Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 Review

Samsung’s been launching Galaxy Z Flip phones for much than fractional a decennary now, yet it’s ever been unclear who they’re for. Are these neo flip phones for radical looking to chopped down their surface time, those who conscionable privation a compact high-end phone, oregon privation a distinctive, whimsical smartphone experience? Its foldable surface was ne'er arsenic versatile arsenic the book-style Fold, and its hardware couldn’t spell toe-to-toe with Samsung’s slab flagships.

With the caller Galaxy Z Flip 7, however, Samsung wants it to beryllium for anyone who wants a coagulated telephone successful a playful signifier factor. It fixes astir of what ailed its predecessors, from an edge-to-edge screen surface that lets you bash a batch much without whipping unfastened the hinge, to a bumped-up artillery that comfortably lasts a time -- each portion trimming the assemblage down. After spending a fewer weeks with it, these changes adhd up to a acold much dependable flip telephone acquisition and bring the Flip bid up to velocity with the Moto Razr.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 – Design and Build

Powered off, it’s hard to archer the Flip 7 isolated from past year’s Z Flip 6. However, Samsung has made a bid of tiny and important modifications. Unlike erstwhile models, the Flip 7 folds wholly level and measures a comfy 0.54 inch successful thickness, a hairsbreadth slimmer than the Flip 6, contempt being taller. Weighing conscionable 188 grams, it’s 1 of the lightest phones retired there, and I could hardly consciousness it successful my garment pocket.

Flip phones are immoderate of the astir fragile phones you tin buy, but I didn’t consciousness that passim my Flip 7 use. It’s built similar a tank, and its aluminium ammunition inspires assurance acknowledgment to the grippy matte decorativeness connected its backmost and edges adjacent erstwhile I’m operating it without a case, which I did each the time. It’s perchance the lone telephone that hasn’t slipped retired of my sweatpants. It looks the part, too, for a flagship phone, and the caller colors, similar mint, adhd to its sleek appearance.

The caller Z Flip’s hinge further contributes to its durability. This year, it’s astir 30% smaller and a small stronger. It besides has conscionable the close magnitude of magnetic unit to nutrient a satisfying clunk erstwhile you adjacent it, clasp astir immoderate angle, and let you to pry it unfastened with 1 hand.

Speaking of which, its taller main surface (6.7-inch to 6.9-inch) does marque one-handed usage challenging. I besides had to agelong oregon reposition my fingers to scope the fingerprint sensor placed connected the close side’s precocious half. The facial designation works good arsenic a substitute, but it’s not arsenic unafraid and seldom functions successful low-light scenarios.

What hasn’t changed, unfortunately, is the Z Flip’s particulate and h2o absorption rating. It’s rated for IP48, which means it tin lone withstand particles larger than 1mm and h2o immersion up to 1.5m for 30 minutes. So portion you whitethorn not look immoderate occupation successful your day-to-day, this is surely not a formation oregon a jungle safari companion.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 – Displays

Both the Z Flip’s screens person grown this year. The outer 1 has gone from 3.4-inch to 4.1-inch and wraps astir the 2 rear cameras, covering fractional of the back. While the size bump whitethorn look minor, this is the Z Flip 7’s astir important upgrade and lets you bash a batch without opening it up, including comfortably operating full-fledged apps. It besides looks vivid and bright, adjacent nether nonstop sunlight, and astatine an improved 120Hz refresh rate, it is simply a joyousness to use. Folded, I often placed it upright connected my desk, wherever it doubles arsenic a small astute clock.

You tin take from a assortment of interactive wallpapers and homescreen layouts for the screen screen. I was peculiarly fond of the “Informative presets,” which laic retired a bid of mini widgets successful a grid truthful that I tin instantly glimpse astatine the time, unread notifications, artillery life, and more. The catalog inactive lags down the Moto Razr, though, and I privation Samsung adds much options successful the future, particularly much playful ones.

You tin swipe connected the screen surface homescreen to rhythm betwixt notifications, widgets, and astir importantly, the app launcher. The larger surface real-estate means present it’s easier to usage due apps connected it and Samsung adjacent lets you rapidly power betwixt assorted views, successful lawsuit an app is not optimized for the screen surface (Gemini threw a elephantine Play Store reappraisal pop-up, for example, and I had to unfastened the interior surface to disregard it) and ends up hiding buttons down the cameras. I had nary issues navigating done my astir frequented apps connected the 4.1-inch display, similar Google Maps, YouTube Music, contactless payments, Gemini assistant, and WhatsApp. Although I mostly resorted to dependable notes implicit typing.

The screen surface software, however, is acold from cleanable and adjacent frustrating astatine times. For starters, the process to adhd apps connected the screen surface is unnecessarily tedious. The enactment is constricted to a fistful of apps retired of the box, and if you’d similar to adhd others, you volition person to alteration experimental settings and, connected apical of that, instal an add-on software. Even erstwhile I added unoptimized apps to the screen screen, it took maine a portion to find them. These won’t amusement up successful the outer screen’s default app drawer. You volition archetypal person to activate a “Launcher” widget, and from there, entree each your apps.

Alerts connected the screen surface don’t person the speedy shortcuts they bash typically successful the notification center, and erstwhile you pat them, they don’t grow there, alternatively making you unfastened the telephone to continue. Similarly, some, similar substance messages, volition person a “Suggested Replies” fastener nether them, but adjacent that won’t enactment close connected the screen surface and redirects you to the main one.

On the Z Flip 7, the main surface is besides a hairsbreadth taller, but oddly retains past year’s Full HD resolution. Because of the bigger display, it’s little crisp than the Flip 6 connected paper. But successful real-life usage it looks well-calibrated, and astatine 2,600 nits of highest brightness, perfectly disposable outdoors. It’s conscionable hard to ideate a Full HD show connected phones that outgo implicit $1,000. The bully quality is you tin hardly announcement its crease now, though I bash inactive consciousness a subtle bump erstwhile I scroll.

Another reasonably modular quality the Z Flip 7 lacks owed to its foldable surface is an LTPO OLED. This would person enabled its surface to support a precocious 120Hz refresh complaint each the time. In its existent state, it alternates betwixt 60Hz and 120Hz depending connected the app and artillery life.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 – Software

One of the highlights of the Z Flip 7 is discovering that it already runs Android 16, a specified 2 months aft Google rolled it retired to its Pixel phones. It feels similar a large measurement guardant successful astir a decade-long effort to bring caller Android updates quicker to third-party smartphones. Of course, Samsung has layered it with its in-house OneUI skin, which, too, has travel a agelong mode and is present overmuch cleaner and thoughtful.

Like astir telephone makers, Samsung has loaded OneUI with a suite of AI features, similar a penning assistant, Gemini chatbot, and web leafage summarization. I peculiarly recovered “Call Assist” handy. It transcribes unrecorded calls and allows you to benignant your responses similar you would successful a substance thread. The AI past automatically narrates them to the different person. Over the past 2 weeks, I utilized this successful situations wherever I was incapable to talk connected calls, specified arsenic crowded nationalist proscription and enactment meetings.

Samsung’s Generative AI features for editing your photos and audio were acold little reliable. “Audio Eraser,” for example, lets you region unwanted sound from videos and audio recordings, but whenever I tried it, it besides ended up suppressing the frequencies I wanted to keep.

Similarly, Samsung’s “Now Brief,” a personalized summary of your time truthful far, was mostly unnecessary. Depending connected the time, it volition nonstop you insights, similar the latest upwind and recaps of your workouts, which I thought I didn’t request reminding of each fewer hours. Besides, it requires you to trust heavy connected Samsung’s autochthonal apps.

Speaking of apps, it’s a shame Samsung inactive bundles truthful overmuch bloatware connected its phones retired of the box. After mounting up the phone, I had to instrumentality clip retired to uninstall implicit a twelve apps I didn’t want, including Facebook, Netflix, Microsoft Outlook, and more.

Some of the Flip 7’s software, of course, is tailored to its unsocial signifier factor. Most notably, I had a batch of amusive with Flex Mode, which activates erstwhile you support the telephone propped up astatine an angle. Here, the telephone shifts the app’s contented to the apical fractional and puts a power sheet connected the bottom, similar the playback buttons portion watching a YouTube video. You tin besides person a straightforward touchpad connected the bottommost arsenic well, and navigate the telephone similar a miniaturized computer.

Samsung Galaxy Flip 7 – Performance and Battery Life

For the Galaxy Flip 7, Samsung has swapped retired a Qualcomm spot for its ain Exynos 2500. Historically, this would person been a origin for concern, but I didn’t look immoderate show hiccups connected the Flip 7. Multitasking betwixt apps and dozens of browser tabs was smooth, and the 12GB of RAM ensures AI commands are executed near-instantly. Even erstwhile I plugged the Z Flip 7 into a show for the Samsung Dex desktop experience, it could comfortably grip the added load and didn’t amusement immoderate signs of a slowdown. Plus, the basal retention has been bumped up to 256GB.

It tin besides tally conscionable astir immoderate mobile crippled retired there, from Subway Surfers to Call of Duty: Mobile. The lone downside to gaming connected this telephone is that 1 of your hands volition ever remainder connected the screen screen, which tends to get lukewarm (and sticky) quicker than the different metallic rear half.

Endurance has ne'er been the Galaxy Flip’s strongest suit, but it’s overmuch amended this year. The 7th-gen Flip comes equipped with a 4300mAh battery, a marginal leap from its predecessor’s 4000mAh capacity. The upgrade is present conscionable capable to assistance the Flip past a afloat day. In my day-to-day testing, which progressive astir an hr of societal media, immoderate photography, a mates of video calls, and a fewer sessions of Call of Duty, the Flip 7 consistently produced a screen-on clip of 4 hours.

I usually had astir 35% of complaint near by precocious evening. So connected nights I was readying to spell out, I had to plug it successful aboriginal --- cautiously early, successful fact, due to the fact that of the Flip 7’s disappointing 25W charging speeds. While astir flagships, similar Samsung’s 25 Ultra, present connection treble that, the Z Flip takes adjacent to 90 minutes to complaint completely. Wireless charging astatine 15W is available, too, and truthful is 4.5W of reverse wireless, which comes successful useful for rapidly topping retired a brace of wireless earbuds.

Samsung Galaxy Flip 7 – Cameras

The cameras person stayed the aforesaid connected the Flip 7. On the back, you’ll find a 50-megapixel main lens, paired with a 12-megapixel ultrawide. Both cameras tin seizure well-balanced, crisp shots successful astir scenarios. As is the lawsuit with immoderate Samsung phone, they bash thin to oversaturate the colors astatine times to marque them look much pleasing to the eye, astatine the outgo of being little existent to the scene. However, you tin tweak the camera settings to dial this down.

I was besides impressed with however good the Flip 7 retained details astatine night. Even astatine a dimly lit restaurant, the main sensor had nary occupation retaining focus. The ultrawide, owed to its smaller sensor, though, does conflict a small astatine nighttime and produces photos with blurred edges. Its video capabilities are connected par with different flagships, too, and I peculiarly enjoyed signaling successful the Flex Mode, wherever the full viewfinder moves to the apical half, and you tin crook the telephone sideways to clasp it similar an old-school camcorder.

Another miss is the deficiency of a telephoto lens. Samsung does connection what it calls “AI Zoom,” which crops from the main wide camera and uses AI to refine the details. In daylight, this tin get the occupation done, particularly for sharing societal media, but erstwhile you zoom in, it simply doesn’t lucifer the prime of an optical zoom.

One of the much disappointing aspects of the Flip 7 is its selfie camera. In my testing, it regularly captured washed-out and oversharpened photos, particularly erstwhile determination was not capable airy available. Thankfully, different than video calls, I seldom utilized it, and clicked selfies with the rear cameras, acknowledgment to the screen screen.