Samsung Galaxy Fold 7 Review - A $2000 Pocketable Two-in-One Smartphone-Tablet

TweakTown Rating: 90%

Our Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Fold 7 is a solid and powerful two-in-one device that bridges the gap between a smartphone and a tablet. However, it lacks basic software optimization from the most popular apps, and has an intense price tag.

Pros

• Tablet you can fit in your pocket
• 120Hz displays
• Thinness
• Side-by-Side mode

Cons

• Battery life
• Very expensive
• Native app support
• No S pen support

Should you buy it?

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Introduction & Specification Details and Close-up

The foldable smartphone market has matured from what initially appeared to be a gimmick to what is now a well and truly established market with customers, and Samsung has been at the forefront of that space with its Galaxy Fold line.

We have seen seven generations of the Galaxy Fold, and with the seventh, Samsung has made some considerable changes to the physical design of the device, improving many aspects on both the inside and out. Today, we are taking a look at the Fold 7 with the goal of determining the positives and negatives of the device, while also finding what kind of smartphone user would get the most out of Samsung's latest big foldable.

Firstly, the Galaxy Fold 7 is a very expensive smartphone, coming in at a price of $1,999 for the base 256GB model, and as much as $2,419.99 for the 1TB model. We have a 256GB in-house today, so we will be concentrating on that model. Notably, Samsung has increased the price of the Fold 7 by $100 compared to the Fold 6, and this price increase can be attributed to several design improvements, along with a significant camera upgrade.

Given the price tag of the Fold 7, any user considering this device should be a power user of smartphones, which is someone who needs to have an extremely powerful device with them for prolonged use. With those disclaimers out of the way, let's get into what makes the Fold 7 the most attractive Galaxy Fold smartphone yet.

Specifications

Close-up

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Design Improvements vs. Fold 6

The Fold 7 is, in every sense of the word, an engineering marvel, and if you can get a chance to hold one in person, that is when you will truly understand the impressiveness of this device, even if you aren't interested in purchasing it. Samsung's biggest improvements to the Fold line-up have arrived in the Fold 7, and they are not only eye-catching but also practical design improvements.

One of the biggest complaints of past Fold generations, and foldable smartphones in general, is the thickness users have to endure when the device is closed. Samsung has solved that problem with the Fold 7, as now, when closed, it measures approximately the same thickness as an iPhone 15 Pro Max. Yes, that is right. Two screens stacked on top of each other measure the same thickness as a standard iPhone.

The Fold 7 measures at just 8.9mm when folded, and just 4.3 - 4.5mm when unfolded. For comparison, the Fold 6 measures at 12.1mm when folded and 5.6mm unfolded. These are substantial improvements and are difficult to convey over the written work, and even in video. As I mentioned previously, if you get a chance to hold one in a store or by an owner of this device, this is when you will truly appreciate the thinness of the device and, by extension, the impressive engineering that has gone into the Fold 7.

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To go along with the new thinness, Samsung has also designed the hinge in the Fold 7 to address one of the other biggest critiques of the Fold line-up - the fact that it didn't close perfectly flat. The new hinge features fewer internal moving parts and folds much flatter compared to previous generations. Moreover, the hinge improvement has reduced the gap seen between the halves to a point where it almost isn't visible at all. The same can be said about the crease running down the middle of the inner display.

While the crease is definitely still visible when looking at the device from specific angles, when viewing the screen front-on, it has completely disappeared. Judging on the improvements made with the Fold 7, I can see this crease issue being stamped out entirely in the next few generations.

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The Fold 7 is also much more balanced than the Fold 6, which I found to be quite a top-heavy device due to where all the internal components were housed. Samsung has rearranged the internal components within the Fold 7, and since the Fold 7 has a slightly bigger footprint, Samsung has been able to take advantage of that extra internal space to balance the weight of the device much more effectively, despite it being thinner.

For comparison, the Fold 6 featured a 7.6-inch AMOLED inner display and a 6.3-inch outer display, while the Fold 7 features an 8-inch inner display and a 6.5-inch outer display. While that sounds like smaller differences, it does change how the device feels in the hand in both unfolded and folded orientations.

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For example, when unfolded, the Fold 7 immediately changes from being a normal smartphone to a tablet, but when using it in the folded orientation, it feels like a regular smartphone due to the normal thickness. I should point out that when folded, the Fold 7 does have a candy bar feel to it, as the width of the screen is 75mm. For comparison, the iPhone 15 Pro Max screen has a width of 77.8mm, making the difference about 4-5mm, which may sound minuscule, but it makes a whole lot of difference.

While in almost every regard the Fold 7 has taken a step forward in its design, Samsung has taken a step back in one way - no S Pen support. I'm not quite sure how many people actively used the S Pen with their foldable, but I can imagine the number isn't zero. But, with the Fold 7, there will be zero S Pen users as the device doesn't support the S Pen, which was a decision Samsung made when it was attempting to make its thinnest foldable device yet. The thinness trade-off is no S Pen. Personally, I'd make that trade every single day of the week, but I can't help but wonder how many users will be turned off of this device due to the lack of S Pen support.

One of the other biggest improvements with the physical design of the Fold 7 is the weight. The Fold 7 weighs just 215g, which is 24g lighter than the Fold 6 at 239g. The difference in weight is noticeable and can presumably be attributed to the thinness of the device. Jumping back to the foldable display, Samsung has rated the Fold 7 for 500,000 folds, which is a big jump up from the 200,000 folds that were rated for the Fold 6. This jump can be attributed to the improvements Samsung made in the display technology.

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Moreover, the Fold 7 has a bigger battery than the previous generation at 4600 mAh, which Samsung says supports up to 24 hours of video playback. Unfortunately, the battery was one of the biggest problems I found with the device, as I found that if I used the device normally throughout the day, it would land anywhere between 10% and 18% battery remaining by the time I wanted to go to sleep. This makes me concerned for a user who is a particularly heavy user on their phone, and considering this smartphone is doubling as a tablet, I can imagine buyers would be power users.

Notably, the aforementioned battery percentage was with both displays running at 120Hz, and no power saving mode on. With power saving mode enabled, which drops both displays back to 60Hz, I can imagine the Fold 7 would easily last an entire day on a single charge, even on a particularly heavy day of use.

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Ultimately, Samsung has designed what is now its best-looking and most practical iteration of the Fold line-up. The Fold 7 is nothing short of an engineering marvel and is technically impressive in every sense. Holding the device makes you wonder how much physically better the Fold line-up can get.

Software

With the release of the Fold 7, Samsung has also expanded its software support for the device, which was a lacking point in previous generations, and in some ways, still a lacking point in this generation. As for what is new, Samsung has integrated many AI features into the Fold 7, including its suite of on-device and cloud-based AI features that are present in its other flagship smartphones, but not the Fold 6.

For example, Note Assist is new in the Fold 7 and enables users to automatically summarize handwritten or typed notes, transcribe voice recordings into structured notes, and suggest titles for more optimized organization. There is also Live Translate, which enables a user to conduct real-time translation during phone calls, messages, and on-screen text.

The AI-powered Gallery introduces Generative Edit, which enables users to move or remove objects from images, fill in backgrounds, or adjust the lighting of an image through the power of AI. Those aforementioned features aren't exclusive to the Fold 7, but are value propositions when purchasing this device.

As for what is exclusive to the Fold 7 software-wise, Samsung has introduced the Refined Taskbar, which shows up to 6 pinned apps across the bottom of the screen. There is also the drag-and-drop app combos for Split Screen, which I would argue is one of the most-used features of the Fold 7, as it enables you to use two apps simultaneously.

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Keeping on that feature, the split-screen has received improvements in the app scaling department, and now apps transition better between folding and unfolding. There is also improved support for apps in Flex Mode, which is when the device is half folded. Samsung has also introduced Smart Charging with AI Profiles, which introduces the ability to limit full charge to 80% when idle overnight, and boost to 100% before your typical unplug time. This feature also includes device protection for long-term battery health.

More software features include Circle to Search, which enables users to circle anywhere on the screen to instantly search Google for what was circled. This feature also works for TikTok videos and YouTube. I found Circle to Search to be extremely useful, and the results it delivers are surprisingly accurate. An example would be finding out what type of shoes someone is wearing in a video. You can simply engage Circle to Search, highlight the shoes, and the AI will automatically search Google for them and pull up the model and more images of the shoe. Very impressive stuff, and a nice quality of life feature.

Practical Use Cases

So, with all of the features and specifications of the device out of the way, what was my experience like with my limited time spent with the Fold 7? In all honesty, I found this device to be more of a technological marvel than a practical smartphone. In fact, I found the Fold 7 shouldn't be exclusively called a smartphone, as that isn't the most accurate description of the device. It's a smartphone-tablet hybrid.

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What you are getting with the Fold 7 is the typical smartphone experience with the front display that can then be easily converted over to a tablet experience when unfolded. I think people need to change the way they view the Fold 7, and perhaps this could be helped by Samsung altering its marketing, but the Fold series should be sold as a smartphone that can fold into a tablet, not just a foldable smartphone.

Throughout my time testing the device, I found that for my everyday smartphone tasks, I was using the front display. This includes everything from making calls to family members, quickly replying to messages/emails, and quickly scrolling on social media. But when I had some free time to sit down and be absorbed in my phone, I found I would unfold the device.

The larger screen is perfect for video watching, particularly YouTube, but anytime I needed to respond to a message, I would use the front display as the keyboard on the inner screen takes too long for me to send a message. This is a me problem, as I'm sure long-time Fold users have trained themselves to use the big keyboard, but when a message needs to be sent quickly and efficiently, shutting the device is what I found to be the best course of action.

Using the inner display does come with its unfortunate downsides, as Samsung has made some improvements to apps natively supporting the Fold 7's aspect ratio; some of the most popular apps used on smartphones still look weird and improperly sized. My biggest issue with these apps is that they simply look like they have been stretched to fit the size of the inner foldable display, or have portions of the app that are unnecessarily oversized.

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The collection of screenshots seen above and below demonstrates my point. Notably, Samsung isn't to blame for this, as the responsibility to correctly optimize the apps for the inner display falls on the app developers, which in some cases has been done well. Instagram is probably the best-looking social media app that I have used, followed by Twitter, and then TikTok.

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Final Thoughts

So, should you buy a Samsung Galaxy Fold 7? For a price of $2,000, the Fold 7 is a hard recommendation for the average smartphone user. I wouldn't recommend it to someone looking for a great phone that excels at basic tasks, as I think they'll end up just using the front display.

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I believe the Fold 7, and by extension any foldable smartphone, is a purpose-built device aimed directly at power users, who are people who are regularly going to take advantage of the Fold-exclusive features such as Side-by-Side apps. Additionally, the Fold 7 is a unique opportunity to combine both a smartphone and a tablet, but have both be able to fit in your pocket.

I can imagine the Fold 7 would also be great for someone who travels quite a lot and wants to carry as few things as possible, as that user could buy the Fold 7 and have a great smartphone that also doubles as an awesome tablet for media watching during airplane trips or commuting in general.

Despite my past comments about the Fold 7 not being recommended for the general smartphone owner, Samsung has taken quite a big step in the direction of making the Fold line-up attractive to the general user base with the release of the Fold 7. This device is a technological marvel, boasting remarkable thinness and weight, and is gradually transitioning from what appeared to be a "gimmick" feature of its early iterations into a mature device that an average smartphone user may find truly attractive.

There are a few problems, though. Samsung really needs to work on that price tag, and the software needs to catch up to make the transition seamless between using popular apps on a regular-sized smartphone and using them on the Fold. There is also the marketing issue. I believe Samsung should be really hammering down that this device isn't just a smartphone, but also a miniature tablet. If Samsung explained to consumers that they are getting two devices in one with the Fold line-up, perhaps the $2000 price tag wouldn't be as hard to swallow as it is now.