Aopd3d tech's 5-Star Review: The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the Future. But It Cost Us the Past
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Introduction: The Foldable Finally Grows Up (And Slims Down)
Let’s be honest. For years, carrying a foldable phone felt like a social experiment. It was an exercise in explaining to curious onlookers why you had a device with the approximate thickness of two iPhones taped together, a gadget that screamed "early adopter" with the subtlety of a foghorn. There was the chonk, the pocket-stretching anxiety, and the sheer, beautiful audacity of it all. It was the future, but a future that was heavy, a bit awkward, and always felt one bad drop away from becoming a very expensive, non-folding brick. With the arrival of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, that era is officially over. Holding it for the first time is a revelation. The experiment has concluded, and the results are in: the foldable has not just grown up; it has slimmed down into a masterpiece.
This transformation wasn't a sudden miracle; it's the final chapter in an epic saga of engineering, a story best told through the evolution of its most critical component: the hinge. The journey began with the original Galaxy Fold in 2019, a visionary but troubled pioneer that used no fewer than seven hinges to perform its magic, leaving a noticeable gap when closed. Its rocky launch, marred by durability concerns, forced Samsung to learn a painful lesson in public, reinforcing the design with protective caps and extra metal layers.
This trial by fire forged a path of relentless improvement. The Galaxy Z Fold 2 introduced the sophisticated "Hideaway Hinge," a complex dual CAM mechanism that enabled the game-changing Flex Mode and brought "Sweeper Technology"—delicate fibers to keep dust out—into the fold. A year later, the Z Fold 3 broke a monumental barrier, becoming the world's first water-resistant foldable with an IPX8 rating, a feat achieved with corrosion-resistant materials and silicone gaskets. The Z Fold 4 saw the hinge get a complete redesign, shifting from rotary to linear motion, which shed weight and simplified the mechanism. This culminated in the Z Fold 5's revolutionary "Flex Hinge," a dual-rail structure that finally allowed the two halves to close almost perfectly flush, banishing the infamous gap to the history books.
This entire history—from a gapped prototype to a water-resistant, nearly seamless device—is the necessary prologue to the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Its existence is predicated on every lesson learned from the creaks, wobbles, and engineering headaches of its ancestors. The Fold 7 is the device where the concept finally sheds its last major compromises. It is no longer a "tablet that folds into a thick phone" but rather a "gorgeous phone that unfolds into a stunning tablet." But as this review will explore, this near-perfection was achieved through a significant, and deeply controversial, sacrifice.
Section 1: The Diet of the Decade: A Masterclass in Design
The most immediate and impactful change in the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is one you feel before you even turn it on. At a mere 8.9mm when folded and an astonishing 4.2mm when unfolded, this device is not just thinner than its predecessors; it represents a fundamental shift in what a foldable can be. For context, last year's Galaxy Z Fold 6 measured a comparatively chunky 12.1mm when closed. The Fold 7 doesn't feel like carrying two phones anymore; it feels like carrying a standard flagship phone that holds a magical secret. This is further reinforced by its weight. Tipping the scales at just 215g, it is significantly lighter than the 239g Fold 6 and, in a stunning turn of events, is now lighter than Samsung's own traditional flagship, the S25 Ultra. This isn't just an incremental improvement; it's a quantum leap in everyday usability.
This radical diet was made possible through meticulous material science and a refined design language. The device retains the robust Armor Aluminum frame that has proven its worth in previous generations, but it’s now complemented by a rumored titanium layer or backplate, which contributes to the incredible strength-to-weight ratio. The phone’s aesthetic has also matured, borrowing cues from the Galaxy S25 Ultra with sharper, more angular corners and flat, brushed aluminum rails that are easier to grip and feel decidedly more premium than the polished, curved chassis of old. When closed, the two halves now blend together so seamlessly that it could easily be mistaken for a conventional slab phone.
The physical transformation of the device from a niche gadget into an everyday companion cannot be overstated. Previous Folds, by virtue of their sheer bulk, created a subconscious barrier to use. One might think twice before slipping it into a tight jeans pocket or taking it along for a quick errand. It often felt like a device that required a conscious decision to carry. The Fold 7 obliterates this barrier. By achieving parity with standard flagships in both thickness and weight, it removes the "bulk penalty" that has long plagued the category. This physical liberation triggers a psychological one: the user no longer has to plan to have their foldable with them. It is simply their phone, ready for any situation. This seamless integration into the mundane, everyday moments of life is the crucial step required for the foldable to finally achieve true mainstream appeal.
A Note on Durability (and Mysterious Goo)
Of course, with a device this thin and complex, questions of durability are paramount. While Samsung has made strides, the real world is often messier than a controlled lab environment. This was hilariously and fascinatingly demonstrated by the Korean YouTube channel Tech-it, which undertook a manual stress test, folding and unfolding a Z Fold 7 by hand, live, for several days.
The results were a captivating glimpse into the messy reality of mechanical torture. The phone began rebooting every 6,000 to 10,000 folds and developed a creak around the 46,000-fold mark. Then, at 75,000 folds, the test produced its most legendary finding: an "unknown black liquid" began to leak from the hinge. Was it hinge lubricant? The tears of the tiny gnomes operating the mechanism? Whatever it was, it became an instant internet legend. By 175,000 folds, the speakers had given up the ghost.
While this sounds dramatic, it’s important to frame it correctly. This wasn't a catastrophic failure under normal use but an extreme test that highlights the difference between real-world, variable human force and Samsung's sterile lab tests that rate the hinge for 500,000 folds. In fact, by the end of the 200,000-fold experiment, the mechanism itself had become smoother. This test should be seen not as an indictment, but as a testament to the device's resilience under absurd pressure. It also adds context to the new official IP48 rating. This is an upgrade from the previous IPX8, signifying that the Fold 6 and 7 are now officially rated for dust resistance against particles larger than 1mm, in addition to their water resistance. While it can now officially stand up to pocket lint, it’s clear that it’s not entirely immune to leaking mysterious goo when subjected to a marathon of manual abuse.
Section 2: Screens Without Seams (Almost)
For years, the biggest compromise of the Fold was its cover screen. It was often too narrow and cramped, feeling more like an emergency-use display than a primary interface. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 emphatically solves this problem. The cover display has been liberated, expanding to a much more spacious and usable 6.5 inches with a wider, more conventional aspect ratio. This is a significant upgrade from the 6.3-inch screen on the Fold 6 and makes all the difference in the world. Typing, scrolling, and quick tasks no longer feel like a compromise; it's a genuinely great "regular" phone experience.
Unfold the device, and you're greeted by an even more impressive vista. The main display now stretches to a glorious 8.0 inches, up from the 7.6 inches of its predecessors. This extra real estate makes multitasking more powerful and media consumption more immersive than ever. Both the inner and outer screens benefit from a staggering peak brightness of 2,600 nits, a specification shared with the S25 Ultra, which makes them brilliantly legible even in direct sunlight—a massive real-world improvement.
And what of the infamous crease? It is still there, a faint valley running down the center of the glass. However, thanks to the redesigned hinge and a wider folding radius that creates more of a "teardrop" shape internally, it is noticeably shallower and less prominent than on any previous Fold. You can see it if you go looking for it under specific glare, but in most day-to-day use, it melts away into the background. It’s a minor, acceptable artifact of the physics-defying magic of a folding screen.
Perhaps the most welcome change to the inner display, however, has nothing to do with its size or brightness. Samsung has finally retired the lackluster 4MP Under-Display Camera (UDC) that plagued previous models. That camera was a noble experiment, but it consistently produced murky, low-resolution images and was a compromise that satisfied no one. In its place, the Fold 7 features a crisp, clear, and conventional 10MP punch-hole camera. This is an unequivocal victory for usability. Video calls are now sharp, and inner-screen selfies are actually worth taking. It's a trade-off—a tiny black circle for vastly superior image quality—that is overwhelmingly in the user's favor.
Section 3: The Ghost of the Stylus: An Ode to the S Pen
We must now address the elephant in the room, the decision that has cleaved the Fold fanbase in two: the Galaxy Z Fold 7 removes all support for the S Pen. For a device line that had increasingly positioned itself as the spiritual successor to the productivity-focused Galaxy Note, this is the most divisive change in its history.
Samsung's rationale is a masterclass in strategic trade-offs. The company cites three primary reasons for the stylus's expulsion. First and foremost was the relentless pursuit of thinness; the digitizer layer required for S Pen functionality adds precious fractions of a millimeter to the device's thickness, and removing it was deemed essential to achieving the svelte 8.9mm profile. Second, excising the digitizer created space for a thicker, more durable layer of Ultra-Thin Glass (UTG), theoretically making the screen more resilient. Finally, Samsung claims that its internal data showed that S Pen adoption on previous Folds was surprisingly low. This was likely exacerbated by the fact that the S Pen was always an awkward add-on, requiring a separate purchase and a bulky case that undermined the device's form factor.
While this logic is sound from a mass-market engineering perspective, it does little to soothe the deep frustration of the passionate minority for whom the S Pen was the entire point. For artists, executives, students, and inveterate note-takers, the Fold's large screen combined with the precision of a stylus was a killer combination, a true digital notebook. To them, this move feels like a betrayal, stripping the device of its "prosumer" soul and turning a powerful workhorse into a simple (albeit beautiful) media consumption device.
Ultimately, the removal of the S Pen is a calculated, strategic pivot. Samsung has consciously sacrificed a niche, power-user feature to perfect the mainstream form factor. It signals a move away from the "everything but the kitchen sink" philosophy that defined the Galaxy Note series and towards the more refined, focused design ethos often associated with its competitors. The Fold 7 is no longer trying to be a digital Swiss Army knife; it is aiming to be a perfectly crafted, universally appealing jewel.
This decision, however, may not be the end of the story, but rather the beginning of a new one. By making the standard Z Fold the sleek, elegant, mainstream option, Samsung has inadvertently created a vacuum in its own product lineup. The power users who cherished the S Pen are now an underserved market. This is a classic setup for market segmentation. It paves the way for a future, distinct "Galaxy Z Fold Ultra" or "Pro" model—a device that could be slightly thicker to accommodate a built-in S Pen silo, a larger battery, and even more advanced camera hardware. Such a move would allow Samsung to cater to both the luxury mainstream audience and the uncompromising prosumer without having to compromise either device's core identity. The S Pen may not be gone forever; it might just be waiting for its own dedicated "Ultra" chassis.
Section 4: The Engine Room: Power, Performance, and Battery Life
Beneath its sleek exterior, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is an absolute powerhouse, driven by the exclusive Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset. This isn't just a rebrand; it's a tangible step up from the already-excellent Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy found in the Fold 6. In practical terms, this translates to unparalleled performance. Graphically intensive games run flawlessly, multitasking with multiple apps spread across the 8-inch canvas is buttery smooth, and the enhanced Neural Processing Unit (NPU) provides the formidable horsepower required for the suite of advanced, on-device Galaxy AI features.
This raw power is backed by a generous helping of memory. While base models come with a very capable 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM, the top-tier 1TB storage model is the first in the Fold series to offer a staggering 16GB of RAM. This firmly positions the device as a legitimate desktop replacement, especially when paired with Samsung's DeX platform, which provides a full desktop experience on an external monitor.
This brings us to the battery paradox. Despite the larger, brighter screens and more powerful processor, the battery capacity remains unchanged from the Fold 6 at 4,400mAh. On paper, this might seem like a cause for concern. However, this is where the efficiency of the new hardware comes into play. The Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and more advanced display technologies are significantly more power-efficient, meaning that real-world battery life is expected to be on par with, or even slightly better than, its predecessor. It's a clear case of working smarter, not just bigger. Charging speeds remain solid and reliable, with support for 25W wired charging (which can achieve 50% in 30 minutes), 15W fast wireless charging, and 4.5W reverse wireless charging for topping up your earbuds or smartwatch.
Section 5: Finally, An "Ultra" Camera That Folds
For generations, the Achilles' heel of the Fold series has been its camera system. While competent, it always felt a step behind the cutting-edge hardware found in Samsung's own S-series Ultra flagships, a frustrating compromise for a device commanding such a premium price. With the Galaxy Z Fold 7, that compromise is annihilated.
The main event is the single most significant hardware upgrade on the device: a new 200MP main camera sensor. This is a monumental leap from the capable but uninspired 50MP sensor used in the Fold 6 and its predecessors. This upgrade finally closes the long-standing gap between Samsung's foldable and traditional flagships. The Fold 7 is now a true, no-compromise camera phone in every sense of the word.
The benefits extend far beyond a simple megapixel count. In good light, the 200MP sensor captures an astonishing level of detail. In low light, it uses advanced pixel-binning technology to combine multiple pixels into one larger virtual pixel, dramatically improving light sensitivity and reducing noise. This sensor also enables a far more capable digital zoom, leveraging the sheer amount of data to produce crisp images at ranges that were previously a blurry mess, all enhanced by AI-powered "Space Zoom" technology. The supporting camera array remains strong, with a reliable 12MP ultrawide lens and a 10MP telephoto lens capable of 3x optical zoom, providing a versatile and complete imaging toolkit.
This powerful new hardware is augmented by Samsung's latest software enhancements. The new ProVisual Engine and Photo Assist features, integral parts of the Galaxy AI suite, offer a new level of computational photography. These tools enable faster image processing, intelligent editing features like relocating objects or filling in empty space, and automatic enhancement of details and colors, ensuring that every shot lives up to the potential of the groundbreaking new sensor.
Section 6: The Verdict: The Price of Perfection
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is a triumph of design and engineering. It takes the foldable concept, once a bulky and compromised novelty, and refines it into something sleek, powerful, and utterly desirable. The impossibly thin and light design makes it a joy to carry. The gorgeous, expansive displays provide an unparalleled media and productivity canvas. The top-tier performance from the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip ensures it never misses a beat. And the long-awaited "Ultra" camera system finally gives it the photographic prowess to match its price tag.
That price, starting at $1,999, remains a significant barrier to entry, but for the first time, it feels entirely justified. This is no longer a device of compromises; it is a device of superlatives. The generational leap from its predecessor is stark, as illustrated below.
| Feature | Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 | Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 | The Upgrade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thickness (Folded) | 12.1 mm | 8.9 mm | 26% Thinner |
| Weight | 239 g | 215 g | Lighter than an S-Ultra |
| S Pen Support | Yes | No | The Great Sacrifice |
This is why the Galaxy Z Fold 7 earns a resounding 5-star rating. While the ghost of the S Pen will rightly haunt a dedicated group of power users, the sacrifice made was in service of a greater goal: perfection of the form factor. The result is the most complete, polished, and compelling foldable phone ever created. It's a device that no longer needs to be explained or justified. It’s the future, and it’s finally thin enough, light enough, and powerful enough to fit into everyone's life.
