Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 Review: Slimmer, Smarter, and Closer to a Daily Driver Than Ever

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is not trying to reinvent the foldable formula—it’s refining it with just the right upgrades. And the most impactful of them isn’t buried in specs or AI jargon. It’s the ultra-thin profile, which is nothing short of a game-changer for the foldable category.

At just 4.9 millimetres thick when unfolded, the Fold 7 finally feels like a regular smartphone—not a mini-tablet you awkwardly juggle. The lightweight body and slimmer dimensions make it more pocketable and finally address the elephant in the room: the Fold series is now actually convenient to carry. For those who skipped foldables due to bulk, this might be the turning point. But is it worth ₹1,74,999?

Design: Thin, Sleek—But with Some Quirks

Samsung’s latest iteration in its foldable lineup delivers on a promise it has been chasing for years: making a foldable feel like a regular phone. And it largely succeeds.
The ultra-thin profile is perhaps its most defining upgrade. At just a shade thicker than your average candy bar phone when folded, the Fold 7 feels less like a futuristic prototype and more like something you can use every day. The reduction in weight makes it significantly more pocketable, allaying concerns around bulk.

That said, the delicate feel when unfolded can make it seem fragile—almost like handling origami, even though Samsung assures its new foldable is quite durable. When unfolded, the device feels a tad delicate—less confidence-inspiring than its predecessors. I found myself instinctively being more careful while flipping it open, which is a small psychological barrier to what’s otherwise a very fluid experience.

But engineering marvels come with quirks. The camera module protrusion makes it impractical to place the phone flat on a table—it wobbles awkwardly unless placed screen-down.

Still, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the closest to a futuristic hybrid phone that could someday eat into the tablet category.

Bigger Displays, Narrower Bezels, Same Stunning Panels

Both the cover and main displays have grown slightly, with trimmed-down bezels, enhancing both usability and aesthetics. The panel quality remains flagship-grade: HDR10 support, vivid colours, and high refresh rates ensure streaming and gaming are a treat. Watching Netflix or running Genshin Impact at max settings felt as premium as it gets on a phone.

I still found myself using the cover screen more often—it’s now wide enough to feel like a standard smartphone. But the inner display came in handy for moments that demanded more screen real estate: checking website traffic dashboards, reviewing documents, or reading reports. It doesn’t exactly replace a laptop, but it gets pretty close in a pinch.

Performance: No Lag, No Limits

Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip tailored for Galaxy phones, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is a multitasking beast. During my usage, the phone handled everything I threw at it without breaking a sweat. I was able to run multiple full-screen Chrome tabs, use two apps side-by-side, and play demanding games like Genshin Impact and Diablo Immortal at their highest settings—without any noticeable frame drops or heating issues.

What truly stood out, though, was the seamless experience of clicking and editing photos using Galaxy AI. From on-device image edits to real-time photo suggestions, everything worked smoothly and intuitively. Samsung has finally nailed what foldables were always meant to be: powerful, all-in-one devices that can handle productivity, creativity, and entertainment effortlessly.

One UI 8 on a Foldable: Seamless and Refined

Samsung’s One UI 8 implementation on the Fold 7 is its most mature yet. Multitasking tools like the taskbar, app pairs, and pop-up windows are easily accessible and reliable. Everything feels where it should be—there’s no learning curve, just immediate productivity.

Galaxy AI also plays a supporting role here. Whether it was summarising documents or real-time transcription during interviews, the AI features genuinely helped me get things done faster, quietly proving their utility without feeling gimmicky.

Samsung will offer software support for up to seven years, so you can live with it for years without having to think about another device.

The 200MP Camera: Flagship-grade, with Minor Quirks

The Fold 7 becomes the first foldable to sport a 200MP sensor, borrowed from the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The result? Crisp, well-detailed photos with excellent dynamic range, especially in daylight. The main camera can zoom really far, allowing me to capture things that give a different perspective to the photo. But mind you, zooming in beyond 10x makes the photos look slightly watercolour-ish. But like most high-megapixel sensors, it occasionally struggles with focusing in tricky or low-contrast scenes.

Video capture maxes out at 8K, but I stuck to 4K for practical reasons. During a Himesh Reshammiya concert in New Delhi, I shot multiple clips using 10x to 30x zoom. The audio quality stood out—clean, detailed, and concert-worthy. But the video clarity could’ve been better, particularly in stabilisation and low-light sharpness. Still, for social media, it’s more than serviceable. Selfies were crisp and ready for Instagram without filters.

Battery Life: Adequate, but Dependent on Usage Style

Samsung hasn't upgraded the battery capacity, which stays the same as last year. However, with larger displays, I expected some trade-off. In practice, battery life holds up well if you mostly use the cover screen—easily stretching through the day. But heavy inner screen usage will start to eat into that buffer, especially during media-heavy tasks or multitasking sessions.

Verdict

Rating: 4/5

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 feels like Samsung’s closest attempt yet at mainstreaming the foldable form factor. The ultra-thin design makes it less of a gadget and more of a daily driver. Yes, it’s still premium and niche, but now, it doesn’t look or feel like a compromise. With solid cameras, polished software, and genuine productivity gains, the Galaxy Fold 7 blurs the line between smartphone and workstation in a way that’s finally practical. The ₹1,74,999 price tag is a bit more than that of last year’s model, but the holistic upgrade makes the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 a good investment.

This might just be the foldable that convinces the sceptics—and rightfully so.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 Available With Up to ₹24,000 Discount—How the Deal Works