I waited ages for an affordable Galaxy flip phone, but the Z Flip 7 FE isn’t it

Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Flip way back in 2020, and it’s lingered around the $1,000 mark ever since. We got our first hint of more affordable flip phones when Motorola started to launch cheaper Razr entries, followed by offerings from brands like nubia and TECNO on the global market. But our prayers for a more affordable Galaxy Z Flip phone went unanswered.

Now, Samsung has finally launched the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE alongside the more expensive Galaxy Z Flip 7. However, after testing the Flip 7 FE for a week or so, I’m sad to say my prayers for a more affordable Z Flip that I can fully enjoy using haven’t been answered yet.

I only had to get my hands on the phone for a few seconds during the initial press briefing to realize that the Flip 7 FE is effectively the Galaxy Z Flip 6 in terms of design. In fact, a Samsung representative told me at the time that it was using the Z Flip 6 “chassis.” That’s not a lie, as the dimensions are identical to last year’s Flip phone. It even has the same 187-gram weight as the Z Flip 6.

This also means the phone has the same folder-shaped cover screen and a near-identical 6.7-inch folding OLED panel as the Z Flip 6. The 22:9 aspect ratio means the main screen still feels a little too tall and narrow for my liking, even compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and vivo X Fold 5. The cover screen might be smaller than the Z Flip 7’s outer display, but it’s large enough for my liking. You’ll sometimes need to type on this screen, and while it’s an unsurprisingly cramped experience, it also wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

The shared design extends to durability as well. Expect an Armor Aluminum frame, Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection on the cover screen, and an IP48 rating. Samsung says the Z Flip 7 and Z Fold 7 have 50% thicker ultra-thin glass as well for improved foldable screen protection. But I’m guessing the FE model didn’t get this upgrade. Then again, there’s no hiding the fact that folding screens can be damaged by a firm press of your fingernail.

In any event, I’m not really upset to see Samsung recycling the same design as last year’s phone or the Z Flip 5. This is supposed to be a cheaper Flip phone anyway.

Once you’ve turned on the phone, you’ll be greeted by One UI 8 atop Android 16. One odd observation is that my review unit is still stuck on the May 2025 security patch and hasn’t received further updates. I’m guessing Samsung South Africa sent me a unit with pre-release firmware, so take that with a pinch of salt — Samsung’s excellent seven years of software updates policy applies here.

In any event, Samsung has overhauled its cover screen widget system. You can now have up to four 1×1 widgets on each screen, just one huge widget, or something in between (two or three widgets). That’s great news, but we were led to believe that any main screen widget can now be used on the cover display. That’s definitely not the case here, as I’m restricted to Samsung’s widgets, Outlook, and the Google app. That’s a real shame, especially if you’ve got third-party widgets you love using on the main screen.

In fact, One UI 8 really feels like a missed opportunity for Samsung to match or even surpass Motorola for cover screen versatility. In addition to the less-than-ideal widget situation, Samsung still requires you to download the MultiStar app if you want to run any app on the outer screen. By contrast, Motorola lets you run any app on the secondary display by default. It really is high time for Samsung to up its game in this area.

Otherwise, Samsung’s software is still a hit in other areas. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE offers plenty of neat features under the Galaxy AI banner, such as a voice recorder with on-device summaries/transcriptions, writing tools, the Audio Eraser tool, and generative photo editing. I was also glad to see call recording and transcription functionality, as this isn’t available on my Pixel over here. Unfortunately, the actual transcription quality is really poor, even when colleague Andy Walker spoke slowly. That’s extremely frustrating, but at least the recording itself worked without a hitch.

I’m a big fan of the Good Lock suite of apps. These allow you to deeply customize your phone in a way that no other Android skin allows. But you don’t have to download these apps if you want plenty of features, as One UI brings loads of options. One thing you won’t find is Dex, though, despite the Galaxy Z Flip 7 finally offering this feature.

Now that we’ve established that the Z Flip 7 FE uses the same design as the Z Flip 6, you’d think Samsung would use last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. However, the company has opted to use 2024’s Exynos 2400 chipset instead. This is the same chip seen in some Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus models. I’m guessing the Exynos 2400 was cheaper than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

Unfortunately, our testing shows that the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE doesn’t keep up with the Z Flip 6 when it comes to CPU testing. The Flip 7 FE lags slightly behind last year’s phone in single-core results, but lags well behind the Flip 6 in multi-core performance. There’s clearly more than enough CPU power for demanding tasks, but every disparity is notable when weighing up a purchase between these two phones.

Things don’t improve much when we turn our attention to GPU stress tests. These tests don’t reflect real-world scenarios, either, but do give us a broad idea of what to expect from demanding games and advanced apps a few years from now. Flip phones seldom perform well in these tests due to their constrained form factors, but the Z Flip 6 holds a consistently firm advantage over the Z Flip 7 FE in the Wild Life Stress Test. The FE also trails last year’s Flip in the Wild Life Extreme Stress Test, although it seems to hold a more consistent level of performance.

Take a closer look at the temperature in these stress test graphs, however, and you’ll see that the Z Flip 7 FE generally runs cooler than the Z Flip 6 throughout these tests. Furthermore, the FE is neck-and-neck with the Z Flip 6 in the Solar Bay test and briefly beats it.

I didn’t have any problems with the phone’s real-world performance, though. The device generally flew when swiping between home screens, launching apps, using the camera, and multitasking. I also tried a couple of big-name games like War Thunder Mobile and GRID Legends. GRID did see some initial stutter when playing in graphics priority mode, but this judder quickly resolved itself and resulted in a fluid experience. Meanwhile, War Thunder delivered a smooth experience at maximum graphics, high resolution, and an admittedly conservative 30fps with ray tracing disabled. Both games resulted in a very warm phone, but it never felt hot.

The Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE ships with the same 4,000mAh battery as last year’s phone. This battery, in concert with the Exynos 2400, delivers solid if unimpressive results. I generally ended my days with 40% juice remaining after moderate usage (WhatsApp, Reddit, a few minutes of gaming, YouTube/Pocket Casts). But I found that getting to the end of the second day was a major challenge. I was able to eke out just over five and a half hours of screen-on time in these situations. Pushing things with mobile games and hefty downloads resulted in roughly four hours of screen-on time. I’m laying some of the blame on the firmware, but I still wouldn’t expect a full two days of juice without significant cutbacks in usage.

Samsung’s phone supports a measly 25W wired charging, which is in line with the Z Flip 7 and Z Fold 7. Sure enough, the phone takes just over 70 minutes to reach a 100% charge when plugged into my 65W USB-PD charger. Bear in mind that this is a 4,000mAh battery. That’s pretty disappointing when rivals like the Razr 2025 offer faster charging times despite the thermally constrained form factor and a larger battery.

The Z Flip 7 FE also features the same cameras as the Z Flip 6. That means a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide lens, and a 10MP selfie camera. I wasn’t impressed with these shots owing to excess noise and general softness in mixed lighting and occasionally in good lighting. This is likely due to the firmware once again, so I’m willing to give Samsung a pass here. At least I found the colors to be pleasant for the most part. However, the lack of a zoom lens was readily apparent. You can get away with solid 2x snaps, but detail quickly falls apart thereafter.

In any event, I’m still glad to see a few extras like custom filter functionality, Expert Raw support, and Single Take. I’ve said this before, but Single Take on a Flip phone is such a great way to capture pets or little kids.

The real issue I had with the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE while using it was the constant voice in my head reminding me of the price. $899 is expensive for what is effectively the Exynos Z Flip 6 that never was. If you can find a proper Galaxy Z Flip 6 for this price or even lower, it’s a better buy.

A Samsung regional executive told me prior to launch that the Z Flip 7 FE was a contract play, allowing Flip 3 and Flip 4 owners to upgrade their contracts for the same price as their old Flip. That feels like a tacit admission that the Flip 7 is more expensive rather than the Z Flip 7 FE being more affordable.

Speaking of “more affordable,” the Motorola Razr (2025) ($599.99 at Amazon) is easily the most compelling Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE alternative, and it’s well worth a look if you actually want a cheaper flip phone. Motorola’s flip phone offers a less capable chipset, a smaller main camera sensor, fewer AI features, and a less impressive update policy. Then again, it only costs $700 and still offers better cover screen software, a larger battery, wired/wireless charging, and more base storage.

I really hope Samsung revisits this concept next year and offers a more competitive price, as it would be a shame if the Z Flip 7 FE were a one-and-done. Better yet, I hope the company goes aggressive with a $700 Flip phone — a Galaxy A Flip, if you will.