Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is here, and it’s one of the thinnest foldables to date

We’ve seen several slim book-style foldable phones in the last couple of years, but Samsung has largely refused to follow this trend for its mainline Fold models. Fortunately, that changes today as the company has just launched the Galaxy Z Fold 7.

Samsung’s new foldable phone builds on the foundation of the Asia-only Galaxy Z Fold 6 Special Edition. However, the Z Fold 7 is more than just the SE foldable with a new name.

Galaxy Z Fold 7 design: No longer the weak link

The first thing you’ll notice about the Z Fold 7 is just how thin it is. Samsung says it measures 8.9mm when folded and 4.2mm when unfurled. By comparison, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is 12.1mm when folded and 5.6mm when unfolded. Nevertheless, this means the Z Fold 7 is only behind the HONOR Magic V5 (8.8mm) in terms of thickness. This thin design is also readily apparent when actually holding the device.

Samsung has also shaved some weight here, as the new foldable now weighs in at 215 grams. That means it’s significantly lighter than last year’s model (239 grams) and slightly lighter than the Galaxy S25 Ultra (218 grams). It’s also slimmer and lighter than the Z Fold 6 Special Edition. In fact, this is the lightest book-style foldable phone, period.

This thin and light design doesn’t come at the expense of durability compared to last year’s model. Expect Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the back cover and Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 on the cover screen. Unfortunately, Samsung’s phone sticks with an IP48 rating. That means it can withstand immersion in fresh water, but can’t withstand dust. That’s a real shame when the recently announced vivo X Fold 5 offers an IP58 rating for dust resistance too.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 also offers larger displays this time. Expect an 8-inch folding OLED screen, which is a notable improvement over the long-established 7.6-inch screen of previous Galaxy Z Fold models. This panel is also more in line with screens on rival devices. Samsung also says the foldable screen has 50% thicker ultra-thin glass and features a less visible crease. However, our own photos show that this isn’t completely eliminated. Meanwhile, the Z Fold 7 also packs a 6.5-inch cover display with a 21:9 aspect ratio. This should bring it closer to a conventional smartphone-like experience as opposed to the narrower aspect ratio seen on the Z Fold 6.

Samsung’s new foldable phone is now powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset, as you’d expect. This means the phone shouldn’t break a sweat during everyday use cases or when running demanding applications. This is paired with 12GB of RAM, or 16GB if you get the 1TB model.

Unfortunately, Samsung is sticking with the same 4,400mAh battery it’s used since 2021’s Galaxy Z Fold 3. We’re still expecting longer endurance thanks to the new processor, and the company specifically promises up to 24 hours of video playback. Nevertheless, those hoping for a battery capacity upgrade will be disappointed.

Furthermore, the Z Fold 7 uses 25W wired charging and 15W wireless charging yet again. The 25W wired charging is a downer after all this time, especially when foldable rivals and Samsung’s mid-range Galaxy A56 5G offer faster speeds.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 also has a couple of notable camera hardware upgrades. For one, the 50MP main camera now makes way for a 200MP primary shooter. Otherwise, we’re still joined by a 10MP 3x camera and a 12MP ultrawide snapper.

The other major upgrade is that Samsung has killed off the 4MP under-display selfie camera on the folding screen in favor of a conventional 10MP selfie camera (100-degree field-of-view). The company says this is wider than the Z Fold 6’s under-display camera while also being 2.5x clearer. Of course,  this quality improvement isn’t a surprise, as under-display shooters are pretty bad even at the best of times.

We also have a few Gallery improvements. These include side-by-side photo editing so you can see the original photo, the Audio Eraser feature (which is also available in other Samsung apps), and automatic suggestions for objects to erase.

Samsung says its new foldables will be the first phones running Android 16 out of the box, complete with the One UI 8 skin. So what new features should you expect, then? For one, the company says Gemini and Gemini Live are more optimized for the larger screen. The devices also support Circle to Search during gameplay, allowing you to get “real-time” gaming tips without actually exiting the game.

Finally, Samsung says you can expect seven years of OS and security updates. This is among the best update policies in the industry today, so you can be assured that your phone will still receive updates by the 2030s.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 will be available in a ton of markets as usual, making it the most widely available foldable phone in 2025. Expect to see it in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, and plenty more regions.

In any event, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 starts at $1,999 in the US and £1,799 in the UK for the 12GB/256GB variant. Samsung is also offering a double-your-storage offer, allowing you to get a version with more storage at no extra cost. That means you can get the 12GB/512GB variant for the price of the 256GB model, and a 16GB/1TB phone for the price of the 12GB/512GB model. In saying so, Samsung hasn’t listed the 1TB model for the US.

Furthermore, the phone is available in Blue Shadow, Silver Shadow, Jet Black, and the Samsung-exclusive Mint color. Preorders kick off today (July 9), and general sales take place from July 25. This isn’t the only Galaxy foldable announced today as Samsung has also revealed the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE. The company also revealed the Galaxy Watch 8 series on the day.