I doubt I was alone in waiting patiently for Samsung to take a serious attempt at an affordable foldable phone.
On paper, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE is that attempt; it’s the cheapest foldable in the company’s lineup, and an apparent effort to broaden the Flip’s potential audience. Not everyone has over £1000/$1000 to spend on a phone, after all.
But after spending time with the Flip 7 FE, I keep coming back to the same feeling: that this is simply a cleverly repackaged Flip 6, but with a few downgrades. That’d be an easier pill to swallow had the Flip 6 not dropped to a price lower than the Flip 7 FE’s £849/$899 price point.
Let me explain.
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The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE isn’t a bad phone
At £849/$899, the Flip 7 FE is cheaper than the frankly fabulous Galaxy Z Flip 7 – but not really cheap enough to offset what has been cut.
The design is basically the Flip 6 in everything but name and colour, which on its own wouldn’t be a problem if Samsung had balanced that with a big step forward where it counts for everyday use.
Instead, the areas where I want a budget-friendly foldable to shine – cover screen, battery life, performance – are exactly where the compromises show.
Don’t get me wrong; there’s still a lot to like about the Flip 7 FE. Now on its seventh iteration of Flip, Samsung really knows how to build a solid-feeling clamshell with a confident-feeling hinge, premium aluminium frame and a great screen, and at 187g, it remains a compact little foldable that’ll slip into a pocket with no problem.
The accompanying 6.7-inch internal AMOLED screen is bright and smooth at 120Hz, and while the tall 22:9 aspect ratio can feel narrower than the wider alternative from the Flip 7, the panel itself is vivid and crisp with plenty of punch.
I also appreciate that the camera hardware matches the pricier Flip 7 with a 50MP and 12MP ultrawide that produce pleasing, social-ready shots in good light, and even at night, Samsung’s processing keeps shots usable.
And, of course, seven years of OS upgrades is a massive win for longevity.
It’s a step or two behind in important areas
However, there are plenty of areas where the Flip 7 FE just doesn’t cut it – all the more frustrating when most of the issues have been fixed with the pricier Flip 7.
Let’s start with the cover screen – easily the phone’s Achilles’ heel. At 3.4 inches with a quirky cutout shape, a 720 x 748 resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate, it’s fine for a quick glance at notifications and basic widgets, but that’s about it.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7
In 2025, when budget rivals like Motorola’s Razr 60 are squeezing much more of Android onto their cover screens with sharper, faster, larger panels, Samsung’s FE alternative feels a step or two behind.
Performance is another area where the ‘budget’ choice is visible, swapping the Flip 6’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Samsung’s year-old Exynos 2400 chipset and dropping RAM from 12GB to 8GB.
That said, it doesn’t completely tank the day-to-day experience, and it’s faster than the Razr 60’s Dimensity 7400X alternative. But whether that performance will be sustained for the apparent seven-year life of the foldable is yet to be seen.
Battery life lands in a similar ‘good enough, but not great’ zone.
The 4000mAh cell can make it through lighter days, but it wobbles when you crank up elements like video and camera use, and the 25W charging feels stuck in another era when Flip-style alternatives like the Xiaomi Mix Flip offer a bigger 4780mAh battery and faster 67W charging for £50 less.
A good phone, priced slightly too high
That being said, I feel like Samsung has priced its budget foldable slightly too high given the specs on offer, and that, as mentioned earlier, the year-old but more powerful Flip 6 is available for less.
I think if the phone had been released with a price somewhere closer to the £699-£799/$699-$799 mark, I’d be more forgiving about Samsung recycling the design and much of the spec. At £849/$899, though, just £200/$200 less than the full-fat Flip 7 that offers significant upgrades in most areas, it feels like a choice nobody should make.
Don’t misunderstand me; I’m genuinely glad that Samsung has finally dipped its toe into the affordable foldable market – the category desperately needs it with some foldables coming close to £2000/$2000. And, I don’t think the Flip 7 FE is a bad phone; it’s tidy, compact and pleasant to use overall.
But pleasant at £849 isn’t enough to spark excitement – not in the same way that cheaper foldables like the Razr 60 and Xiaomi Mix Flip do. If you can find the Flip 7 FE at a discount, you’ll get a stronger recommendation from me, but at its full asking price, you’d be better off elsewhere.
