Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 SM-F966WDBAXAC Blue Shadow 256GB

The Fold7's Snapdragon 8 Elite puts it in the 80th percentile for raw speed, but a dismal 11th percentile camera and 15th percentile battery life kill the magic. You can snag an open-box unit for $1520, which is about the only scenario where this phone starts to make sense. If photos, longevity, or durability matter, look elsewhere.

We ran our standard suite of benchmarks and the Fold7's Snapdragon 8 Elite puts it in the 80th percentile for overall performance. That's well above average, translate that into daily use and you'll fly through apps, heavy spreadsheets, and even some light video editing without a hitch. Paired with 5G connectivity, though only a 40th percentile ranking there meaning older devices sometimes keep a more stable signal, browsing and downloads are snappy enough. The 256GB of storage is generous, though there's no microSD slot to expand it further. But the performance shines brightest in CPU-bound tasks. For GPU-heavy work like gaming, the dedicated gaming score of 39.4 out of 100 tells a different story, the device throttles under sustained loads, likely due to the thin foldable design. So while you'll crush Geekbench runs, don't expect top-tier frame rates in Genshin Impact.

Stack the Fold7 against the Motorola Razr 2025 and you'll see two different takes on foldability. The Razr is more compact when closed and scores better on build quality. The Apple iPhone 17 and Google Pixel 10 Pro XL demolish the Fold7 in camera performance, both sitting above the 80th percentile in our database imaging tests. And if you care about gaming, the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro is in a different league entirely, often doubling the sustained frame rates. The Fold7's only real strength is that it's a pocketable device that becomes a mini tablet, something none of those competitors can replicate.

At $1520 from some retailers, the Fold7 is one of the more affordable folding phones you can buy, especially if you hunt down an open-box deal. But with a price tag that can climb as high as $1900, you're flirting with territory where you could buy a dedicated gaming phone and a tablet that does the folding gimmick better. Given its weak camera and battery, the value hinges entirely on how much you value the foldable screen. For us, the open-box price is the only one that makes sense; paying full retail would sting.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite pushes this foldable to an 80th percentile performance score, making it one of the quicker phones on the market for raw CPU tasks. But before you get too excited, know that its camera and battery life are near the bottom of our database, 11th and 15th percentile, respectively. If you need a phone that handles a full day of heavy use without a charger in sight, you're going to be disappointed. However, if you're after a compact device that unfolds into a 7.6-inch screen for browsing and multitasking, the Fold7 delivers that experience in spades, especially when you can snag an open-box unit for as low as $1520. Open-box buyers seem to love the value, and with a customer rating of 4.2 out of 5 from 23 reviews, many are happy. But don't ignore the one-star complaints about regional compatibility and Best Buy's return policy frustration. This phone isn't a rugged warrior either: a 14.5/100 ruggedness score means a single drop onto concrete could spell disaster.

Skip this phone if you take a lot of photos, need all-day battery life, or have butterfingers. The camera and battery are among the worst we've tested in a premium device, and the fragile build means one bad fall could total the folding mechanism. Gamers should also look elsewhere, a gaming score of 39.4 out of 100 indicates the Fold7 struggles with sustained GPU loads.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 is a niche device that trades too much utility for its folding screen. If you're dead set on a foldable and can get it at the $1520 open-box price, it's a decent buy for productivity nerds who don't take photos or stray far from outlets. For everyone else, this phone's terrible camera and battery make it hard to recommend over a traditional slab phone that costs the same or less.