I’d given up on Samsung’s foldables, but the Z Fold 7 and Flip 7 give me faith

I thought Samsung’s foldables were dead in the water. Leading up to Unpacked, I had almost nothing to be excited about with the Galaxy Z Flip 7 or Z Fold 7, because I assumed they’d be more of the same. After all, that’s mostly what Samsung has done in the last few years — make a few minor updates, add new AI features, and trust you to buy them anyway because there’s no other competition. And, if that stayed true, I was all too happy to stick with a Razr Ultra in my pocket or a Pixel 9 Pro Fold when I wanted a book-style setup.

Well, I was wrong. Samsung surprised me by taking a step back to look at where its foldables were flopping and decided to make some changes. I’ve only spent time with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 so far, but I finally have a little faith that Samsung might have its eyes back on the foldable throne, and here’s why.

Given my usual preference for the flip side of the foldable market, it’s been a while since I’ve had my hands on a Galaxy Z Fold. This year, though, the Fold 7 landed in my lap with more than a few surprises inside of its ever slimmer aluminum chassis. Perhaps the biggest surprise, at least to me, was that Samsung finally seemed ready to move on from features that seemed like bright ideas that haven’t played out.

Specifically, I couldn’t be happier that the under-display selfie camera is gone. Samsung gave its old 4MP sensor a good run, it really did, but between you and me, it always looked terrible. I always felt like I may as well have been using the selfie camera on a cheap Amazon Fire Tab (sorry, Amazon), which led me to prefer either the punch hole on the cover screen or the primary camera while holding the phone wide open — a move that probably looked as ridiculous as it felt. However, you can’t argue with the power of a much larger 50MP (now 200MP thanks to another upgrade) selfie shooter to highlight one of the best Android camera setups.

The other change that has made me feel like Samsung is back on the right track is that the Galaxy Z Fold 7 finally feels like a normal phone. On one hand, I think I can understand why Samsung kept the cover screen aspect ratio on its previous model so narrow — it forced you to use the internal display more often. For me, though, it made the overall experience so uncomfortable that I’d barely touch a Fold at all. I just couldn’t make my fingers dance across the razor-thin display gracefully enough.

This time, everything has changed. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 has a much more normal 21:9 aspect ratio, which feels more traditional and gives the keyboard a little more space to breathe. When combined with a thickness when closed of just under 9mm, I don’t feel like I have an awkward bar in my pocket so much as just a slightly thicker Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Basically, Samsung has finally given the Galaxy Z Fold 7 a few of the features that I loved most about its closest rivals — the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and the OnePlus Open. It’s taken a few steps sideways to move forward, slimming its flagship in the process. There’s one slight hiccup to that imitation, though: The S Pen is a thing of the past. Part of slimming down its supercharged foldable meant stripping out the digitizer layer, which means your beloved stylus is little more than an extra-long way to itch behind your ears now.

Over on the Galaxy Z Flip 7, I’m going to shamelessly praise Samsung’s decision to steal the cover screen from Motorola’s top-end Razrs. It’s about three years late, but the swap from a 3.4-inch 60Hz AMOLED panel to a 4.1-inch 120Hz panel makes the new Flip feel much more worthy of its price tag. It doesn’t function differently from the Galaxy Z Flip 6 display, still requiring Good Lock for most apps, but the upgraded appearance goes a long way.

I’m also pleased to see Samsung put its flagship flip phone through a bit of a squish and stretch process, another change that should make it more comfortable. The new model is a smidge taller (about a millimeter) and a touch wider (closer to 5mm), but the expanded chassis now houses a larger 6.9-inch foldable display, once again bringing it just a little bit closer to the Razr Ultra that’s otherwise held a permanent place in my pocket. Granted, I’d still probably rather feel the Razr’s rounded edges as I reach into my pocket, but I’m glad Samsung is finally looking to its competition.

That said, I have less praise for the Galaxy Z Flip 7. Honestly, there’s just a lot more that Samsung could learn from its closest US-based rival. For starters, Motorola’s cover screen is still brighter at 3,000 nits, smoother with a 165Hz refresh rate, and much easier to use without the need for Good Lock. I can simply load up an app and open it wherever needed. Mix in a 4,700mAh battery with 68W wired charging, and Samsung’s stubborn refusal to move beyond 25W and a 4,300mAh cell feels pretty pedestrian.

But I’m here to celebrate Samsung’s wins, so let’s move on.

The biggest and best thing that Samsung has done for its Galaxy Z series is simple: It’s changed. Yes, I know Samsung could probably sit on its laurels and say that it has more of a market share than the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, and it could probably point out that it offers more software updates than any Razr that Motorola makes, but it’s finally, finally not doing that. It’s listening to reviewer after reviewer say, “This phone feels too narrow and uncomfortable,” or “I’m not sure why the Flex Window looks like that,” and responding appropriately.

When I take a step back, I realize that Samsung might have teased some of these upgrades ahead of time, at least for the Galaxy Z Fold 7. I’m on record as not liking the Galaxy S25 Edge — not at all, in fact — but the latest Fold picks up mostly where the ultra-thin Edge left off. It nabs a similar, slimmed-down frame, a nearly identical multi-layer camera bump, and buttons that take up almost the entire width of the chassis, but everything seems to combine more cohesively.

I’m still not sure anyone should buy the Edge, but maybe it’s a sign to start looking towards other Samsung launches for clues of what might come next. The next Ultra could pull from the Fold, or the next Edge could pull from the Flip, or I could be wrong on all counts. No matter what it turns out to be, I’m glad that Samsung has made me care again.