Last year, Samsung took advantage of the 2024 Olympics in Paris to launch its new folding smartphones. For the occasion, the launch was held at the Louvre in Paris. This year, we are returning to a more classic launch, as the Korean manufacturer has just made its new folding smartphones official in New York. And the icing on the cake, there are not two but three smartphones. On the other hand, we prefer to say it right away, there are no smartphones with a double fold or others, at least, not yet.
It is therefore in New York and more precisely in Brooklyn that Samsung has just made official the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7, Z Flip7 FE and Z Fold7 which will be available from July 25, 2025 but that’s not all since the Korean manufacturer also took the opportunity to announce new connected watches with the Samsung Galaxy Watch8 and Watch8 Classic which marks the return of the crown around the screen. And finally, we will be entitled to a new version of the Watch Ultra in titanium blue.
But let’s get back to our folding smartphones that we are already testing and with which we are now offering a hands-on, since we had the chance to discover them in preview last week. But this year, we finally got the revolution we were waiting for from Samsung, and that’s all we wanted!
Finally the long-awaited revolution
After the leaks and rumors, the first thing we notice is that Samsung is finally taking its competitors a little more seriously. Also, the new folding smartphones of the Korean manufacturer are not only much thinner but offer a design that has been reworked in order to offer what users have been asking for some time. Indeed, if the external screen of the Z Flip7 now offers ultra-thin screen bezels, it is on the side of the Z Fold7 that we welcome a new format for the external screen. Gone is the long external screen that is too narrow to use as a classic smartphone, and welcome to the new external screen in 21:9 format, the equivalent of a smartphone like the Sony Xperia 1 VII for example. It should also be noted that the external screens are made of Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 for more solidity.
A little earlier, we talked about the thinness of the smartphone and for the Korean manufacturer, this is a real revolution insofar as Samsung has always ignored what its competitors were doing. Today, that’s over and the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 offers a thickness of only 4.2mm when open and 8.9mm when closed. This is exactly what its thinnest competitors at Honor or Oppo offer for example. With a successful and coherent design thanks to its flat edges, when the Z Fold7 is closed, it is not only slightly thicker than the Galaxy S25 Ultra but its design gives the impression of having a classic smartphone. Impressive. And let’s not forget the new weight of 215g that makes the Z Fold7 even lighter than a classic smartphone like the S25 Ultra!
For the Z Flip7, if we don’t find as many new features on thinness, the design has followed the same evolutions to be more sleek but above all, this external screen with almost invisible screen edges is so successful! As a result, we also welcome the Z Flip7 FE which is basically a Z Flip6 and which will be offered at a more aggressive price. Samsung is determined to democratize the folding smartphone and there is a good chance that the Z Flip7 FE will end up at much more aggressive prices among operators.
A new hinge and a more invisible fold
As we said above, the new Samsung Galaxy Z is under the sign of revolution. In itself, in substance, this year’s models resemble last year’s models. But with this new design, this new thinness and these flat edges, the hinge has further evolved to be even smaller, but the novelty is the foldable internal screens which are 50% thicker, which not only ensures them more solidity but above all a fold that is less distinguishable. So, for having had them in hand, we’re not going to lie to you, the fold is still visible but it’s actually much more discreet! We had also noticed on previous models that a foldable screen saw its fold become more pronounced over time. With this new thickness, the fold should resist better over time. Next to it, there is still an IP48 certification, which allows the Galaxy Z to be prepared for the hazards of everyday life. We would have liked Samsung to offer more like its direct competitors.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 and Z Flip7 FE
We are not going to go into technical details as you can find them in the summary table below. As we said above, the Z Flip7 FE is a kind of updated Z Flip6 and therefore, they look very similar. For the Z Flip7, the screens are necessarily larger and once again, we insist on the external screen that we love. The bezels are super thin and the sleek design is really successful on a clamshell smartphone.
On the other hand, as in previous years, we find it a shame that Samsung has still not allowed the launch of any application, like its competitor Motorola. The application will need to be optimized for the external display to be used on it. The back of the Z Flip7 is made of frosted glass with 4 colors available (midnight blue, absolute black, coral and sea green), including one exclusive to Samsung’s website, and a Gorilla Glass Victus 2 coating. And as for the Z Flip7 FE, it will only be available in two colors, black and white.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7
For the Galaxy Z Fold7, if the size is similar to the Z Fold6, the new thinness, the new hinge and the new weight allows you to have the equivalent of a normal smartphone and with this super successful design, Samsung finally makes an impression, even after discovering the competing models. For those who like comparisons, in terms of size, this is a gain of 26% compared to the Z Fold6 and 10% in terms of weight. The Z Fold7 is only slightly thicker than the S25 Ultra but above all it is 3g lighter. We can already imagine using it on a daily basis and we are delighted with these new dimensions and the new weight. With an external screen that is now 6.5 inches, the internal screen also expands to offer an 8-inch diagonal.
Next to it, there is on both screens a variable refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz but also a brightness of 2600 nits. They are not the brightest but from our first tests in situation, we did not notice any particular problems. Note that Samsung has finally decided to abandon its under-display camera, which has always struggled to convince us. As a result, there is a punch hole with a camera similar to that of the external screen. The finish is still excellent and there is a frosted Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the back. The Z Fold7 will be available in 4 colors (midnight blue, absolute black, gray and sea green) including an exclusive one on Samsung’s website.
Performance and Battery Life
On the performance side, there is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC for the Samsung Z Fold7 while on the Z Flip7 and Z Flip7 FE, we will be entitled to an in-house processor, respectively the Exynos 2500 and Exynos 2400. From our tests, we don’t doubt the performance on a daily basis but as always, if we don’t doubt the Snapdragon 8 Elite, we will wait to see how the Exynos 2400 and Exynos 2500 behave, both in terms of performance and battery life. We find Android 15 with a One UI 7 overlay. The update to Android 16 is well planned and it should arrive by the last quarter of the year.
On the other hand, there is no major change in the batteries of Samsung’s new folding smartphones. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 offers a 4400mAh battery while the Galaxy Z Flip7 hosts a 4300mAh battery and 4000mAh for the Z Flip7 FE. All three smartphones only offer fast charging limited to 25W. We find this a bit of a shame and Samsung could have offered 45W fast charging, like the Galaxy S25 and especially like the chargers sold by the Korean manufacturer.
In Photos and Video
On the photo side, we were going to say that there was nothing very revolutionary since Samsung did it in continuity. Also, on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 and Z Flip7 FE, there is a camera block composed of two cameras, a standard wide-angle and an ultra-wide-angle. There is a 50-megapixel sensor and which allows you to have the equivalent of a small telephoto with a 2x zoom.
On the other hand, on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 side, the Korean manufacturer finally offers something new and like the Galaxy S25 Edge, the Z Fold7 offers the same sensor as the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra as its main camera, an impressive 200 Megapixel sensor. Next to it is an ultra-wide-angle and a telephoto with a 3x optical zoom. One can still record videos up to 4K at 60fps or 8K at 24fps.
AI of course
Since the release of the Samsung Galaxy S24, Samsung has been communicating a lot about artificial intelligence with Galaxy AI, which brings together all the AI functions of the Korean manufacturer and its partners such as Google. Unsurprisingly, AI makes it possible to make the most of the two screens of each of the manufacturer’s new folding smartphones. Of course, there are all the office automation functions but also image processing and of course everything that Gemini offers. In itself, nothing new except that these functions improve over time and that’s good for end users.
Prices and Availability
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 FE will start at €999 while the Galaxy Z Flip7 starts at €1199, like its predecessor when it was released. On the other hand, on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 side, it is a little more expensive compared to its predecessor when it was released. Also, count from 2099 euros.
All these new smartphones will be available from July 25, 2025. Samsung is offering a pre-order period from July 09 to July 24, 2025 on which there is up to 150 euros of immediate discount on the higher capacity.
