The Z Fold 7 : Took you long enough

When we did a best phones of the year list earlier this year, we literally explained why Samsung’s Z Fold 6 didn’t make the list. It had underwhelming cameras, a slightly improved but less advanced design, and it had Google, Honor , Oppo and even Huawei running circles around it when it came to actually improving what foldables can do. And outside of maybe Google, that claim about its capability had been true since the Z Fold 3. Well with the Fold 7, Samsung finally addressed all of the areas it fell short, while even jumping forward again! Here is a device that’s slimmer, wider when closed(hence easier to use like a normal phone), has a stronger screen , the same 200MP camera as the S25 Ultra better hinges and water resistance, a few useful software tweaks and enough power to honestly wonder why you would need to upgrade for at least 4 years. THIS is what Samsung should have been making years ago, and we’re glad they finally did it .

Now is the device perfect? Well, no . Samsung apparently needed to remove the pen digitizer in the phone to make it slimmer, meaning this Foldable doesn’t accept S-Pen input. This is minor for most people , but for others this may be the biggest negative as their ultimate vision for this device would be it being a portable notepad that they can draw and write with using an S-Pen that is stored in the device itself. But as we said, that’s a minor issue for most people.

What will affect everyone however, is the new, $2000 price. This we can see pissing EVERYONE off. And well for good reason. Foldables have had multiple instances of getting cheaper. Even Google’s Pixel 9 is now at around $1200 while the Honor Magic V5 (released 2 weeks ago), maintains the old foldable price of $1800. Yet Samsung thinks merely playing catch up makes them think raising the price for a second time in a row is okay. Add in the fact that they have a worse battery than all of the competition and your eyebrow may be raised a little higher. But, Samsung IS still the most globally distributed foldable maker, with a good brand and support system behind it. So while I definitely have complaints here, I still can’t fault that they made a great phone.

The Galaxy Z Flip 7 : Why did this one take so long again?

For almost two years straight now, Motorola has been creating an outright better flip phone than Samsung with its RAZR line. The phones were better looking, more playful, and outright more fun, which is what a flipable should be. Samsung did maintain its arguably higher quality software and again, better support features, but ask anyone and they would tell you that its weird outer screen as well as it limitations in the Z Flip 5 and 6 were not impressing anyone, so this year they decided “screw it” and finally added a gorgeous edge to edge 4.1 inch screen to the Z Flip 7, along with much better color options that make it look fun, while maintaining its more regal feel compared to the RAZR. Add in a 50MP camera and they’ve nailed this right? I mean this was all the Z Flip series admittedly needed. Well yes, except Samsung decided to cut costs a bit, bringing in the Exynos2500 it makes in house instead of the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite in the Fold 7. And well, this move is weirder.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure most Flip buyers won’t care, again, this phone is more of a fashion statement than a tech nerd dream. But ironically, for the past two years, Motorola’s RAZR was the less powerful offering while the Z Flip was known to be the more powerful, premium package. This year the $1000 RAZR has a Snapdragon 8S chip while a more powerful , fancier RAZR Ultra option for $1300 has the same 8 Elite chip as the Fold 7. And yes prices and options here differ , considering the $1100 price of the Flip 7, but overall, Motorola still has a performance win here. Important? Maybe not. But definitely worth taking note of.

Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE: Uhhh…okay??

Now companies refreshing or re-releasing last year’s phone is no new thing. Apple basically promotes you buying last year’s iPhone when it releases a new one while Motorola has the Base RAZR version be the same as the previous year’s with a new processor and for a lower price. As we speak that’s the exact case with the 2025 base RAZR, which I guess prompted Samsung to release this “new” Galaxy Flip 7 FE. Except for what it offers , A Galaxy Flip 6 with an arguably weaker processor for $900, they must be smoking something. Now to be fair, foldables are more fragile products so buying a refurbished one online is probably not a great idea unless you know where to repair it, but you can still get a Z Flip 6 for $800 brand new at the time of writing this, so unless Samsung was trying to trigger a fire sale on those, all they did was make people prefer them over its new device. But perhaps they know something we don’t. Either way, don’t buy this one, please.

The Watches : Galaxy Watch 8, 8 Classic, Ultra

As someone who still has a Galaxy Watch 4 , I probably should be the most excited for Samsung’s new smartwatches and yet, I find myself pushed to older models. Samsung has made it a point to try differentiate the Watch range in weird ways since the Watch 4, with the 5 Series having the failed Pro model, the 6 Series getting the Watch 6 Classic back but removing some features from before, the Watch 7 Series bringing in the Galaxy Watch Ultra and this year, the Watch 8 Series all deciding to copy the square-ish/”squarcle” design of the Watch Ultra devices. And well, if you hate it, I don’t blame you. Outside of the Watch 8 Classic’s admittedly intriguing design, the other two watches don’t really capture my fancy personally. The regular Watch 8 looks bloated while the Watch Ultra has been questioned about its device since literally the day it first existed. Pair that with the same processors from last year and you have a package that a lot of people may not want to pick up. That doesn’t mean Samsung has no tricks up their sleeves. Google Gemini is pretty okay, but even better is a running coach software suite that looks much better than what Apple recently showed off recently and a stress monitoring metric for when u haven’t slept well.

As always with watches, these features may completely catch you, or just make you stick to your current device, but they aren’t necessarily a bust. They also cost more, so there’s that to consider as well.

And just like that, we’ve rounded up Samsung’s new devices. To be fair, watches aside they do all look impressive, even if a lot of them have odd caveats. And once the reviews come in we’ll see if Samsung has finally hit a home run with its foldables. For now though, we’re definitely optimistic, because even if not perfect, these devices do look awesome.

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