Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 Review: Finally competitive, and the perfect size

When it comes to Folding smartphones Samsung really have not just created but owned this market now for over six years, and while many love the idea of the “Z Fold” form factor, for me, the “Flip” has always been the desired style. But in that top to bottom fold shut form factor, Samsung has not been the best choice.

We’ve given that title to Motorola, several years in a row now. On design, on form factor and on features. This year, with the Galaxy Z Flip 7, Samsung addressed the biggest issue in a competitive sense – their “cover screen” and now offer a viable alternative for “Flip” style smartphone lovers.

I’m an outlier in the Tech community – most reviewers love and lust over the Fold. Could be because it’s twice the price and that’s a nice thing to flash around at folks, or it could be that I simply don’t need for that larger screen as much as others, I don’t. So the idea of a normal smartphone that happens to fold shut to be half the size in the hand or pocket is a winner.

I’ve long said that if the “Foldable” market is going to gain real strength, the lions share of that growth will be in the Flip form factor – time will tell what Samsung’s biggest competitors will do, but for now the Flip 7 is a $1,799 smartphone well worth a look.

Getting bigger, not smaller

It’s fun to look at how far we’ve come in this form factor since the first flip which had this tiny little outer screen, and now we’re pretty much settled with this boxy but effective form factor and the larger cover screen.

Flip 7 is almost 2mm taller when opened, but is almost 4mm wider and that width is critical to giving you an even better experience than any previous Flip.

Samsung didn’t bring their top engineering team to the Flip, they were all busy on Fold, so the unfolded width is 6.5mm, thinner than last year! But nothing on the 4 and a bit mm thickness of the Fold 7 let’s be real.

Day to day, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 didn’t feel wider than the last model, but it’s the little things that matter.

Speaking of the Cover Screen

That size though does allow for a mega cover screen. It’s 4.1 inches and it really pushes to the edge of the cover. Samsung reckon it’s the thinnest bezel around a screen they’ve ever done.

It’s a great screen, but I did find that once you setup all your locks like PIN and Fingerprint then the screen at a glance becomes useless. I recommend setting up the proximity unlock so when you’ve got your watch on or it knows it’s with you the screen is unlocked which makes notifications more worthy

I found the most awesome thing is swiping up getting your credit card from Samsung Wallet and tap to pay – so good, it’s like the size of a credit card and gets attention for sure:)

Widgets are great, but I didn’t use many at all, I installed a third party app called “Good Lock” which allowed me to open more regular apps, and even use my MLB all to stream the Baseball on the closed screen.

Samsung’s best design move of the year goes to the person who created the little circle animation around the camera lenses when you are recording video or switch between photo and video mode

Battery Life is key

One of the biggest concerns about previous generation Flip phones from Samsung has been battery life.

No More.

An extra 300mAh (up to 4,300 now) on the Flip 7 paired with efficiency in the software means this is finally, an all-day battery.

My only gripe in my time with the Flip was on a road trip. Running Android Auto wirelessly while using GPS mapping and the battery just tanked. And boy, oh boy, did it get hot too.

But in regular day to day use, I was getting to the end of a 15-16 hour day with 15% battery and time to spare.

The one reason I didn’t love the Flip before, is now not an issue.

Flip 7 Camera

Just like the design team, the camera team from Samsung’s Z crew were busy on the Fold 7 – so there’s no change to the camera.

Good news, there’s no enormous island of cameras that makes the camera wobble like the Fold either, and while I’m glad we’ve retained the form factor generally, I think Samsung needs to start packing some more life into this camera.

My guess is that’s coming, when competition pushes it into necessity.

That said, it’s a good camera. Not on par with any other $1799 phone, more like a $700 phone, but the extra thousand gets you a screen that folds in half, you can’t have it all folks.

Is the Flip 7 good value?

Tough call. Yes, for $1,799 this is a phone that folds in half folks – come on, even six years on I still think its amazing.

And the Flip offers the full normal smartphone experience with the added benefit of folding in half and being compact in your pocket, purse or just carried in your hand.

It’s cameras are disappointing, but for the photos most are taking, it’s more than enough.

So yeah, I think it is good value, and this Samsung Galaxy Flip 7 is the best flip phone Samsung has offered up, the market is maturing and we’re here for it.