My first 24 hours with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 left me completely mesmerized

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Has Samsung finally done it? I've been asking myself that question this whole day, as I've been going about life with the Galaxy Z Fold 7. By now, my previous daily driver, the Pixel 9 Pro, devoid of SIM cards and battery life, has been relegated to my drawer of forgottenness. With a foldable this thin, light, and capable, it just had to be this way.

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Samsung's latest Z Fold 7 looks and feels like what tech enthusiasts had all hoped for when the form factor was introduced six years ago. It also looks like a 'phone from the future,' as my Uber driver curiously put it during an afternoon trip yesterday.

Then I broke the bad news: the Samsung phone costs $2,000. That earned me a startled laugh -- hopefully a five-star rating, too.

My first day with the Z Fold 7 made one thing clear to me: slim phones, whether they fold or not, are here to stay. Compared to its predecessor, the Z Fold 7 is noticeably thinner (3.2mm less), with a weight that's 24 grams lighter, and a pair of displays that are both wider and larger. While those may just be numbers on a spec sheet, they equate to a hardware experience that's significantly improved compared to last year's Z Fold 6.

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The sides of the Z Fold 7 fit the contours of my palm more naturally when my other hand is holding onto a subway pole, the 6.5-inch cover screen gives just enough added width to greatly reduce typos, and when unfolded, the 8-inch canvas feels like a playground for multi-app usage, media consumption, and Circle to Search galore.

Having tested the Oppo Find N5 and Honor Magic V5 ahead of Unpacked, it's safe to say that Samsung finally has a foldable phone design that can compete with the best on the market. And I'm glad more people will be exposed to this technology, whether they upgrade to the device or simply pick it up at a carrier store or retailer.

Samsung says it has achieved this dramatic shift in design by making many smaller decisions, from opting for an advanced armor aluminum that's thinner yet stronger, to a flex hinge system that closes more tightly.

The improved teardrop hinge, by the way, gives the phone a springy feedback when you fold and unfold it; the physics of the screen feels more snappy and assertive, at the cost of fewer angles you can position one half of the screen to.

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Samsung also made some rather controversial decisions along the path to slimness, such as removing the screen coating that allows the Z Fold 7 to register S Pen inputs like its predecessors. According to the company, this trade-off stems from user research and industrial design needs. That shouldn't come as much of a surprise after the company nerfed the S25 Ultra's S Pen earlier this year.

This year's handset is powered by 12GB of RAM and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset, a processor that has proven to reliably handle multi-app workflows, intensive gaming sessions, and AI tasks. I was satisfied with the chipset's performance on the S25 Ultra and S25 Edge, and have felt mostly the same with the Z Fold 7 so far.

I'm a big fan of OneUI 8's new multi-window mode, which reminds me a lot of OnePlus' Open Canvas. It's limited to two apps at a time but allows you to quickly switch from one to another by tapping on the side or bottom-tucked window that's inactive.

In New York, where an Uber route that's estimated to be 15 minutes can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes, I appreciated being able to swiftly expand and shrink the Uber app while I was answering Slack messages and emails.

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I've taken about 100 photos with the Z Fold 7 today, and the results have been what I expected from the improved 200MP main sensor (with 2x optical zoom). I'm talking punchy and sharp-looking imagery with a fairly balanced color temperature and wide dynamic range, whether it's a seagull hanging on the Staten Island ferry or an office selfie with Google's Sameer Samat.

If I had to nitpick, I'm still seeing some noise and loss of detail in low-light shots, especially when pinching into subjects like food and street signs. Night mode also kicks in rather inconsistently, with split moments that would either prompt an exposure timer or none at all. Fortunately, most of this can be fixed via software.

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Besides camera performance, a day of usage is never enough time to gauge the endurance potential of any phone, but I've been largely content with the Z Fold 7's battery life. My first 24 hours consisted of plenty of web browsing, scrolling through Reddit feeds, navigating on Google Maps and Uber, and taking photos around town.

I'm finishing my day one with around 12% battery left -- just enough for winding down, but definitely not for a night out.

Bottom line (for now)

At $2,000, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 remains an ever-so-niche product for a very dedicated user base. But for those who have longed for a more competitive foldable by Samsung, one that's fitted to compete with Asia's best, that time has finally come.

As always, trade-in offers and carrier promotions are your best friends, so I highly recommend scanning the catalogs of multiple retailers to find the deal that works best for you. More general retailers like Amazon are even tossing in gift cards, in case you're not a fan of multi-year installment plans.

Stay tuned for more thoughts.

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