Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: some decisions will need to be made!

Intro

This summer, Samsung’s got not one but two flagship-tier phones vying for your attention and wallet. On one end, we’ve got the futuristic, folding, productivity-obsessed Galaxy Z Fold 7. On the other, the classic, camera-beast, S Pen-wielding Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Oh, wait a second! The Z Fold 7 is actually snatching the main camera from the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Would that not make it… the ultimate Samsung phone? For the ultimate price of $2,000 it had better be. But, somewhat stelthily, it’s shunning the S Pen support.Meanwhile, the S25 Ultra is built on multiple refinements and reiterations of the same tech. Super Zoom, S Pen, big beautiful screen. If you follow it back to its roots — it’s a Galaxy Note. Just made 47 times better with modern tech!

Two flagships. Two philosophies. Only one pocket. Let’s see who fits best.

$999
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$2119
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$1120 off (53%)

Pre-order the Galaxy Z Fold 7 at Samsung and grab a free storage upgrade on the 512GB model. On top of that, you can save an extra up to $1,000 with eligible device trade-ins.

Pre-order at Samsung

$839
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$1419
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$580 off (41%)

Get the mighty Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra for up to $580 off with the official Samsung Store. To get the discount, you must provide an eligible trade-in in good condition. Alternatively, you can save $200 with no trade-ins.

Buy at Samsung

Galaxy Z Fold 7 vs Galaxy S25 Ultra expected differences:

Galaxy Z Fold 7	Galaxy S25 Ultra
8.9 mm when folded — almost as thin as S25 Ultra	8.2 mm — a bit on the thick side by bar phone standards
215 g, super-light foldable	218 g
6.5-inch cover screen, but big 8-inch internal screen	Single, large 6.9-inch screen
2,600 nits of peak brightness	2,600 nits peak brightness Special anti-reflective coating
Triple rear camera (200MP+12+10MP), 10MP external and 10MP internal selfie cameras	200MP+50+10+50MP, 12MP selfie camera
Snapdragon 8 Elite (3nm) with 12GB of RAM	Snapdragon 8 Elite (3nm) with 12GB of RAM
256GB and 512GB, 1TB with 16 GB RAM	256GB, 512GB, 1TB
4,400mAh battery	5,000mAh battery
25W wired and 15W wireless	45W wired and 15W wireless
Android 16 and One UI 8	Android 15 / One UI 7 (eligible for update)

Table of Contents:

Design and Size

Origami vs Slab

Right off the bat: these are both big phones. But how they get there is totally different.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra is your familiar heavyweight champion — an angular slab of glass and titanium, weighing in at 218 g, with that signature boxy silhouette. A 6.9-inch flat AMOLED up front and an S Pen tucked inside. Familiar yet fresh thanks to the boxy redesign from this year.

The Z Fold 7, though? That’s Samsung’s ultimate flex (literally). It has slimmed down to a crazy-thin 8.9 mm when folded, and shed a few grams down to 215 g. To make it clear, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is 8.2 mm right now — a bit thick by choco bar phone standards, but all forgiven because it’s packed with high-tier tech. The Z Fold 7, when folded, barely feels any different to that.

It also helps that the new Fold’s outer screen is wider, finally moving away from the “TV remote” dimensions of previous generations. It’s a 21:9 now, again – like “normal” smartphones of this day and age. And inside? An 8-inch foldable AMOLED screen, slightly wider than before, and ready to morph into your mini tablet.

Galaxy Z Fold 7	Galaxy S25 Ultra
Thickness 4.2 mm unfolded 8.9 mm folded	Thickness 8.2 mm
Weight 215 gr	Weight 218 gr

The Galaxy S25 Ultra is protected by Gorilla Armor on the front — a mix between Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and Samsung’s proprietary anti-reflecting coating on top. It’s very durable and resistant to those pesky micro-scratches that have a tendency to appear out of nowhere. No such luck on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 — it has Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 on its cover screen (we’ll see how this one does with reflections), and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on its back.

For ingress protection, don’t expect the Galaxy Z Fold 7 to match the IP68 rating of the Galaxy S25 Ultra. It sticks with IP48 — Samsung has achieved water protection by way of ancient black magic, we suppose. But particle resistance is limited to larger chunks of sand — the hinge will let super-fine dust in, so don’t bring it along for that camping trip.

Display Differences

Flat or flexible — take your pick

This one’s easy: both phones have jaw-dropping Dynamic AMOLED x2 displays. You just need to decide if you want one huge screen, or two very different ones.

S25 Ultra: One large 6.9-inch QHD+ AMOLED, flat this time (no curves towards the edge), running 1-120 Hz adaptive refresh with 2,600 nits of peak brightness. Samsung’s finest display, for sure.

Fold 7: A much-improved 6.5-inch outer AMOLED, now actually usable, and a massive 8.0-inch internal screen that unfolds into tablet territory. Both at 120 Hz, for smooth animations and the same peak brightness.

Galaxy Z Fold 7	Galaxy S25 Ultra
Cover screen 6.5 inches	Main screen 6.9 inches
Main screen 8.0 inches	–

Where the Fold wins: multitasking, immersive media, and productivity. Where the Ultra wins: simplicity, S Pen integration, and fewer moving parts. Well, and camera, somewhat, we’ll get to that in a bit.

Yes, no S Pen support on the Z Fold 7. Doesn’t make sense when you have such a large canvas? Well… Apparently Samsung doesn’t agree. Well, the company did test a Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition in South Korea a few months ago. It was a much thinner phone, like the current Z Fold 7, but lacked S Pen support because the stylus digitizer just had to go. Apparently, users prefer the thinner foldable without S Pen than the opposite. So… it is what it is.

But hey, in some other good news — the crease on the new Z Fold 7 is now even shallower and less visible. Still there, though, but at this point, we are quite used to that part of the foldable experience.

Performance and Software

Same brains, different bodies

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: some decisions will need to be made!

Under the hood, both the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and S25 Ultra rock the new Snapdragon 8 Elite “for Galaxy”, built on a shiny 3 nm TSMC process. It comes with better thermal efficiency, boosted AI capabilities, and benchmark-shattering performance. We were quite happy with the Galaxy S25 Ultra‘s performance through our benchmarks ring early this year.

Both phones come with 12 GB of RAM, though the Z Fold 7 does offer a 16 GB option if you go all the way up to 1 TB storage upgrade.

Software-wise, we get Android 16 with One UI 8 right out of the box, along with the full Galaxy AI suite: real-time translation, Circle to Search, live call summaries—the usual “AI but make it useful” features. And yes, both will enjoy Samsung’s 7 years of updates, which means both should last you well until 2032, so long as their batteries survive the trip.

Now, the question is — how long until Galaxy S25 Ultra gets that One UI 8 update? The phone is less than half a year old and we are now anticipating that large OS update, and hoping it won’t take months for it to arrive (*ahem* large update for Galaxy S24 Ultra that took some months *ahem*).

Camera

The Fold finally catches up — almost

Here’s where the S25 Ultra still asserts its dominance. A 200MP main sensor, 12MP ultra-wide, 10MP 3x telephoto, and 50MP 5x periscope. It’s packed with framing options and fun tools to play with and it deservedly tops the ladder on our expansive camera benchmark test.

Wait a second, though, what’s that on the Z Fold 7? The 200MP main camera from the Ultra! And that is a huge upgrade over the Fold 6. But the rest of the setup is still pretty modest: a 12 MP ultra-wide and 10 MP 3x zoom. It will do perfectly fine, and will deliver the high quality photography you deserve after paying $2k for a phone. But the Ultra still has that extra Super Zoom oomph.

Galaxy Z Fold 7	Galaxy S25 Ultra
Main camera 200MP	Main camera 200MP
Ultrawide 12MP	Ultrawide 50MP
Telephoto 10MP 3X	Telephoto 10MP 3X
–	Periscope 50MP 5X
Cover selfie 10MP	Selfie 12MP
Internal selfie 410MP under-display	–

So if photography is your game, the Ultra is your racket, but the Fold 7 will hardly be considered a compromise. At least that’s what we expect if all the rumors come true.

It’s worth keeping our expectations just a notch below that, though. The long-awaited Galaxy S25 Edge recently arrived with a 200 MP main camera of its own. While it’s nothing to snark at, when directly compared to an S25 Ultra main camera, it does appear softer and less contrast-y. Hang tight for a full review and comparison, though.

Battery Life and Charging

Same story, different stamina

We don’t expect huge, huge changes here. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 gets the very same 4,400 mAh cell we’ve seen in its predecessor. But let’s not forget that the phone is, in its entirety, slimmer. Samsung wants to be safe on the battery side for reasons we shan’t talk about. But the charging speed is also not going to impress, it seems.

Apparently, there is no change — 25 W on the wire, 15 W wirelessly to top up that Galaxy Z Fold 7. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is at least a bit faster, with a 45 W power draw to charge its 5,000 mAh battery. Wirelessly, it also supports 15 W “almost” Qi2 charging (no magnets, thus the “almost”).

Specs Comparison

Galaxy Z Fold 7	Galaxy S25 Ultra
Size, weight 72.8 x 158.4 x 8.9 mm folded 215 gr	Size, weight 162.8 x 77.6 x 8.2 mm 218 gr
Screen 8.0″ OLED internal, 120Hz, 2600 nits 6.5″ OLED external, 120Hz 2600 nits	Screen 6.9″ OLED, 120Hz, 2600 nits
Processor Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy 3nm	Processor Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy 3nm
Versions: 12GB/256GB 12GB/512GB 16GB/1TB LPDDR5X	Versions: 12GB/256GB 12GB/512GB 12GB/1TB LPDDR5X
Cameras: 200MP main 12MP ultra 10MP 3X zoom 10MP front 10MP internal front	Cameras: 200MP main 12MP ultra 10MP 3X zoom 50MP 5X zoom 12MP front
Battery: 4,400 mAh	Battery: 5,000 mAh
Charging: USB-C 25W wired 15W wireless	Charging: USB-C 45W wired 15W wireless

Summary

The Galaxy S25 Ultra is the most refined slab phone Samsung’s ever made. It has the best camera system, longer battery life, built-in S Pen, and no moving parts. It’s the safe bet—but also the best bet for most users.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7? That’s for the multitaskers, the early adopters, the power users who want their phone to be a tablet and their tablet to be their phone. It is now thin enough to not feel like a brick in your pocket. And has a main camera that won’t feel like a compromise. The price is definitely up there and maybe not worth it unless you are going to make the most of these two screens,

So, which one’s right for you?

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: some decisions will need to be made!

Intro

Pre-order the Galaxy Z Fold 7 for up to $1,120 off

Save up to $580 on the 512GB Galaxy S25 Ultra!