The writing’s been on the wall (and everyone’s newsfeed) for the past few weeks, but Samsung has finally unveiled its new crop of folding smartphones and smartwatches at its second Unpacked event for 2025.
As usual, the ‘leaks’ have turned out to be mostly accurate as far as the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and newcomer Flip 7 FE are concerned. Not that we’re complaining. This is the first time in a while that Samsung has launched devices that look appreciably different from the previous generation.
Maybe ‘different’ isn’t the right word, considering Samsung has stuck to its tried and tested design language of the last few years in the case of the Flip 7 and Flip 7 FE. But the new devices are certainly thinner, there’s no denying that, even if the difference requires you to get close and squint a bit to make ’em out properly.
Flip to paragraph 7
Other than its recent diet, the biggest change to the Flip 7 we first noticed was the edge-to-edge ‘Flex Window’, as Samsung calls it. It now measures 4in, supports a 120Hz refresh rate, can get up to 2,600 nits bright, and is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus Ceramic.
The internal folding display is now slightly larger at 6.9in, but is otherwise more or less the same as the last-gen Flip 6. We did notice the crease has seen improvements with how it feels under your fingers and visually when the display is powered on. So that’s something, at least.
The cover display still features cutouts for the 50MP main and 12MP ultrawide cameras. Those remain largely unchanged from last year’s Flip 6, at least as far as hardware goes. They’re joined by a 10MP sensor within the inner display, although we’re not entirely sure what the point of that one is, when the cover display can act as a digital viewfinder when you’re using the main 50MP sensor.
Internally, there’s an Exynos 2500 SoC inside pushing the pixels and crunching the numbers. It’s paired with 12GB of RAM and either 256GB or 512GB of non-expandable storage.
Lastly, the battery has also received an upgrade, although rather minor. You now get 4,200mAh of life with the same paltry 25W wired and 15W wireless charging specs.
The Flip 7’s little brother
The Flip FE, while technically new, will look very familiar. So familiar, in fact, that we were told your Flip 6 accessories should fit like a glove. If your next thought is ‘then why don’t I just get the Flip 6’, you better hurry, those are being discontinued (if they haven’t been already).
The major difference between the Flip FE and Flip 6 is the chipset. Where the Flip 6 housed a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the Flip 7 FE will sport an Exynos 2400 with 128GB or 256GB of storage. You can find the rest of the specs here.
Finally, we get to price and availability. If Samsung does what it did last year, you shouldn’t have to wait long at all before you’re able to pre-order your new foldable (if you really want to). The Galaxy Z Flip 7 starts at R25,000 for the 256GB model and reaches R27,500 for 512GB, whereas the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE will require you to part with R18,500 for 128GB storage or R21,500 for the 256GB model.
It obviously proved to be worth it over the last couple of years, so Samsung is once again offering storage upgrades to those who pre-order. Pay for the 256GB model and you’ll get the 512GB model at no extra charge.
