Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 review: Sleek, smart and starting to settle in

Samsung’s seventh-generation Flip doesn’t break the mould, but it does polish it. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 is slim, fast, and filled with the kind of small improvements that only matter once you start living with the device. At its core, this is still the same formula: a full-sized phone that folds down into a tidy square. But the experience now feels smoother, smarter, and more stylish than ever.

Let’s start with what catches your eye first: the design. The Flip 7 still folds with that satisfying clunk, still has that visible crease (though a bit less distracting now), and still feels like a compact marvel in the hand. It’s a bit thinner when shut, a bit taller when open, and slightly lighter at 188 grams. These aren’t headline-grabbing changes, but together they make the Flip 7 feel more grown-up.

The big story this year is the outer screen. The new 4.1-inch AMOLED display wraps around the cameras and looks fantastic, especially in the dark metallic blue model. It’s not just a decoration. You can run full apps, reply to messages, launch Maps, and even use it as a proper viewfinder. You still need to download Samsung’s MultiStar plug-in from the Galaxy Store to use unsupported apps on the cover screen, which feels like an odd extra step. But once you do, it opens up a lot more flexibility.

Inside, the 6.9-inch foldable display remains a visual treat. Colours pop, scrolling is buttery smooth thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate, and brightness holds up even in direct sunlight. The soft polymer top layer still picks up fingerprints and glare, and it’s not as durable as a standard slab phone. That’s just the reality of flexible OLED tech right now. You’ll want to be a little more careful with it, but it doesn’t feel fragile.

Under the hood, the Flip 7 runs Samsung’s new Exynos 2500 chip with 12 GB of RAM. Daily use is snappy, animations are fluid, and multitasking feels natural. I played a couple of sessions of Genshin Impact and Asphalt 9, and performance held up well, though things did get warm after a while. Battery life is where the Flip 7 shows its limits. You’ll get through a full day with moderate use, but power users will be reaching for a charger by dinner. It supports 25W wired charging and 15W wireless, but both feel sluggish compared to the rest of the flagship world.

Samsung’s One UI 8, based on Android 16, is arguably the best custom Android experience you can get right now. It’s fast, clean, and packed with smart tools, especially on the Flip. Flex Mode is still clever, prop the phone open at an angle and you’ll get contextual controls like trackpads, playback buttons, and split UI layouts for supported apps. There’s also the new Now Bar, which acts like a smart status bar for ongoing tasks such as music, timers and active calls. AI features like on-device transcription and Google Gemini support are baked in, and they’re genuinely helpful rather than feeling tacked on.

Camera performance on the Flip 7 is solid, but not spectacular. The 50 MP main camera takes crisp, well-balanced shots in daylight. Colours lean slightly cool, but not overly so. In low light, results are hit-or-miss, with some noise and loss of detail. The 12 MP ultrawide sensor is good enough for landscapes and group shots, but lacks dynamic range in tougher conditions. The 10 MP selfie camera inside is serviceable, but for best results, using the main camera with the cover screen as a viewfinder is still the way to go. Flex Mode helps here too, letting you shoot hands-free or from interesting angles with the phone half-open.

Samsung promises seven years of software and security updates, which is excellent. The phone is IP48 rated, meaning it can handle splashes but not dust. The hinge feels durable, but you still don’t want to take this one to the beach.

In India, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 starts at ₹1,09,999 for the 256 GB model and ₹1,21,999 for the 512 GB. That puts it up against Samsung’s own S25+ and S25 Edge, as well as rivals like the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra and Xiaomi’s Mix Flip. But what the Flip 7 offers that the others don’t is pure polish. This is a phone built on years of iteration, with software and hardware working in quiet harmony. It’s not revolutionary anymore, but it doesn’t need to be.

What makes the Flip 7 still so compelling is the way it fits big-screen Android power into something that can slide into the smallest pocket. There’s a charm to the flip that hasn’t faded. And now, more than ever, it feels like the Flip is less of a cool experiment and more of a real phone for real life.

If you’re coming from an older Flip, the new outer screen and better cameras are enough of a reason to upgrade. If you’re new to foldables and want something practical that also makes a statement, the Flip 7 is the most refined option out there. It’s not flashy anymore. It’s just good and that’s a win.