For the past few years, Samsung has released two foldable phones at its Unpacked event. This year, however, the company has added a cheaper model to the lineup, the Z Flip7 FE, which sees the new Z Fold7 and the Z Flip7 taking up the foldable flag for the Korean hardware giant.
Samsung has once again sought to make its phones thinner, though the new models are thinner than last year’s iterations.
The company has also updated the pricing: The new Z Fold7 is $100 costlier than the Z Fold6, retailing at a starting price of $1,999. Samsung hasn’t increased the $1,100 starting price of the new model in the Z Flip line.
The new Z Flip7 FE is priced at $899 to attract people looking for a new form factor under the $1,000 price mark.
Z Fold7
Samsung’s new foldable flagship, Z Fold7 is a bit lighter than its predecessor, with the measuring scale topping out at 218 grams (compared to the Fold6’s 239 grams). It’s quite a bit thinner, too, measuring 8.9 mm when folded, down from the Fold6’s 12.1 mm girth.
The cover screen on the Fold7 is also bigger, now sporting a 6.5-inch dynamic AMOLED 2x display, while the main screen measures 8 inches when unfolded. The phone is powered by Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite processor.
Samsung claims that it has made the phone more durable by putting in a restructured hinge and hinge housing. Its display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2.
The company is now using a 200-megapixel main camera with a f/1.7 aperture, compared to the 50-megapixel camera on last year’s model.
Samsung has added some AI powers to its photo editing software. You now get a Photo Assist function, which moves, erases, or enlarges objects, and adjusts angles automatically. It also uses generative AI to fill in empty spaces in pictures. The editing suite also lets users see edited and original photos side-by-side on the unfolded screen.
Z Flip7 and Z Flip7 FE
Like its bigger sibling, the Z Flip7 is also thinner this year, and comes with a larger cover screen — a 4.1-inch super AMOLED display — as well as an enlarged main display (6.9 inches). Samsung is using Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for both the cover and the back for protection.
The company is packing a 4,300 mAh battery for the Z Flip7 — the largest ever in its Flip series. Unlike the Fold7, which uses a 3nm chip from Qualcomm, the Flip7 gets a 3nm Exynos2500 chip, made by Samsung itself.
At first glance, the Z Flip7 FE seems like a reincarnation of the Z Flip6, with its 4,000 mAh battery, a 3.4-inch cover screen, a 6.7-inch main screen, and the Exynos2400 processor.
Samsung is adding DeX support to the Flip series for the first time, so you can plug the phone into a monitor and use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to get a workstation-like experience.
The new phones also come with a new feature, called Now Bar, on the cover screen, that looks similar to iOS’ Live Activities. The Now Bar shows real-time activities, like the progress of a podcast or the status of a delivery.
Another feature called Now Brief presents a summary of traffic, reminders, events, and fitness insights. You’ll also get music and video recommendations based on your existing subscriptions.
Google features
Samsung has added support for Gemini Live on the cover screen of the Z Flip7, letting users use the assistant without having to unfold the phone. It also integrates with Samsung Notes.
All the new Z Flip and Z Fold phones will get support for Gemini Live’s camera and video AI features, which enable users to take pictures or videos to ask the AI bot questions.
The new Samsung devices will also get an upgraded version of Google’s Gemini assistant, which now has an AI mode for Q&A-style conversations.
Availability
The Galaxy Z Flip7 and the Galaxy Z Fold7 go on preorder today, and will be generally available on July 25. The Z Flip is available in 256GB and 512GB storage versions, has 12 GB RAM, and comes in Jetblack, Blue Shadow, and Coralred colorways. Meanwhile, the Z Flip7 FE is available in 128GB and 256GB versions, has 8GB of RAM, and comes in just two color options: white and black.
The Z Fold7 has three storage options: 256GB, 512GB (both with 12GB RAM), and 1TB (16GB RAM). You can choose from Jetblack, Blue Shadow, and Silver Shadow colors.
