I Held the Galaxy Z Fold 7. It's So Thin I Almost Forgot It's a Foldable

Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is how ordinary it feels in my hand. Well, at least when it's closed. Unfolded, it's a whole different story. I got to check out the Z Fold 7 during Samsung's Unpacked event in New York on Tuesday and Wednesday, along with the Z Flip 7 and Z Flip 7 FE. (Also happening this week is Amazon's Prime Day, which is unlikely to include these devices but includes sales on Samsung TVs and laptops.) Watch this: Ultra Thin: First Look at the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 02:45 At 8.9mm thick when folded and weighing 215 grams, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 doesn't feel much different than a standard slate phone. The 6.5-inch cover display makes it something I can see myself willingly using to scroll through social media, text and watch videos. But when opened, Samsung's book-style foldable is anything but ordinary. At just 4.2mm thick, it boasts a wildly slim profile that steals the spotlight from even the 5.8mm-thick Galaxy S25 Edge. The 8-inch inner display is 11% larger than the one on last year's Z Fold 6, which should help with multitasking. And a Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 cover and Victus 2 back make it feel nice and sturdy. The Z Fold 7 feels exactly like what foldable phones have strived to be all along: thin, lightweight and spacious -- and also as "normal" as possible, at least where it matters. It also features an impressive 200-megapixel main camera, just like the not-so-thin S25 Ultra. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 weighs 215 grams, and has a more spacious display. Joseph Maldonado/CNET/PCMag In an exclusive interview, Drew Blackard, Samsung's senior vice president of mobile product management, told CNET that by slimming down the Fold and leveling up the cameras, the book-style phone "is now a mainstream form factor." After holding the phone, I can understand what he means. The Z Fold 7 does away with the thicker build and scaled-back cameras that previously characterized foldables, and introduces something that feels equal parts sleek and familiar. Samsung is by no means the first company to launch a thin foldable; Oppo's Find N5, Huawei's Mate X6 and Honor's Magic V3 also boast impressively slim designs, to name a few. But with the release of both the Galaxy S25 Edge and now the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Samsung is doubling down on the skinny phone craze. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 boasts the same 200-megapixel wide camera as the S25 Ultra. Joseph Maldonado/CNET/PCMag An Ultra experience on an ultra-thin phone By bringing its 200-megapixel wide camera to the Z Fold 7 and S25 Edge, Samsung is proving you don't have to compromise camera quality for a slimmer build. It's a notable example of a foldable breaking away from the hardware limitations that have traditionally scaled back the cameras. It'll be interesting to see how competitors strive to match or outdo that feat. The Z Fold 7 also has a 12-megapixel ultrawide and 10-megapixel telephoto camera, as well as 10-megapixel selfie cameras on the inner and cover screens. I look forward to testing the phone's cameras out in the real world. Like the S25 series, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 packs a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. It comes out of the box with One UI 8 and Android 16. What I'm perhaps most relieved about is that the Z Fold 7's battery maintains last year's 4,400-mAh capacity, despite the new phone's slimmer build. The biggest downside of the S25 Edge is its 3,900-mAh battery, giving it the lowest capacity across the S25 series. I was fully prepared for the Z Fold 7 to take a similar hit, but its expanded real estate helped save it from that pitfall. Battery life is one of the biggest considerations when people buy a new phone, according to a CNET survey, so it's good Samsung didn't scale that back. We'll see how it actually holds up in my day-to-day use and if it's a match for my endless TikTok scrolling and photo taking. Joseph Maldonado/CNET/PCMag Not-so-slim price The Galaxy Z Fold 7's cutting-edge specs don't come cheap. The phone starts at $2,000, which is $100 more than last year's Z Fold 6. You're certainly paying a premium for both that slimmer build (the S25 Edge starts at $1,100) and the Ultra-grade camera (the S25 Ultra starts at $1,300). The Z Fold 7 is available in jet black, blue shadow and silver shadow, as well as an exclusive mint color when you order on Samsung.com. Preorders start today, and the phones arrive July 25.