Phones are in an interesting place right now.
Battery tech is getting better, cameras are great on even the most affordable devices, and the days of rectangle after boring rectangle is beginning to change.
Which, is why I was left a little disappointed with the Fold 7 launch.
Now, statistically speaking, most people probably won't opt for a folding phone. They’re expensive, and the durability is questionable.
But just stick with me because this is the first year we’ve started to see some actual improvements with the foldable phones.
In this post, I'm going to compare the Fold and Flip 7, with the S25 Ultra and Edge, and the Honor Magic V5 to give you an honest opinion on which I think is better.
GALAXY Z FOLD 7
If you’re a Fold 6 user - you will find that the 7 is WAY thinner which makes a huge difference when it's in your hand. I know it might not make sense if you haven’t held a phone as thin as this. But when it’s as thin as this, you’d think it might feel flimsy or be easy to break, however, it really is built solidly.
I’m also excited that the cover screen is now wider, I and many others have been asking for this for many years. This makes it SO much more usable daily - I could never really get used to the tall and slim candy-bar size they used to have.
It is a pity however, that it doesn’t come with the anti-reflective display from the S25 Ultra… but, I’ve seen and have now ordered a separate anti-glare screen protector from Samsung to get that feature back.
You can absolutely use the Z Fold 7 as if it was an S25 Ultra day to day, but then open up the display when you really want to use that extra space.
Performance wise, there’s the Snapdragon 8 Elite - so I have no doubt that this phone will perform great however, there is NO silicon carbon battery. This really surprises me because I’ve had silicon carbon batteries in the OnePlus 13 that I’ve been using since November last year. AND there are other foldables available from brands like Honor, which are both thinner AND pack a nearly 6,000 man silicon carbon battery.
So for the Fold 7, that also means there are no other battery upgrades this year as well as no fast charging, it’s still 25w like last year, and a much smaller battery at 4400mAh than they could have squeezed in…. if it were silicon carbon.
I’m not quite sure why - I’m told that it’s because the likes of Samsung and Apple aren’t allowed to ship the quantities they need of silicon carbon battery devices on planes. Others have been told that they just can’t manufacture them quickly enough.
But it’s odd that SO many other devices are using Silicon Carbon, OnePlus, Nothing, Honor, but the likes of Apple, Samsung, Google - are not. You might be wondering what I’m talking about. Well, Silicon Carbon is a newer battery technology that means bigger battery capacity, in a smaller physical size, which can also charge faster.
I’ve had it in my OnePlus 13 for the last 9 months and it’s SUCH a good device paired with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip.
But, whilst other phones are using better battery technology, none of them are running OneUI, which is by far one of the best flavours of Android, that has now had 7 generations worth of development whereas others, are only on their second or third generation. Which moves me swiftly on to the Honor Magic V5.
HONOR MAGIC V5
Although other Chinese brands have undoubtedly better hardware, the Honor Magic V5 which is the same as the Fold 7, but with a bigger battery, faster charging AND it’s even ever so slightly thinner than the Fold 7.
However, it doesn’t run OneUI, which is one of the reasons many people buy a Samsung phone.
It has features such as being able to configure a different cover screen to what you see when you open it up, a Multi-tasking system that out of the box works in pretty much all of the most popular apps and you can be chatting with someone on WhatsApp whilst watching a YouTube video or checking your emails.
I also love that in the hand it feels almost like an S25 Ultra, but then I can open it up to enjoy that bigger display.
Whilst a lot of people are happy to go without a case, these are pretty expensive phones. They literally cost the same as two laptops, so I've chosen to use a Supcase case with their UB Grip and UB Pro cases, which are one way you can protect your Fold 7 this year.
Their UB Grip case gives you military grade protection, with its full 360 degree, shockproof cover. And it’s basically a heavy duty protection for your very thin, very expensive device.
The case protects all of the important stuff - there’s a shock absorbing bumper which has been drop tested up to 20 feet. A built-in kickstand, cutouts to protect the cameras, and a tempered glass screen protector.
AND the Pro case has magnets in the back which means you can use Magsafe chargers with this phone.
All in all, A SOLID case that will protect your very expensive device from all the daily bumps and drops that inevitably happen.
SETTING UP THE FOLD7
The initial setup was pretty painless. I transferred everything from my S25 Ultra to the Fold 7 using a Cable which just makes it so much faster.
But it does still take a while to copy everything over, then download all of the latest applications and updates, however once it's done, it's done, made even easier by storing all my passwords in 1Password which makes logging into the apps on the new phone even easier.
PERFORMANCE OF THE FOLD7
I’m not going to spend much time talking about performance. This year we have the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy in the Fold 7 which I have NO concerns about in terms of performance. It’s proven itself time and time again that the 8 Elite is more than enough.
Although, it’s a shame to see that the Flip 7 comes with the Exynos Chipset. I haven’t had much time with the Flip, but Exynos has never previously been very good. So, they have a LOT to do to show us that they’ve caught up with the flagship Snapdragon chips.
As a side note, Basil from TechEdit who I met at Unpacked, was doing some testing and it seems that the Exynos Chip actually performs really well, especially in Gaming. Whereas the Snapdragon 8 Elite Chip… well, not really the chip… but it does have some problems. Which, we’ll get to but first, let's talk cameras.
THE CAMERAS
The Z Fold 7 has the same 200Mp main camera sensor as the S25 Ultra, which is great, since the majority of the shots you take will likely be with the main camera.
The Telephoto and the Ultrawide though are different, and not as good as the S25 Ultra’s cameras so my thoughts are really divided here.
On one hand - I say this in nearly every post. You can’t buy a phone with bad cameras these days. In 20 years time when you look back at your photos, you’re not going to care or even remember which phone took it. You’ll remember the memories you captured and the fun, family experiences you went on.
On the other hand - this phone costs $2,000, so you kind of want the best of the best for that. My only one annoyance with this phone is with the recessed power button that also doubles up as the fingerprint sensor.
Because it’s recessed, it takes a fair push - which when you want to quickly snap a photo can be kind of difficult to double tap to open up the camera.
AI FEATURES
One thing I am glad to have is Gemini, after switching back and forth between phones this year - Gemini has been the one constant that is just a staple of Android right now.
Sure, it’s not perfect, but when the other side is struggling with, well, you know, Gemini is solid, and whether you use the other AI features like translation and transcription, you can either take it, or leave it, when it comes to AI on this phone.
That’s what I love about Android phones in general and their AI. If you don’t use it, it doesn’t get in the way. If you do use it, then it can be pretty incredible.
You can remove crowds of people from photos with pretty incredible results. Or use Gemini Live to literally have a conversation about what you see.
And this is in a world where Apple’s Assistant still can’t even answer basic questions without issues.
Even though Gemini is a Google feature rather than Samsung - I love that it’s accessible on every phone. Apple, and Android. Which means if you ever switch devices, phones, laptops, you can pick up conversations right where you left them.
Although the ONE feature I’m still waiting on is Gemini on Android Auto. I really don’t understand why it’s not been rolled out already - but it’s coming, soon I’m told…
BRIGHTNESS
I have noticed on the Fold7 when you're using it outside in the sunshine it dims really quickly which is annoying and makes it difficult to see outside, and it Gets warm when taking 200mp photos
And this is what I meant earlier about the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy. It’s not a problem with the Chip itself, but I think in the process of making the Fold 7 as thin as it is, it’s definitely affected the thermal management.
Now I will caveat this - at this time of year, it’s been a fairly solid 30 Degrees Celsius outside, and I’ve been taking a lot of photos, and lots of videos, using Gemini Live, so, I'm definitely putting it through it’s paces which could be why I've had these issues.
But I’ve not had this issue with the S25 Ultra before… and I even hear rumours that the Vapour Chamber technology that keeps the S25 Ultra so cool, and was present in last years Fold 6, might have been removed to thin out the Z Fold 7… but, I may be wrong.
BATTERY LIFE
Speaking of which - It’s been about a week now with the Z Fold 7 so Let’s talk about the battery, because with a foldable device, let alone one that now has a larger screen, battery is definitely my concern with the Fold 7.
Like I said, my use case so far has been fairly heavy duty - and the more I use this phone, the better the battery life seems to get.
Typically it DOES get me through a full day, but it’s cutting it very close by the time I go to bed. So I do usually end up topping up the charge when I can during the day just to be safe.
Again - shout out to SUPCASE as their cases have the MagSafe ring which means I can charge easily while I’m at my desk.
But I definitely am left feeling like upgrading to Silicon Carbon would have been the move this year… again, I don’t know why they didn't. Maybe they’re keeping something in their pocket for next years Fold 8, or maybe there are even more thermal management issues to deal with… only time will tell.
IP Rating
Whilst we’re talking about hardware, having an IP48 rating when spending almost twice the price of a regular phone is something I'm not sure about.
IP48 means it can be submerged in water, which is pretty solid for a foldable.
But that 4, means this isn’t something to take to the sandy beach. Or risk turning your very expensive phone into a crunchy game of will it won’t it work today…
Especially as water damage still isn’t covered by warranty in many cases, and that includes other brands, not just Samsung.
Because the phone is so thin now, the camera bump is kind of prominent, and it is impossible to use when flat on a table - unless you open it up ALL the way, just thought I'd give that a mention.
Contactless Payments
Contactless payments work really well on the Fold 7, I’ve complained before about how sensitive the NFC reader is on the S25 Ultra, but no issues at all with the Fold 7. I rode the Subway, paid for an incredible Steak, Egg and Chips breakfast, and bought my kids some small gifts at the airport and there were no issues.
Samsung Wallet has also come a long way since I last used it. So for now, I’ve stuck with using that over Google Wallet.
PRICING
Now we have the elephant in the room, £2,000 for a folding phone.
You could buy a 14” MacBook Pro, with 1TB of Storage, for less than a Z Fold 7.
Or TWO MacBook Airs. Or Two, Flagship non-foldable phones.
This is why I just can’t see many people spending that sort of money on a phone, unless it’s HEAVILY subsidised by network providers, or heavily discounted by Samsung.
Pricing is really the thing here, most people are not going to spend the best part of £2,000 on a phone. Which for now, still makes foldable phones a VERY, niche product that not many people will buy.
But if you take price out of the conversation, Foldable Phones are actually getting good. Really good. And right now, I’m going to continue using the Fold 7 as my main device.
Sure, there are still drawbacks. It would be nice to see some of the missing features from flagship non-foldable phones and IP68/9 ratings, even better battery with faster charging at a minimum.
But, for the right person, who is interested in a foldable phone, Samsung I think actually has the most compelling overall package so far this year.
Until next time!
