July 9, 2025
By Bob O'Donnell
OK, let’s be honest. Most current smartphone designs are pretty boring. They all look and feel the same, regardless of platform. The only real difference has been in the software.
But what if physical design started to matter again? Imagine if you could have a phone that looked and felt and operated much differently than the mainstream slab of glass options. Of course, long-time industry observers know that option already exists in the form of foldable phones, now available from several vendors (and supposedly coming from Apple sometime next year).
The fact that foldables are far from a new concept and have been around for years, it’s surprising how many people still don’t seem to know about them. Whether I’m working in an airport lounge or out shopping at a retail store, I often get asked about the foldable phone(s) I carry with me.
Samsung clearly believes the physicality of phone design still matters and is hoping to capitalize on that ongoing interest with the debut of the latest editions of its Z Fold and Z Flip series foldable phones at the latest Galaxy Unpacked event in Brooklyn, NY. Both Android 16-based phones feature important improvements in their physical designs that should make them even more attractive to those who’ve been thinking about making the switch from a boring slab-style device or who’ve somehow just discovered the category. In fact, the changes the company made for this 7th generation of devices are as big as the collective changes they made in the first six generations.
The new Galaxy Z Flip7 is bound to turn a few more heads thanks to a back cover screen that now fills the entire area of the folded phone. To its credit, Motorola beat Samsung to the punch on this type of design with its latest Razr phones, but the change to Samsung’s latest Z Flip offers a noticeable improvement versus previous Samsung designs. The Galaxy Z Flip7 now fully leverages the 4.1” screen area available for the display and offers a full HD 1048 x 948 resolution.
The Z Flip7 also incorporates direct support for Google’s Gemini Live, allowing you to use your voice to make data requests, perform a wide variety of phone operations and more, even while the phone is closed. Additionally, you can do multi-modal AI requests by sharing the 50 MP wide or 12 MP ultrawide camera or screen image with Gemini Live. Samsung also brought its Dex technology to the Flip series for the first time, allowing you to directly connect the Flip7 to a large-screen monitor to get a PC-like experience. The latest Flip model also includes a 4,300 mAh battery, the largest ever in the Flip line.
For the full-size Galaxy Z Fold7 the physical design changes are even more dramatic, creating a big difference in the size, operation and feel of the device. Most importantly, the newest Z Fold is only 8.9 mm thick when folded—for reference, that’s only 0.7mm thicker than the S25 Ultra, .65 mm thicker than the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and 3.2 mm less than last year’s Z Fold6. Unfolded the Z Fold7 is just 4.2 mm thick. The net result is a phone that feels easier to hold and manage and, at 215 grams, is 24 grams lighter than before. In addition, the new phone offers a wider, more square aspect ratio versus previous designs with a width that’s 5 mm longer across than the previous model. The vertical height of the design is a bit taller than the last one as well, but the new larger width makes the front of the screen feel and operate more like a standard, slab-style phone when it’s closed (instead of the taller, skinnier design of previous generations). The design change also makes the internal screen feel bigger when you unfold the phone.
In fact, at 8.0” the new internal display of the Z Fold7 is 0.4” larger on the diagonal than the one found on the Z Fold6, which means 11% more screen. However, it looks and feels bigger and broader than that. One of the biggest benefits of this larger screen is the ability to do things like have a Gemini AI window open on one side of the phone and something else on the other. While that may not sound like a big deal in theory, in practice, this and other types of large-screen AI experiences really are transformational. They make using AI-based features much easier and allow you to integrate those experiences into your normal usage in a much more straightforward way.
In addition to the new design, the Z Fold7 now includes Samsung’s best new photography features, incorporating the hero 200 MP lens, 10-bit HDR processing, and computational photography software that the company first unveiled with the Galaxy S25 earlier this year. As with the Flip7, the Fold7 also integrates several AI enhancements as part of Google’s Gemini Live and Samsung’s One UI 8.
In another change, all worldwide models of the Z Fold7 now include Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Galaxy Edition chips, giving it the best possible performance. Previously, Samsung used some of its own Exynos chips in markets outside the US and Korea, but that is no longer the case on the Z Fold7. For the Z Flip7, however, Samsung is now using the Exynos 2500 for all its models, including those sold in the US.
Pricing on the Z Flip7 remains at $1,099 and Z Fold7 has gone up to $1,999. Unfortunately, the threat of South Korean tariffs might mean even higher prices in the near term. While the tariffs are obviously out of Samsung’s control, it’s clear the company felt that the extra cost necessary to create the better, more usable design for Z Fold7 was worth it. Plus, the price range is high enough that an incrementable change likely won’t make a huge difference—if you could afford last year’s model, you can also afford this year’s.
While the Z Flip7 price remained the same as last year’s model, it’s still a bit high for younger, typically more cost-sensitive buyers. Samsung is offering a lower-cost Flip7 FE at $899 to address some of these concerns. The FE model has the same basic design as last year’s Flip6, with a smaller Flex Window.
As someone who has used foldable phones as his daily driver since their debut over 6 years ago, I’ve come to recognize and really appreciate the importance of the physical design and dimensions of these devices. That’s why I’m pleased to see Samsung focus on these aspects in this generation of its Z line of foldable phones. The experience of using these devices is truly transformational, and getting the details right on the size, weight and percentage of screen to body ratio makes a big difference in that experience. In fact, I’d argue that in this early era of AI, these physical changes are even more important in the overall usability of the phone than any software changes. They represent a whole new generation of foldables—particularly the Z Fold7—that should drive renewed interest in the category. Potential pricing concerns aside, once people get to see and hold these phones, the devices will likely inspire more people to take the leap to foldables. Speaking from experience, it’s a decision that most people will never look back from, and one they’ll be happy they made.
Here's a link to the original column: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/samsungs-latest-foldables-stretch-limits-bob-o-donnell-fofhe
Bob O’Donnell is the president and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research, LLC a market research firm that provides strategic consulting and market research services to the technology industry and professional financial community. You can follow him on LinkedIn at Bob O’Donnell or on Twitter @bobodtech.
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