At Samsung Unpacked in July, the phonemaker introduced its most advanced foldable yet: the Galaxy Z Fold 7. It supersedes last year's Galaxy Z Fold 6 with upgrades big and small (or rather, big and thin), but how exactly do they compare? Here's the Galaxy Z Fold 7 vs. Galaxy Z Fold 6 specs comparison.
Samsung has been releasing foldable phones for over half a decade now since the initial Galaxy Fold (no "Z" back then) launched in 2019, and the company has gotten pretty good at the newer smartphone format. Gone are the days of display and hinge durability issues; now, Samsung's foldable phones are as reliable as their flat counterparts… though at $2,000, the Z Fold series' prices are still high enough to put them out of reach of all but deep-pocketed enthusiasts.
The Z Fold 7 packs the latest Samsung upgrades and some design innovations, while the Z Fold 6 is still a powerful and capable device, leaving either a great choice for those who can afford them -- just note the $100 difference in list price, as all those upgrades have led the Z Fold 7 to start at $2,000 while the Z Fold 6 starts at $1,900. Here's how both foldable phones compare.
The Galaxy Z Fold 6. Lisa Eadicicco/CNET
Design and display
Both the Z Fold 7 and Z Fold 6 follow the same broad design: a book-style foldable that has an outer screen to function more or less like a flat smartphone when folded closed. It can be unfolded to reveal its wider, more tablet-like inner display, providing more screen real estate for tasks, games and watching media.
The Z Fold 7, however, takes the Z Fold 6's design and slims down its thickness so it takes up even less space in pockets or bags. The Z Fold 7 is 8.9mm when folded up, down from 12.1mm thick in the folded-up Z Fold 6. Likewise, when unfolded, the Z Fold 7 is only 4.2mm thick, down from the 5.6mm in the Z Fold 6. That's even thinner than the Galaxy S25 Edge's 5.8mm thickness, which commands an $1,100 price because of its own deliberately thin and light design.
Galaxy Z Fold 7. Numi Prasarn/CNET
While users may not see how much thinner the Z Fold 7 is unless they put it side by side with another phone, there are areas where it's noticeably trimmed down -- there's hardly any bezel left around the top and bottom of the USB-C port. The new foldable comes in at 215 grams, which is about the weight of most flatphones and lighter than the Z Fold 6's 239 grams.
Both foldables are IP48 rated for dust and water resistance, meaning while they may survive being dunked in water for at least 30 minutes (the "8" in that rating) they won't protect against molecules smaller than 1mm (the "4" in that rating, lower than the "6" in most phones' IP68 rating) -- so keep either foldable away from dust and sand.
... continue reading