Samsung has released details of its newest foldable smartphones, with the Galaxy Fold 7 (barring any surprises) emerging as the device to own if you’re all about performance. Featuring Samsung’s latest custom-specced Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, its massive 200MP main camera, and the thinnest folded profile in a Fold yet, it’s the Samsung to own if it absolutely has to fold (and still function afterwards).
Bigger screen, skinnier body
Samsung may have taken the thinner folding smartrphones personally, since its Fold 7 is the thinnest phone it has designed to date. It measures just 8.9mm when folded down, an impressive enough feat that we initially mistook it for one of the Galaxy S25 series phones when we encountered it in person. Flipped open, it measures just 4.2mm through.
You’d think that might be too much but a) you won’t transport it in that orientation and b) Samsung’s combination of its Advanced Armour aluminium frame and Victus 2 Ceramic glass makes the whole thing surprisingly sturdy.
As expected from the recent leak, Samsung has opted for an 8in 2X Dynamic AMOLED internal display, while using a 6.5in outer screen with a new, thicker glass held in place by an improved adhesive. The company reckons the screens are larger than the Fold 6 by 11%. We’ll take them at their word because we’ve got no interest in doing maths.
Despite the increased screen size (and because of the slimmer profile), this handset weighs just 215 grams. The redesigned Armorflex hinge and a new titanium lattice structure are contributors there.
Better cameras all round
The weakest point of any Samsung folding smartphone was always the camera, but Samsung has pulled out some big guns (by making them small guns) here. The Galaxy Fold 7 uses a 200MP main sensor, made possible by creating a thinner lens. We’re waiting to see the performance in person before making judgements, but it’s quite an on-paper upgrade for the series.
There are also software improvements to look forward to, specifically for camera performance. Samsung says its Provisual engine will provide enhanced nighttime shots for anyone looking to capture the darkness. A 100° front-facing camera lets owners fit more people in front of the selfie cam, presumably so they can appreciate how expensive this phone is.
AI, of course
If you’re paying attention to the hardware changes, you’ll see that there isn’t much happening. Yes, there’s a bigger camera and a thinner frame, but it’s all so… incremental. Thankfully for Samsung, there’s artificial intelligence to talk up. Last year’s features are all present, but special implementations have been made to take advantage of the Galaxy Fold 7’s screens.
Photo Assist lets users perform dual-screen editing, with a side-by-side view of the original image as well as the changes being made. Audio Eraser, which works in Samsung’s Video Player, Voice Recorder, Notes, and Call Transcript, lets users blank out background noise like wind or murmuring crowds in short order.
Multimodal AI and optimisation for the increased screen size are key features but Samsung didn’t seem too specific on how the former would be useful. It was more of a ‘we give you the tools to figure it out’ scenario. We’re sure someone will come up with something.
Oh, yes, and Circle to Search will now work in games, in case you need to search how to play the thing while you’re playing it.
Want a Galaxy Fold 7? It’ll cost you R43,000 before any Samsung trade-in program to grab the 256GB edition, R46,000 for the 512GB model, and R50,000 for a solid terabyte of storage. Samsung pre-orders should be open soon. We’ll have more details of local offers then.
