At the Galaxy Unpacked event held in New York, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Galaxy Z Flip 7 and the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE. While you can check out the details of the Z Fold 7 here, this story will highlight my thoughts on the Galaxy Z Flip 7. Let’s break it down into seven things I liked.
Table of Contents
Design
Having a big phone can be a hassle to carry. I can’t count the number of jeans that have torn around the pocket thanks to bulky phones packed into bulky cases. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 is slightly thinner and taller than the Z Flip 6. The Z Flip 7 has a thickness of 6.5mm unfolded and 13.7mm folded, as compared to the Z Flip 6, which measured 6.9mm unfolded and 14.9mm folded. The small dimension changes go a long way in making the device feel more compact to hold.
Cover screen
The cover screen of the Z Flip 7 is the star of the show and yet another significant upgrade from the Z Flip 6. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 features a 4.1-inch cover screen that blends seamlessly into the camera, compared to the 3.4-inch cover screen on its predecessor. The Z Flip 7’s cover screen also features a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 2,600 nits, surpassing the predecessor’s 60Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 1,600 nits. In my time with the device, I could put my favourite photos on the cover display and watch the colours pop as well as use it as a trusty mirror, check apps and notifications and most importantly, use it as an AI assistant without opening the display. More on the AI functions in a bit.
Cameras
Holy smokes, the camera takes awesome pictures! In the limited time I spent with the Z Flip 7, the performance of the camera was one of the best standout features. The cover features a 50MP wide-angle camera and a 12MP ultrawide camera. Flip open the device, and you have a 10MP camera.
I took most of the photos in my time with the device using the 50MP main camera, and granted, I was in a well-lit room, but the photos looked crisp, with sharp edges, incredible detail and vibrant colours. But you will have to stay tuned for our full review to know how the cameras perform.
Display
The main display of the phone unfolds into a 6.7-inch 21:9 screen, which is great for cinephiles. If you don’t like the black bar that you get when watching content on your 16:9 phone or 4:3 tablets, then this one is the display for you. The cherry on the cake is the 120Hz refresh rate and Samsung’s vibrant colour reproduction, thanks to the AMOLED display. I watched a bunch of YouTube videos in high bitrate, and it was a cinematic experience. It will also be a great display for social media addicts, as you can see more content on the screen at a time.
Good performance
OK, I understand the apprehension that the Galaxy Z Flip 7 will be powered by the Exynos 2500. But the Exynos 2500 is built on the same 3nm process as the Snapdragon 8 Elite and has decent specs on paper, such as a powerful NPU for AI tasks. Considering the audience the Z Flip 7 is targeted at, pure raw horsepower may not be the answer. As long as the device can deliver good sustained performance for extended periods of use, most users should find no reason to complain. However, we’ll reserve our final judgement for when we get the device in for review.
Galaxy AI
This is where the use case of the Flip blew me away. So you can access Gemini from the cover screen directly and take care of all your AI tasks. But you can also use the camera to ask Gemini questions like “which shirt would be better for my meeting today?” while holding up 2 shirts and get an answer. The use cases are infinite where you need to highlight something visually and don’t need to “open to phone” to get it done. Stay tuned as we will highlight more use cases in our review.
7 years of updates
The Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Z Fold 7 will get 7 years of OS and security updates, which is a lot. Think of it this way – you can use the phone for 7 years and not feel left out or if you pass the device onto a family member in 3-4 years and move to a new device, they have another 3-4 years if updates before they are locked out of new OS/security features making the device quite futureproof.
Overall, the Z Flip 7 is a worthy upgrade over its predecessors, bringing some innovative features, design and camera improvements, and a cover screen that’s a real showstopper. However, we are looking at putting the Exynos 2500 through its paces to see how well it can perform when compared to the competition. So, stay tuned for our full review.
Now, when it comes to value for money, it depends on how much utility you can derive from the Z Flip 7. The device starts at a whopping Rs 1,09,999 for the 256GB variant, and the 512GB variant is priced at Rs 1,21,999. The Z Flip 7 will be available in Blue Shadow, Jet Black and Coral Red colour options.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 Images
