{"id":478398,"date":"2026-02-16T11:30:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T11:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/478398\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T11:30:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T11:30:16","slug":"i-was-wrong-about-foldable-phones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/478398\/","title":{"rendered":"I was wrong about foldable phones"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Galaxy<\/p>\n

Mishaal Rahman \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

Ever since foldable phones came on the scene, I\u2019ve wanted to use one. I have a Galaxy Z Fold 4<\/a>, and while there was a lot to love, it was far too compromised for me to use every day. I liked the idea of a folding phone, but my experience with the Fold 4 led me to believe I couldn\u2019t live with one long-term.<\/p>\n

That all changed two months ago, however, when I got to try the Galaxy Z Fold 7<\/a> for the first time \u2014 and I haven\u2019t been able to put it down since.<\/p>\n

Would you use a foldable as your daily phone?<\/p>\n

14 votes<\/p>\n

Why the Z Fold 7 completely changed my mind about foldables<\/p>\n

\"Galaxy<\/p>\n

Zac Kew-Denniss \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

My Galaxy Z Fold 4 was heavy and awkward to hold. I loved the larger inner screen and the fantastic software Samsung offers for multi-tasking on Android, but the phone felt too much like a brick to use every day. 15.8mm and 263g is something you notice in your pocket, no matter what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n

The Fold 6<\/a> achieved a respectable 12.1mm and 239g when folded, and finally folded flat, but that was still heavier and thicker than a normal phone. The Z Fold 7 cut that down to just 8.9mm and 215g. To put that into perspective, that\u2019s 3g lighter than a Galaxy S25 Ultra<\/a> and only 0.7mm thicker. For a phone that has to squeeze a hinge, two batteries, and two screens into a single device, that\u2019s impressive, and if you\u2019ve never held an older Galaxy Fold and a Z Fold 7 side-by-side, it\u2019s hard to convey how much of a difference it makes.<\/p>\n

\"Samsung<\/p>\n

C. Scott Brown \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

The Fold 7 may have gotten thinner, but it grew in every other dimension, which made the cover screen larger and rectified one of my other issues with previous models. The new phone has a 6.5-inch cover display, up from just 6.2 inches on my Fold 4.<\/p>\n

The thing to keep in mind with these phones is that they aren\u2019t the same aspect ratio as a normal phone \u2014 they\u2019re taller and narrower \u2014 so while a 6.2-inch screen on a Galaxy S25 is perfectly fine, on a foldable it felt cramped and almost unusable. Thankfully, the Fold 7 hasn\u2019t gone too far the other way. The 6.5-inch screen is significantly easier to use with one hand than any of Samsung\u2019s Ultra phones, while still being large enough to enjoy.<\/p>\n

The Fold 4 would usually run out of battery by 6 PM, but I haven’t been able to kill my Fold 7 before midnight.<\/p>\n

What hasn\u2019t changed is the battery. The Z Fold 7 has a 4,400mAh battery, just like the Fold 3, 4, 5, and 6. Thankfully, battery life has gotten better despite the capacity remaining the same. I can\u2019t speak for the 5 and 6 personally, but I can say without a doubt that the Fold 7 lasts significantly longer than my Fold 4 ever has. Even when it was new, the Fold 4 would usually run out of battery by 6 PM, but I haven\u2019t been able to kill my Fold 7 before midnight.<\/p>\n

My typical usage consists mostly of Wi-Fi, with occasional 5G. I use both screens about 50% of the time, and I\u2019m almost always running at least three apps on the inner screen at once. Usually, that\u2019ll be Slack, Telegram, and YouTube Music, streaming to my Galaxy Buds 3 Pro<\/a>. The Fold 7 is good for 6-7 hours of screen time from 8 AM to 12 AM.<\/p>\n

What really impressed me about the Fold 7 battery was its longevity during an emergency journey to the other end of the country. Over a four-hour drive, connected to wireless Android Auto while streaming music over 5G and using GPS for navigation and location sharing via Telegram, it only dropped from 65% to 20%, and at no point was it even warm to the touch. A journey like that would\u2019ve killed my Pixel 10 Pro.<\/p>\n

\"Samsung<\/p>\n

Lanh Nguyen \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

The other thing the Fold 7 gets right is how special it feels. Seven generations in, the novelty of opening a phone hasn\u2019t worn off, and it feels like it should be impossible, especially with how thin this phone is. Using a folding phone also garners attention, and as shallow as it sounds, it feels good. I\u2019ve had multiple people ask me which phone I\u2019m using when I\u2019ve unfolded the Fold 7 while waiting in line, or when I\u2019ve folded it closed to pay for something in a shop. Folding phones have proven themselves to be more than a gimmick without losing what made them feel special and fun.<\/p>\n

Add all of these factors to what I already liked about my Fold 4, like the software and the big inner display, and you get an almost perfect phone. Almost being the operative word, because while I adore the Galaxy Z Fold 7, there are things that annoy me about it.<\/p>\n

Not everything is perfect, but it\u2019s pretty close<\/p>\n

\"Samsung<\/p>\n

Hadlee Simons \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

I know I\u2019ve just praised how thin the Z Fold 7 is, but some sacrifices had to be made. The digitiser layer that allowed the S Pen to work is gone, and I miss it all the time. I\u2019ve loved using the S Pen with every device I\u2019ve owned that supports it, including my old Fold 4.<\/p>\n

The S Pen situation is something I can overlook more easily than the fingerprint scanner, though. Like the Folds that preceded it, the Fold 7 has its fingerprint scanner integrated into the power button. I\u2019ve always loved this implementation, finding it more accurate than any in-display reader. That\u2019s no longer the case, though, as the button is so thin that it often takes two or even three attempts to get it to read my thumb correctly. It gets worse if you use a case, as the added bulk makes finding the button difficult, let alone getting it to read my fingerprint properly. Samsung has also removed the option to swipe on the sensor to pull down the notification shade, which I also enjoyed using on my Fold 4.<\/p>\n

My other gripe is the selfie camera that lives beneath the inner screen. The Fold 3 through 6 used an under-display camera (UDC) that sacrificed image quality for blending (almost) seamlessly into whatever you were doing. The UDC was visible if you looked for it, but quickly faded into the background. With the Fold 7, Samsung went back to a traditional hole-punch camera. I don\u2019t necessarily mind the return to a regular sensor, but I do mind that it interferes with content on the screen. As you can see in the images above, text is often interrupted by the camera when in full-screen, and it can be distracting when watching a video, too.<\/p>\n

I wish Samsung had kept the UDC, but I understand why it opted to ditch it in favor of a higher-quality sensor. I also wish it had moved the camera elsewhere. Google\u2019s foldables, for example, place the camera in the far-right corner of the screen, where text rarely reaches and where black bars usually frame the video. Hopefully, some apps will be updated to account for the camera placement, but I won\u2019t hold my breath.<\/p>\n

\"samsung<\/p>\n

Ryan Haines \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

Finally, there are the cameras. They\u2019re not great, unsurprisingly.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been unhappy with Samsung\u2019s cameras for a long time \u2014 it\u2019s one of the reasons I bought a Pixel 10 Pro \u2014 and while I\u2019ve been using the Z Fold 7 as my primary phone since the start of December, my Pixel has been in my other pocket at all times so that I can take photos of my cat that aren\u2019t unrecognisably blurry.<\/p>\n

The shutter lag is still felt in all but ideal lighting; the 3X telephoto camera is so bad that you\u2019re better off cropping into the 200MP primary, and the 50MP ultrawide camera that the S25 Ultra got is missing in action, with the old 12MP sensor making a return here. A phone this expensive needs to do better, as do Samsung phones in general.<\/p>\n

\"Samsung<\/p>\n

Ryan Haines \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

Those complaints pale in comparison to the Fold 7\u2019s strengths, though. Unlike my Fold 4, I haven\u2019t wanted to remove my SIM card from this after a few weeks. The weight, size, and improved cover screen make this the folding phone I want to use every day \u2014 and it makes me look forward to the Z Fold 8, which I pray will resurrect the S Pen. I know, I shouldn\u2019t hold my breath, but a man can dream.<\/p>\n

Still, the fact remains that the Fold 7 is the first foldable I\u2019ve felt comfortable using long-term \u2014 and, more importantly, have enjoyed using long-term. It\u2019s not perfect, but as far as foldables go in 2026, it\u2019s pretty darn close.<\/p>\n

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7<\/a>\"Samsung\"AASamsung Galaxy Z Fold 7<\/a><\/p>\n

Thinnest, lightest Z Fold to date \u2022 More durable design \u2022 200MP primary camera \u2022 Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy<\/p>\n

Thin, light, high-powered, and it folds!<\/p>\n

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 offers an 8-inch OLED screen, a 200MP camera, the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset, and a 4,400mAh battery. The Galaxy AI experience is baked in, offering tools across the camera, Circle to Search, and much more. Best of all, Samsung continues to evolve its foldable hinge assembly, promising reduced visibility of the crease.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t want to miss the best from Android Authority?<\/p>\n

\"google\"google<\/a><\/p>\n

Thank you for being part of our community. Read our\u00a0Comment Policy<\/a> before posting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mishaal Rahman \/ Android Authority Ever since foldable phones came on the scene, I\u2019ve wanted to use one.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[49,48,3587,190,5777,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-478398","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-foldable-phones","11":"tag-mobile","12":"tag-samsung-galaxy-z-fold-7","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}