5 reasons I’d buy the Galaxy Z Flip 7 over the Fold 7

Samsung’s new foldables may look like minor upgrades on the surface, but give them a closer look and the changes add up — enough to finally catch up with what Oppo and OnePlus have already been doing design-wise. Thankfully, Samsung’s finally in the same league again. And of the two foldables they’ve launched, I’m leaning strongly toward the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7.

To be honest, I haven’t been a fan of the Galaxy Z Flip lineup so far — it always felt like it was trying too hard to milk nostalgia without fully embracing what a modern foldable should be. But the Galaxy Z Flip 7 is the first one in the series that actually delivers on the idea of being a compact, usable, foldable phone. It took six generations to get here, but it’s finally here. And that makes the bigger Fold 7 a hard pass for me.

Here’s why I’m picking the Galaxy Z Flip 7 over the Fold 7:

When foldables first started showing up, I imagined them as lighter, more ergonomic versions of regular phones, and not mini tablets trying to pass off as phones. The Z Flip 7 finally fits that vision.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 may be thinner, but it’s still a large, heavy phone — one that’s jacket-pocket friendly rather than being meant for jeans pockets. The Flip 7, on the other hand, feels just right — lighter, smaller, and far more comfortable to carry and use one-handed.

And no, I’m not picking form over function. The Flip is now functional, too.

It’s much more pleasing to look at and all I need for glancing at WhatsApp messages to decide whether to reply, controlling music on YouTube Music, picking Gemini Live’s brain on random facts about the cosmos, and even checking Now Brief to glance at my day — something Samsung introduced with the Galaxy S25 series.

It genuinely feels like a chore to flip open the phone now, unless I need the big screen for media or an app that still doesn’t play nice with the square screen. And there’s a nice side effect too — the smaller screen keeps me from doomscrolling. That tiny display puts a soft limit on how much time I waste, which means I actually use my phone more as a tool and less as an endless feed machine.

Foldables are expensive, and this year, even more so. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 now costs a full two grand — that’s the price of two Pro-grade phones. And no, having two screens doesn’t justify that.

The Z Flip 7 starts at $1,100. Still not cheap, but far more reasonable, and it pleases both my wrist and wallet. I still get the perks of a foldable, but in a better form: a normal-sized phone that folds in half to take up less space, not a tablet forced into a phone’s body.

I need my phone to do phone things — not pretend to be a tablet, especially not at double the price. For the same money as the Fold 7, I could just get a Galaxy Tab S10 Plus and a Flip 7.

Call me old school, but there’s something incredibly satisfying about ending a call by flipping the phone shut. Even if I’m alone in the room, I get the feel of those smug glasses dropping on my eyes in slow-mo — like I’m part of the meme world.

The Fold doesn’t take me to the original Motorola Razr era. I’d be hanging up calls like a regular phone user. And I can’t be like all the other billions of people with a boring rectangle, can I? A few million Flip users? That I can live with.

Early Flip models were easy to skip just for the battery life alone. But the Flip 7 now packs a 4,300mAh battery — not huge on paper, but surprisingly solid in daily use, especially because I spend most of my time on the smaller outer screen. It lasts me a full day easily if I’m not pushing it, which I usually don’t.

Cameras sure aren’t top-notch, and yes, I do miss the telephoto lens from the Fold. But honestly, I’ll take the comfort and price of the Flip over an extra zoom lens any day. The trade-off feels worth it.

In the Galaxy Z Flip 7 vs Fold 7 battle,  the winner is obvious to me. Between the two, I’m going with the Flip — not just because it’s cheaper, but because it finally feels like the foldable I always wanted. Lighter, smarter, easier to carry, and way more fun to use.

And if $1,100 still feels too steep, Samsung’s also made an FE version of the Flip this year at $899 — though it comes with last year’s design. If you’re okay with that, it’s a great entry point into the world of foldables, though you could still find a brand-new Flip 6 if you look around online.