Alongside the premium Galaxy Z Flip 7, Samsung introduced the budget-friendly Z Flip 7 FE.
A Samsung FE phone (short for Fan Edition) is generally more affordable than Samsung’s flagship models, yet still promises to include most of the premium features.
So what’s the difference between the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and its cheaper counterpart, Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE? Do you need to splurge on the more expensive model, or is the FE version just as good?
Ahead of their official release later this month, we explain everything you need to know about the Z Flip 7 and Z Flip 7 FE below and whether either phone has what it takes to make it into our selection of the best foldables.
Not sure what’s new with the Z Flip 7? Our Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 vs Z Flip 6 guide should answer your burning questions.
Price and Availability
At the time of writing, both the Z Flip 7 and Z Flip 7 FE are currently available for pre-order ahead of release on 25th July.
The Z Flip 7 is the pricier of the two, starting at £1049/$1099 for the 256GB-sized handset and £1149/$1219.99 for the 512GB-sized alternative.
As it’s an FE iteration, it’s unsurprising that the Z Flip 7 FE is significantly cheaper, with a decent starting price of £849/$899 for a 128GB model or £909 for a 256GB model.
Keep in mind that although the Z Flip 7 FE doesn’t offer quite as much storage as the Z Flip 7, both come with Google AI Pro and 2TB of cloud storage for six months at no extra cost.
The Galaxy Z Flip 7 runs on Exynos 2500
Unlike the Galaxy S25 series, which runs on Qualcomm’s custom Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip, the Z Flip 7 series instead uses Samsung’s own Exynos processors. While the Z Flip 7 FE runs on Exynos 2400, the Z Flip 7 is powered by the newer Exynos 2500.
Sure, we’ve been blown away by the capability of Snapdragon 8 Elite, with a lot of the best Android phones of the year so far running on the processor, but that doesn’t mean the Z Flip 7 series is lacking without it. In fact, we’d argue it makes more sense for the powerful Snapdragon chip to be in a productivity-focused model like the Galaxy Z Fold 7, for example.
Plus, while we haven’t benchmarked the chip just yet, we still found the Exynos 2500 felt “more than fast enough to deliver a super-smooth experience” during our hands-on time.
The Exynos 2400 was quite controversial upon its release, as it was found in the UK and EU versions of the Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus, whereas handsets in the US were powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chip instead.
Although Samsung promised that there was no difference between the two, we found that the S24 was significantly more powerful with the Snapdragon chip than the Exynos.
Even with that in mind, we still found the Exynos 2400 to offer fast, everyday performance in the Galaxy S24, which can even handle intensive games with ease.
The Galaxy Z Flip 7 has larger displays
Last year, the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra boasted one of the largest cover displays found in a clamshell foldable, measuring 4 inches. While the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE’s display is considerably smaller at 3.4 inches, the Z Flip 7 is even bigger at 4.1 inches.
Not only does this make the cover screen the largest ever on a Galaxy Z Flip, but Samsung Labs now offers the ability to run almost any app via the pocket-sized display, which means it’s much more useful too.
The Z Flip 7 also features a larger main display at 6.9 inches, which boasts a 21:9 aspect ratio. This should mean that content won’t look quite as tall and narrow as its predecessors. While there’s still a noticeable crease, we have found it to be less visible than on the Z Flip 6.
While the Z Flip 7 FE’s main display is slightly smaller at 6.7 inches, it still shares a lot of the same display technologies as its pricier counterpart, including AMOLED technology and support for widgets and (some) apps.
Galaxy Z Flip 7 is slimmer
Although the Z Flip 7 FE is slightly lighter at 187g whereas the Z Flip 7 is 188g, the latter is thinner when folded. In fact, measuring at just 13.7mm, the Z Flip 7 is hailed as being the slimmest Z Flip yet.
That’s not to say the Z Flip 7 FE is particularly hefty. In fact, at 14.9mm, the Z Flip 7 FE is the same size as the Z Flip 6, which we found was convenient and easy to carry around.
Both have three cameras
Both the Z Flip 7 and Z Flip 7 FE feature a total of three cameras, comprising a 10MP front lens, a 50MP main lens, and a 12MP ultrawide lens at the rear. The dual rear camera system promises to deliver “flagship-level clarity in any lighting”, enhanced Nightography and FlexCam shots, the latter of which allow users to capture content without opening the device.
Plus, both handsets naturally include Galaxy AI’s photo editing suite, which allows you to remove unwanted objects from photos, add filters or change the style with Portrait Studio and Live Effect.
Galaxy Z Flip 7 has a bigger battery
Much like the Z Flip 6, the Z Flip 7 FE sports a 4000mAh battery cell, whereas the Z Flip 7’s is larger at 4300mAh. Although both batteries may sound small when compared to most of the best smartphones and even some of the best cheap smartphones, this is the norm with foldables.
Given that we found the Z Flip 6’s battery to offer at least a full day’s use in light usage (around three hours or so of screen time). However, very light phone users had the potential to see up to two days of battery use too.
We can reasonably expect the Z Flip 7 FE to mirror our experience with the Z Flip 6, while the Z Flip 7 should hopefully offer even more power.
Early Verdict
At this early stage, if you want the best clamshell foldable that Samsung has to offer, then the Z Flip 7 is an easy choice, thanks to its newer and more powerful chipset, larger cover screen, and its improved battery life.
However, if you’ve been tempted by a foldable for a while, but have been put off by the high price tag, then the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE is a brilliant yet more affordable alternative. Sure, you’ll miss out on the faster speeds and the larger yet slimmer cover screen, but the handset still promises to offer a solid everyday performance.
We’ll be sure to update this article as soon as we review both models.
