Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 Hands-on: Cautiously optimistic

While I was pretty impressed by the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 with its slightly lower price, wider cover screen and incredibly slim body, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 is a bit less exciting this year. Don’t get me wrong, Samsung has made improvements, such as a larger 4.1-inch Cover Screen, but is that enough to put it ahead of the Razr competition? I’m not sure.

Despite my reservations, the 4.1-inch Cover Screen looks great, and I love that it’s nearly bezel-less. And this screen finally reaches a 120Hz refresh rate, which I love. Samsung is also pushing AI features for this device, and you can do a lot with the handset without flipping the phone open. This includes using Now Brief, Google Gemini and Gemini Live.

During my hands-on session, someone showed me a demo of them using AI features to prepare for their next trip. Now Brief pulled information from their email about a flight to South Korea and provided information about the upcoming trip. Then the rep summoned Gemini and asked about the weather for the trip, pulled up Gemini Live and shared their camera with the AI as they showed them different outfit options and asked what outfit would be best for the weather while they were there and picked restaurants that would complement the outfit and what they were aiming to eat. The demo was seamless; they didn’t have to open their phone to prepare for their trip.

I don’t think the Z Flip 7 feels much different in your hand compared to the Z Flip 6, but the handset feels nice and solid. I like that the hinge isn’t flimsy, and you can barely see the crease.

Upgrades for the device include a 6.9-inch display with a 1-120Hz refresh rate; it’s also a bit thinner, which I didn’t immediately realize but might explain why it felt better in my hand. Additionally, it has a larger 4,300mAh battery that accommodates the slightly larger Cover screen and inner displays.

It also has an Exynos 2500 chipset, which is odd considering that most Samsung flagships have a Qualcomm chipset. I couldn’t tell you the last time I used a device with an Exynos chipset, so that will be pretty interesting. According to NotebookCheck, the Z Flip 7 appeared on Geekbench ahead of today’s launch, which revealed that the chip is more similar to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 than this year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite. However, I’d have to put the phone through its paces before I can say anything concrete about its performance.

Camera-wise, we’re looking at the same sensors as last year: a 50-megapixel with an f/1.8 aperture, a 12-megapixel shooter with an f/2.2 aperture, and a 10-megapixel camera with an f/2.2 aperture. I expect a similar experience to last year in this department. Here’s what I said about the Z Flip 6’s camera experience:

“Pictures are vivid, bright and in true Samsung fashion, there’s a bit of oversaturation. Some people (like me) enjoy this, but it’s not for everyone. The sky is slightly bluer, and the grass is a bit greener; still, it’s pleasing to the eye, and turning off the scene optimizer helps a bit. Oversaturation, notwithstanding the primary shooter, also has a great high dynamic range, showcasing the difference between bright whites and darker shadows. Lowlight performance was all right. I brought the handset to karaoke with me and captured some great photos and videos of my friends and I that were definitely Instagram-worthy. However, there is still a bit of noise, and shots can vary a lot if the sensor is too dark. Still, I’m happy Samsung improved, giving the Z Flip 6 a proper flagship camera.”

I expect something similar this time, but the Exynos chipset’s image processor might change things. I look forward to testing out this device’s cameras, but I’m hoping it’s the same as last year or better, and hopefully not worse.

I really liked this year’s Razr Ultra, but Motorola increased the price of its handset to $1,899, which is a little much. Compared to $1,462, Samsung’s handset seems like a better option. Of course, the Razr Ultra has a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, a 4,700mAh battery, a 50-megapixel triple camera setup, 16GB of RAM and more, which makes it more ‘Ultra’ than the Z Flip 7.

It’s impressive that Samsung is not raising the price of the Z Flip 7 in Canada, but also providing a better experience. While the phone itself isn’t all that exciting, especially compared to the Razr Ultra, the Z Flip 7 might be foldable if you want a solid experience but don’t want to pay $1,900. Of course, I’ll need to put this through its paces before making any concrete judgments.