Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE review: Second best

Best Prices Today: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE

I love a flip phone. I don’t know if it’s nostalgia, or the practical fact that they fit into small pockets and still open up to the size of a traditional phone, but I can’t get enough of them. 

They’ve come along way since Samsung introduced the first Galaxy Z Flip in 2020. It would have been a stretch to call the cover display on that device useable. But five years on, the cover displays on some of the latest flip phones have improved so much that you barely need to open the phone at all for the main display.

While the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 goes down the same route as the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra by wrapping the cover display around the cameras to make full use of the space available, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE sticks with the Z Flip 6’s design, making a couple of compromises to hit a lower price point. 

It’s the first time we’ve seen a Fan Edition model of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, but is it worth buying? Here’s my review of the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE, after living with it for a couple of weeks.

Design & Build

• Identical design to Z Flip 6
• Premium build
• IP48 water and dust resistance

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE is almost identical in design to last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 6. The only difference in terms of hardware is colour choice. The Z Flip 7 FE is available only in black or white, instead of the plethora of options we saw for the Z Flip 6. 

Otherwise, everything is as it was, including the dimensions and 187g weight. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – the Galaxy Z Flip 6 had a great design – but it’s not as slim and sleek as the new Galaxy Z Flip 7. The cover display isn’t as impressive as the flagship model or the likes of the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra either, opting not to wrap around the camera lenses and resulting in a more dated look.

Still, if you’re coming to a flip phone for the first time, you won’t know what you’re missing in terms of a full cover display, and if you’re upgrading from an older Samsung flip phone such as the Z Flip 3, the Z Flip 7 FE still offers an improved design from those previous models.

The flat aluminium edges are comfortable to hold, the fingerprint sensor built into the power button is nicely positioned and responsive, and the overall design is lovely. It will also still catch people’s attention as all foldable phones do, despite having been around for a few years. 

The cover display isn’t as impressive as the flagship model or the likes of the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra

I have the black finish of the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE in for review and while I prefer the colour options of the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and those offered on the Z Flip 6, the finish is still premium, with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for protection and an IP48 rating against water and dust. It’s a glossy finish, rather than the matt of the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and as such, it really does love a fingerprint. It needs wiping constantly, but otherwise it looks good.

Open the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE up and you’ll find a plastic edge around the main display. It’s again the same as the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and a common feature of flip phones, resulting a cheaper look than a traditional phone. However, you do get used to it, much like the crease running through the middle of the display. Speaking of the crease, it’s become far less obvious in recent iterations of the Z Flip, only really visible from certain angles. But if you’re wondering if it’s there, it is – and you can feel it when you’re scrolling.

Unfolded, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE sits flat on the table (something that wasn’t always the case with flip phones), and when folded, there’s no visible gap between the two parts, which is what you’d expect these days. The hinge is very robust, in my experience, and it allows you to put the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE into a range of positions without it toppling over. On that front, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE’s design is super for viewing content and taking selfies hands free, as was the Galaxy Z Flip 6.

Screen & Speakers 

• 3.4-inch AMOLED cover screen, 60Hz
• 6.7-inch AMOLED internal display, 120Hz
• Dual stereo speakers

I’m going to sound like a broken record by the end of this review, but the displays on the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE are identical those of the Galaxy Z Flip 6. That means you get a 3.4-inch Super AMOLED cover display with a 720 x 748 pixel resolution on the outside, and a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a 2640 x 1080 pixel resolution as the main display when you open this device up.

For reference, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 has a 4.1-inch cover display and a 6.9-inch main display, so even without seeing the two side-by-side, the improvements Samsung has made to the new flagship are immediately clear. Even Motorola’s Razr 60, which is slightly cheaper than the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE, has a larger cover display and main display than the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE – so this is an area in which you make some compromises.

Both displays are easily viewable outdoors in bright, sunny conditions

Samsung’s displays are wonderful though, with rich and vibrant colours, deep blacks and plenty of detail. They aren’t the sharpest around, and we’ve already established they aren’t the largest in the flip phone world either, but the screens you do get aren’t lacking when it comes to colours or clarity. 

The internal display has an adaptive refresh rate between 1Hz and 120Hz, depending on what you’re doing, so scrolling is lovely and smooth. The cover display is 60Hz. You don’t really need a higher refresh rate than that on the external display, as it’s there for at-a-glance information and notifications rather than endlessly scrolling or playing a game.

Both displays are easily viewable outdoors in bright sunny conditions, even with the auto brightness feature turned on. Samsung also offers an ‘Extra brightness’ mode if you’re sitting on a sun lounger and need a little extra boost to cut through reflections. The non-removable screen protector on the main display is quite glossy, so you may find you need to use that mode every now and then. But on the whole, there’s ample brightness from the default adaptive mode.

In terms of speakers, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE has a stereo speaker arrangement with a downward firing speaker and an earpiece. They do the job if you want to watch a quick video with good clarity and a decent amount of bass for a phone. There’s some vibration on the rear so, as is usually the case if you’re watching a full movie, I’d recommend investing in some headphones for the best experience.

Specs & Performance

• Eyxnos 2400
• 8GB RAM
• 128- or 256GB of non-expandable storage

Since the first Galaxy Z Flip, Samsung has opted for Qualcomm chipsets in its folding devices, even when it used its home-grown Exynos in some of its other phones.

I didn’t experience any lag when browsing the web, taking photos, scrolling through the news and social media or switching between apps

That’s changed for the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE and Galaxy Z Flip 7, with Samsung switching to Exynos for both the Fan Edition and flagship model. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE runs on the slightly older Exynos 2400, while the Z Flip 7 has the newer Exynos 2500 under its hood. 

That Exynos 2400 chipset is supported by 8GB of RAM, which is quite a drop from the 12GB offered in the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and the Galaxy Z Flip 7, though it didn’t impact performance too much. Apps still opened nice and swiftly and the overall running was smooth and consistent. I didn’t experience any lag when browsing the web, taking photos, scrolling through the news and social media or switching between apps, so in my experience, there’s decent performance here for everyday tasks.

For gaming, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE ran mobile-optimised games fine, but it struggled with more graphics-intense games like Genshin Impact, where it was sluggish and crashed every now and then as well. You won’t be impacted if you’re playing casual games like Candy Crush, but if you want a decent mobile gaming experience for those bigger and more serious games, there are much better devices out there. 

You only get 128GB of internal storage in the base model of the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE too, which is half what you get on the Motorola Razr 60, which costs less. There’s no Micro-SD support for storage expansion either. If you want more space, you’ll need to consider spending the extra £50 for the 256GB model, making the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE £100 more expensive than its closest rival.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE Benchmarks

Cameras

• 50Mp main sensor
• 12Mp ultrawide
• 10Mp internal selfie camera

Where the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE doesn’t compromise compared to its flagship sibling however, is its camera capabilities. It features the same 50-megapixel f/1.8 main sensor and 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide sensor on the rear (when open), while a 10-megapixel f/2.2 front facing camera sits at the top of the internal display. 

The main camera might not be the highest resolution when compared to the best camera phones around, but it’s still an excellent primary sensor, offering brilliant results in a variety of different situations. It’s very hard to take a bad shot, with everything from pets, flowers, people and landscapes all consistently good. Portraits are decent too, with good distinction between the background and things like hair and fur.

Samsung has long been known to crank up the colours and contrast of the images its devices produce, which results in very shareable pictures even if not as true to life in terms of representation, when compared to other phones. That applies here too. They aren’t quite as unrealistic as they once were but there’s still a boost to colours, with grass very green and sky very blue. It comes down to personal preference as to whether this is a good or bad thing, but I like the results.

Night mode automatically kicks in for low light so you don’t need to do anything extra, and the results are good here too. There’s a little more noise as you’d expect when compared to shooting in good lighting, but you can still get very good pictures when lighting conditions aren’t optimal. 

It’s very hard to take a bad shot, with everything from pets, flowers, people and landscapes all consistently good

As is often the case, the ultrawide sensor isn’t as good as the main sensor, with detail not as sharp and colour accuracy not as on point, but it still delivered good enough results. Motorola opted for a telephoto lens instead of an ultrawide lens on its rival Razr 60 Ultra and I have to say, I prefer that setup. I don’t generally love ultrawide lenses because of the fish eye effect you typically get. I’d rather have better zoom capabilities, but that’s personal preference again. 

For those after zoom, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE offers 2x optical, which is good, with crisp shots and plenty of detail. Beyond that however, and it struggles, so get closer or accept that you aren’t going to get a clear shot of whatever’s in the distance.

The front-facing camera meanwhile, was perfectly adequate for video calls but I don’t know why you’d use it for selfies. The main sensor is significantly better and selfies are a doddle to take using the cover screen as a view finder and either tapping the screen or holding a palm up to activate the countdown timer. This is probably one of my favourite things about a flip phone and one of their unique selling points so if you’re using the internal camera for selfies, you doing it all wrong.

In terms of video capabilities, the main sensor offers up to 4K resolution at either 30fps or 60fps and there’s OIS, so everything is smooth and stable. The nostalgic camcorder mode that automatically kicks in when you’re recording video and you fold the Z Flip 7 FE on its side at a 45-degree angle is another favourite feature of mine. While this might not offer the best video results of all phones, there’s plenty of fun to be had here.

Battery Life & Charging

• 4000mAh battery
• 25W wired charging
• 15W wireless, 4.5W reverse wireless

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE has the same 4,000mAh capacity as the Galaxy Z Flip 6 – I did tell you I was going to sound like a broken record. 

The battery life won’t blow you away, even with medium usage

For context, that capacity is smaller than the Galaxy Z Flip 7 that has seen a bump to a 4,300mAh, and it’s smaller than the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra which has a much bigger 4,700mAh battery under its hood. Even the cheaper Razr packs in a 4,500mAh cell though, so as far as battery sizes go in flip phones, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE is definitely on the smaller end of the scale.

In use, depending on what you do with this foldable, you’ll make it to the end of a working day. However, I’d advise giving it a quick top-up if you’re planning on heading out for the evening to make sure you have some juice left for the journey home. I was, of course, testing this device quite extensively during my review period, and so I’d call what I was doing heavy use, but the battery life won’t blow you away, even with medium usage. It’s good enough but not amazing. 

Interestingly, that’s not reflected in our usual PCMark battery test, which simulates real-world tasks at a fairly typical 200 nits of brightness. The Z Flip 7 FE’s score of 26 hours and 39 minutes is one of the very best we’ve ever seen.

When it comes to topping the battery up, there’s no charger in the box, as is the case for most phones these days, and charging speeds are mediocre. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE supports 25W wired, 15W wireless and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. 

I used a 96W charger I had at home and with that, it took me 1 hour and 37 minutes to charge the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE from 0 to 100 per cent. In 15 minutes, I got 24 per cent, and in 30 minutes, I got 45 per cent to give you some idea of how long before you head out that you’ll need to plug this device in.

Software & Apps

• One UI 8 over Android 16
• Complicated cover screen software
• Seven years of OS and security updates

The Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE runs on Android 16 with Samsung’s One UI 8 skin over the top. I actually really like Samsung’s latest software in terms of design – the apps look gorgeous and the curves of the various widgets and buttons are really lovely. You do get a lot of extra bloat compared to pure Android devices like the Pixels however, as well as devices from companies such as Motorola. 

Samsung has its own app for many of Google’s apps, like messages, gallery, browser and camera, so there is some clutter. Still, the design is very pleasing to look at, as I said, and Samsung’s One UI interface has some neat features such as AI-enhanced search, which you will appreciate if you have ever tried to find a particular setting in the endless menus.

The cover screen could be improved where software is concerned

Galaxy AI is also on board the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE, with a range of features, from writing assist to help you compose or improve text, to live translation of spoken conversations. There’s also automatic transcriptions of notes, summaries of webpages and audio eraser for eliminating background noise from audio recordings. Google’s Gemini Live can also be accessed from the cover screen of the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE, so you can ask various questions and get answers without flipping the device open. 

The cover screen could be improved where software is concerned. Things like Samsung’s Now Brief appear on the Cover Screen, and you can add various widgets to it, from calendar to alarms, for easy access. It’s a different story when it comes to apps, though.

Unlike Motorola, where you can use pretty much any app you want on the cover screen without having to do much at all, Samsung doesn’t make it quite so easy. Instead, you have to find your way into the Labs section of the Settings on the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE, toggle on ‘Apps allowed on cover screen’. You can then toggle on apps that you want to see. If the app you are looking for isn’t in the list, you’ll need to download Mulitstar to allow more apps. Thankfully that’s prompted at the bottom of the screen but it’s a very lengthy and seemingly unnecessary process and one I’d really love to see improved. 

Aside from cover screen woes, however, the software experience on the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE is a delight. It looks good, is swift and smooth in operation and you get seven years of OS and security updates guaranteed, which given how far flip phones have come in five years, I’d guess you would want a new one before that support ran out anyway.

Price & Availability 

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE was announced on 9 July 2025 and went on sale on 25 July 2025. There are two variants, one with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which costs £849, and the other with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which costs £909. 

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE comes in two colour options of black and white, and it’s available to buy across a number of retailers from Samsung itself, to Amazon, Currys and networks including EE and Vodafone.

In the US, prices start from $959.99 for 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and you can buy from Samsung itself, or retailers including Amazon, which at the time of writing is offering 21% off, bringing the price down to $759.99.

To see how to compares to our top-rated models, have a look at our round-of the best mobile phones.

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE?

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE is a lovely flip phone in many ways. It has a solid design, excellent camera and decent everyday performance. The displays are fantastic too, offering ample brightness and plenty of punch, and while there’s some bloat, Samsung’s software experience is one of the best in the business.

There are some compromises with this cheaper flip phone, however, from the low internal storage and underwhelming battery life, to the somewhat dated cover screen which could do more. 

With that in mind, if you can stretch your budget to the flagship Galaxy Z Flip 7, you’ll get much more value for your money. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE is a lovely phone to use and it still brings that wonderful flip phone nostalgia with it, but just make sure you’re aware of the couple of areas it falls short for that £200 saving.

Specs

• 3.4-inch, 60Hz AMOLED cover display  
• 6.7-inch, 1-120Hz LTPO AMOLED main display  
• Exynos 2400  
• 8GB RAM  
• 128/256GB storage  
• 50Mp, f/1.8, OIS main camera  
• 12Mp, f/2.2 ultrawide camera  
• 10Mp, f/2.2 selfie camera  
• 4000mAh battery 
• 25W wired charging  
• 15W wireless charging 
• 4.5W reverse wireless charging 
• Dual stereo speakers  
• IP48 water and dust resistance  
• Gorilla Glass Victus 2 back 
• 5G  
• 165.1 x 71.9 x 6.9 mm (open), 85.1 x 71.9 x 14.9 mm (closed) 
• 187g  
• One UI 8 over Android 16

Best Prices Today: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE