The most impressive piece of tech hardware I've tested in 2025

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

Samsung's Fold 7 has reached the constituent that it's present the aforesaid size arsenic flagship phones erstwhile closed.
The bundle upgrades successful One UI 8 and Android 16 yet instrumentality vantage of the productivity imaginable of foldables.
There are multiples modes successful the Fold 7 that marque it adjacent amended than conscionable a telephone that transforms into a tablet.

It didn't instrumentality agelong for Samsung's Z Fold 7 to alteration my caput astir folding phones. After investigating it for little than a week, I'm not lone convinced that I could usage this arsenic my regular enactment phone, but I've besides realized that determination are features I'd earnestly miss if I went backmost to a mean phone.

That's a agelong mode from the erstwhile experiences with foldables, including extended clip with the Z Fold 5 conscionable 2 years ago. I've simply ne'er loved folding phones, and aft investigating them, I've ne'er felt tempted to crook 1 into my caller enactment telephone -- which has been a agelong drawstring of assorted Android models since the Nexus One successful 2010.

But the Fold 7 is different.

The hardware connected the Fold 7 is airy years up of past year's Galaxy Fold 6 -- it's 25% thinner, some erstwhile folded and unfolded. In fact, the Fold 7 is the astir awesome portion of tech hardware that I've enactment my hands connected each year. When you prime it up, it has an contiguous wow factor, particularly erstwhile you clasp it adjacent to different flagship phones.

Also: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 vs. Z Fold 6: I tried some phones, and the quality is dramatic

But the astir awesome portion of the Fold 7 is not conscionable however it looks and feels - it's however it works. More than ever, it has a UX that takes afloat vantage of each the possibilities of the foldable signifier factor.

So let's interruption it down. Here are my 3 reasons wherefore the Fold 7 has changed my sentiment of foldable phones.

1. Feels similar carrying a regular phone

The biggest quality with the Fold 7 is however overmuch it looks and feels similar a regular telephone erstwhile it's folded closed and you're simply looking astatine the screen surface oregon the backmost of the phone. If you saw it sitting connected a table oregon a array adjacent to idiosyncratic else's phone, you could easy mistake it for conscionable different modular smartphone.

In fact, adjacent to my iPhone 16 Pro Max oregon my Samsung S24 Ultra -- the 2 phones I transportation each time -- the Fold 7 is somewhat smaller. In fact, a closed Fold 7 looks akin to Sony Xperia smartphones and uses the aforesaid 21:9 facet ratio that is somewhat thinner than astir of today's smartphones. However, it's astir 10% wider than erstwhile models of the Fold, and that other width is capable to marque it consciousness similar a mean phone.

At the aforesaid time, it's besides lighter (215 grams) than my iPhone 16 Pro Max (227g) and Samsung S25 Ultra (233g) -- arsenic good arsenic past year's Fold 6 (239g). It's singular to recognize this folding telephone is present some thinner and lighter than the best-selling flagship phones.

Also: I spent a week successful New York City with the Samsung Z Fold 7 - and it spoiled maine the full time

One payment I didn't expect from the width of the Fold 7 erstwhile it's closed and utilizing the screen surface is that it's easier to usage one-handed than the ample flagship phones I usually carry. And past erstwhile I'm acceptable to usage it two-handed, I tin simply flip it open, and that's erstwhile the existent magic happens connected the 8-inch main screen.

2. Software present plays to its strengths

Samsung has agelong been a builder of immoderate of the world's astir impressive, cutting-edge hardware devices. So it's nary astonishment that the Fold 7 has yet caught up to the imaginativeness of the foldable telephone arsenic a tiny tablet disguised arsenic a telephone that tin alteration astatine a moment's notice.

Now that Samsung has officially pulled disconnected the hardware for that imaginativeness successful the Fold 7, it could person easy taken a mates much generations to get the bundle right. But thankfully, that's not the case. With an assistance from Google and Android 16, the bundle connected the Fold 7 present does a batch much to instrumentality vantage of the afloat productivity imaginable of the hardware.

Also: Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Here's the wide victor aft investigating both

My archetypal and favourite illustration of this is the caller 90:10 split-screen view, a diagnostic Google built into Android 16 with collaboration from Samsung and its One UI 8 software. With this, you tin instrumentality 2 apps that are side-by-side connected the 8-inch main screen, enactment your digit connected the halfway enactment betwixt them, and past resistance it astir each the mode to 1 broadside oregon the different and fto go.

It volition past drawback into 90:10 presumption wherever you lone spot a sliver of the 1 app portion viewing astir of the different app. However, present you tin pat that sliver to unfastened it successful 90% of the surface and determination the different app to 10%. This lets you rapidly power backmost and distant betwixt 2 apps that are adjuvant to usage adjacent to each other, specified arsenic Slack and email oregon a connection processor and a web browser.

Another bully productivity diagnostic is the "Continue apps connected screen screen" option. This is particularly effectual present that the screen surface is the size of a mean telephone screen. I similar to acceptable this up by going to Settings > Display > "Continue apps connected screen screen" and past selecting "Swipe up to proceed app."

Then, erstwhile you are moving connected an app specified arsenic your calendar connected the main surface and you request to adjacent your phone, a round-up arrow pops up connected the bottommost of your screen surface that says "Swipe to continue". You simply swipe up and proceed moving connected your app connected the screen screen. Previously, your Fold would person turned disconnected the screen, and you would person had to unlock it and reopen the aforesaid app connected the screen surface to proceed working.

There are a batch much bundle options similar this. Look for a aboriginal nonfiction wherever I supply a database of productivity hacks from the expanded UX connected the Fold 7.

3. Multiple modes to thrust productivity

One of the champion things astir the Fold 7 is that it's not simply similar having some a telephone and an 8-inch tablet successful your pocket. Because of the folding signifier factor, it tin besides bash immoderate things that a modular 8-inch tablet can't. But earlier I get up of myself, let's speech astir the modular modes first. Then we'll get to the originative stuff.

If each the Fold 7 did was crook your flagship telephone into a tablet erstwhile you had some hands escaped and were acceptable to multitask, past it would beryllium a win. As mentioned above, the improvements successful the bundle present marque multitasking a batch better, much efficient, and much productive.

Being capable to tally two, three, and adjacent 4 apps connected the main surface of the Fold 7 feels similar speeding successful a sports car compared to the mean ways of flipping betwixt apps connected a phone, which feels pedestrian by comparison. There are besides immoderate cases wherever simply having a overmuch larger surface to presumption things similar spreadsheets, edifice menus, the desktop mentation of web pages, and adjacent video calls connected Zoom and Google Meet tin beryllium a immense improvement.

Also: 24 hours aboriginal with Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Why I'm leaving the S25 Ultra behind

I often similar to instrumentality 1:1s and meetings portion walking extracurricular to get immoderate caller aerial and workout astatine assorted times passim the day. One of the biggest challenges connected these walks is erstwhile thing comes up wherever I request to entree oregon presumption a papers oregon a connection that's not casual to look astatine from my phone. The Fold 7 is simply a champ successful those instances due to the fact that I tin flip it unfastened and usage that 8-inch surface to presumption things successful a overmuch much usable way.

Now let's speech astir Flex Mode -- 1 of my favourite hidden gems connected the Fold 7. To participate this mode, you crook the Fold 7 sideways erstwhile you're connected the main surface (make definite "Auto rotate" is turned connected successful the Quick Settings Panel), and past you fold the telephone to 90 degrees truthful that it looks similar an unfastened laptop and acceptable it down.

You tin bash this portion you're successful YouTube and the video volition spell connected the apical surface and controls volition spell connected the bottommost screen. You tin bash it successful a typing app similar Slack, Gmail, oregon ChatGPT portion the keyboard is unfastened and the app surface volition spell connected apical and the keyboard volition spell connected the bottom. You tin bash it with a video telephone app similar Google Meet and the video tiles volition spell connected the apical surface and the gathering controls volition spell connected the bottommost -- you tin besides set the surface similar a laptop to halfway yourself successful the framework for the video call.

Not lone tin the Fold 7 enactment similar a mini laptop, it tin besides enactment similar a desktop computer, utilizing Samsung DeX and new upgrades successful Android 16. You tin link your Fold 7 to a machine show oregon a TV via a cablegram (such arsenic HDMI to USB-C) oregon wirelessly, and you tin connect a keyboard and rodent via Bluetooth. DeX has gradually gotten much usable implicit the years, but Google did Samsung a coagulated successful Android 16 by integrating immoderate caller features specified arsenic "desktop windowing" that present allows you open, move, and resize aggregate windows wrong DeX mode truthful that the situation looks and feels a batch much similar Windows oregon a Mac.

I person immoderate tips for optimizing this benignant of setup that I'll enactment successful a aboriginal article, but the bottommost enactment is that this telephone tin relation similar a afloat machine and since the Fold 7 is apt to already person each of your astir utilized apps and data, it tin beryllium a functional enactment machine successful a pinch. It's astir apt not going to regenerate your full-time PC but it mightiness really beryllium much productive than a Chromebook oregon a tablet.

Final thought

These are my archetypal impressions of the Samsung Fold 7. I've got a batch much to accidental astir it and much things I privation to test. But there's nary uncertainty that the Fold 7 is simply a breakthrough instrumentality that brings the committedness of a existent 2-in-1 telephone into reality. The Chinese phonemakers person been gathering devices similar this for a mates years and Apple volition reportedly merchandise its archetypal foldable iPhone successful 2026. But for now, the Samsung Fold 7 is the champion foldable disposable successful the US -- and it whitethorn adjacent springiness america a peek astatine what the aboriginal of each flagship phones could look like.

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