Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 review: Thin, light, multitasking but with trade-offs

(Dan Tri) - Thinner, lighter and more modern, the Galaxy Z Fold7 offers a convenient experience for daily use, but comes with trade-offs in user experience that need to be considered.

Advantage

- Thin and light

- Large screen multi-tasking, high performance

- Improved camera

- AI features optimized for use on foldable displays

Disadvantages

- High cost

- Battery life is not high, slow charging

Experience the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7

Design

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 is a clear step forward from the previous generation. It is 8.9mm thick when folded and only 4.2mm thick when opened, 26% thinner than the Galaxy Z Fold6.

This thinness creates a modern, luxurious feel, but also brings with it a small drawback: opening the device with one hand is almost impossible, and even when opening with two hands, it is sometimes still slippery due to the small contact area.

When placed next to the Oppo Find N5 or Honor Magic 5, the Galaxy Z Fold7 still feels more solid in the hand thanks to its square design and clear edges, different from its competitor's soft rounded style.

Samsung says the device uses a third-generation Armor FlexHinge hinge that distributes force better, combined with an Armor Aluminum frame to increase overall durability. The main screen is thinner but still ensures durability.

The third-generation Armor FlexHinge helps the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 distribute force better (Photo: Le Dinh Tung)

These innovations create a fairly durable overall machine despite its extreme thinness, with the hinge barely protruding when closed.

At the same time, it also creates a flexible folding mechanism, allowing the device to be placed at many angles to take photos, record videos or watch movies without the need for supporting accessories.

However, the raised rear camera cluster makes the device not really "stay still" when placed on a flat surface, making the user experience less than perfect.

This can be seen as a deliberate trade-off by Samsung to optimize thinness and equip a more powerful camera system. When the camera hidden in the screen in some previous lines caused difficulties in repair and limited image quality.

The glass surface of the device is also prone to fingerprints and smudges when touched, so users need to wipe it regularly to keep the appearance new.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 comes in four main colors: Metal Gray, Jet Black, Navy Blue and Mint Green (online exclusive version). Each color has its own beauty, suitable for many different styles.

Screen

The Galaxy Z Fold7 offers a significant display upgrade over its predecessor, the Z Fold6. Both the main and sub-screens are larger, while the crease on the foldable display has been significantly reduced, providing a more seamless experience when swiping.

The main screen of Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 with a near-square ratio provides a good experience in reading books and documents (Photo: Le Dinh Tung)

Inside, the main display has grown from 7.6 inches to 8 inches with a nearly square aspect ratio. This form factor is especially suitable for reading books, browsing documents, or maximizing multitasking capabilities.

When working with spreadsheets on Google Sheets, users can observe more data without scrolling, or open multiple windows and tabs at the same time when surfing on the Chrome browser.

However, this near-square screen ratio also has some limitations. Some applications are not fully optimized for this screen format, causing the display layout to be skewed, missing elements, or cropped.

For example, when posting on Facebook, usernames or additional options may be obscured; with mobile games, the interface sometimes gets cut off and switching between two screen modes can still be buggy.

The layout of the news section (Facebook app) is not compatible on the main screen of Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 (Photo: Le Dinh Tung)

However, the entertainment experience is still impressive: scrolling through social media, viewing photos and videos all feels more “eye-catching” thanks to the large and sharp screen. It can be said that this screen still needs more time and coordination from application developers to exploit its full potential.

Performance and battery

Galaxy Z Fold7 is equipped with Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor and large RAM capacity, providing smooth processing in most tasks, from office work to multimedia entertainment. When playing games, the frame rate remains stable even when opening two games at the same time.

Multi-window continues to be a strong point, allowing users to operate multiple applications simultaneously. Drag and drop images or data from one window to another is seamless, similar to the experience on a mini tablet.

The Galaxy Z Fold7 only has a 4,400 mAh battery, the same as the Galaxy Z Fold6. At this time, Chinese phone makers like Honor and Oppo are launching higher capacity carbon silicon batteries.

For example, the Honor Magic V5 has a 6,100 mAh battery using new technology, while the Oppo Find N5 has a 5,600 mAh battery.

In addition, the device's 25W fast charging capability is not really competitive in the context of many high-end smartphones reaching 80W to 100W.

Camera

The Galaxy Z Fold7 has a 200MP main camera, providing high detail and the ability to crop images while maintaining impressive quality. In addition, the device is also equipped with a 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera and a 10MP telephoto camera that supports 3x optical zoom.

Galaxy Z Fold7 has a powerful camera system (Photo: Tran Vi)

Photos taken from the main camera have harmonious colors and good light balance. The ultra-wide-angle camera maintains stable contrast.

The 10MP front camera on the outer screen and the 4MP camera hidden under the inner screen meet the needs of selfies and video calls well.

The Z Fold7 also supports professional vlogging thanks to its LOG video recording feature, allowing for more flexible color post-production, creating cinematic videos. In addition, the device supports up to 8K recording at 30fps or 4K at 60fps, with optical image stabilization (OIS) and electronic image stabilization (EIS) to keep videos smooth even when moving.

However, the downside is that the Galaxy Z Fold7's camera system still does not reach the same quality as flagship photography models like the Galaxy S Ultra series, especially in terms of long-range zoom and night shooting capabilities.

The under-screen camera, although sophisticated in design, still has poor image quality, making it difficult to meet high selfie needs. When recording 8K or LOG video, the device easily gets hot and drains the battery significantly faster.

AI Features

Although there aren't many new features compared to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 has integrated many of Galaxy's AI tools into the foldable phone.

With a simple press and hold of the side button, users can start a live audio or video chat with Gemini Live. The interactive window will automatically pop up and will not cover the application being used.

Samsung fully integrates the latest AI tools such as: Object Eraser, AI Select, Instant Slow-mo and Circle to Search by Google, helping to edit and search for content quickly. Users can also view the before and after photos side by side on the large 8-inch screen.

AI goes beyond still images to video editing. In a recording, users can easily remove unwanted voices or noise in automatic mode, then manually tweak to achieve the desired sound quality.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 with its sophisticated design, powerful multitasking capabilities and significantly upgraded camera cluster makes it an impressive tool for work, creativity and entertainment.

For those who need a “2-in-1” device that is both a phone and a mobile work tool, the Z Fold7 is a choice worth considering.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/cong-nghe/danh-gia-samsung-galaxy-z-fold7-mong-nhe-da-nhiem-nhung-co-danh-doi-20250816034228099.htm