickly reference the information in the app without obstructing the rest of the screen. Then, there are the AI features, which are among the best in the industry.

Samsung's Object Eraser in the Gallery app is arguably the best there is, and the Now bar is a handy addition that gives you timely updates about your events, the weather, and more. Call screening, live transcriptions, and the sidebar to access quick shortcuts also add to the overall experience. While this isn't about the software, the external display is now slightly wider, allowing you to grip and use the phone in a much better way. This improves the user experience significantly, as typing and scrolling on social media feeds now feels much more natural.

I'm an out-and-out camera enthusiast. I love clicking pictures using my smartphone, since lugging a camera with multiple lenses every time I step out is a task. Hence, I always need to have a capable camera in my pocket. All of Samsung's folding phones, including the Galaxy Z Fold 6, had average camera setups, producing photos that were only decent at best. The hardware was dated, resulting in sub-par photos, especially for a phone that cost $2,000. Thankfully, Samsung has upgraded the primary shooter on the Z Fold 7 to a 200MP unit, the same as the one found on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. As a result, photos captured using the primary camera on the Z Fold 7 turn out great, pretty much on par with other candybar flagships.

That said, the 10MP 3X telephoto lens that Samsung has been recycling for years now has started to show its age. Photos from the zoom camera are noisy, especially at night. I love clicking pictures with a telephoto lens, since it provides an excellent focal length for products and human portraits. With the Galaxy Z Fold 7, though, I had to resort to using the primary lens. The Vivo X Fold 5 has a significantly better zoom camera, so I wish Samsung somehow managed to fit a periscope lens inside the Z Fold 7. That would have made it a true flagship camera phone with no compromises. Maybe next year.

I saved the best for last. The true value in a folding phone like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the amazing multitasking capabilities on its massive internal canvas. I observed that I was at my productive best when using the Z Fold 7 as my primary phone. This is largely because opening and using multiple apps on a bigger screen feels a lot more natural than doing it on a candybar phone. I could type articles and video scripts on one half of the phone while referencing articles and research papers on the other. Additional use cases include opening your calendar while you're chatting with someone to check your schedule, making notes while watching a YouTube video, etc.

Another helpful task that I found myself carrying out on the Z Fold 7 was comparing prices on ride-hailing apps side by side. Open Uber and Lyft and enter your destination to check for prices. Then, pick whichever is more affordable. Along with split-screen multitasking, the fact that Samsung also lets you open floating windows almost gives you a desktop-like experience in your pocket. I also tried using the phone in laptop mode by folding the screen to a 90-degree angle, and it worked well. These are tasks I never performed on a slab phone earlier, so the Galaxy Z Fold 7 can definitely boost your productivity when you don't have a computer with you. Reading long documents is also easier on the larger display. If you want a true multitasking experience on your phone, there can't be a better option than the Galaxy Z Fold 7.