Should you wait for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7?

Samsung's next major Galaxy Unpacked foldable launch is likely just weeks away, and while we expect some significant updates to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, the smaller Galaxy Z Flip 7 may also receive some notable changes.

The flip phone market may not be popping off as much as many of us had hoped, with companies like Google, Oppo, and others focusing more on large-screened foldable phones. However, with the ongoing success of Motorola's Razr series, Samsung has a lot to prove with the Galaxy Z Flip 7.

Based on the leaks and rumors about the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 7, we may finally get a phone that gives the Razr a run for its money. So, does that mean you should wait to buy the Z Flip 7, or are you better off going with last year's Flip or even the Razr Ultra? Let's break it down.

A cover screen worth using?

One of the most notable upgrades we've seen in the Galaxy Z Flip 7 is the updated design, complete with a larger cover screen. From the looks of it, the external display may span the entire top back cover, similar to the layout of the Motorola Razr Ultra.

This is exciting because it should enhance the cover screen experience by giving users more screen real estate to work with. We don't officially know the exact dimensions, but it's rumored to be about 4 inches, which should be plenty of room for activities.

But most importantly, it should hopefully allow for a better app experience. Currently, Samsung only "officially" allows a select few apps on the cover screen, while the rest have to be accessed through a separate panel after installing and setting up the MultiStar module in Good Lock.

It's a bit of a process to get it to work, and when it does, apps are confined to the rather limited 3.4-inch display of the Galaxy Z Flip 6, which vertically squishes them down to a nearly unusable size.

With a larger cover screen, apps should have a little more room to breathe. Furthermore, the expanded cover screen could also hint at a revamped software experience, and hopefully, Samsung will follow Motorola's example and allow apps to work natively on the cover screen.

More power, but will it be enough?

There have been conflicting rumors about whether or not Samsung will use a Snapdragon or Exynos chip with the Galaxy Z Flip 7. As of late, things seem to be pointing to an Exynos 2500 being used in most, if not all, regions, including North America.

Given the history of Samsung's Exynos chips and consumer sentiment around them, this could put the Galaxy Z Flip 7 at a disadvantage, at least when compared to other flip phones like the Motorola Razr Ultra. After all, it's often the case that Qualcomm chips are generally more powerful than Exynos, although it could be argued that Exynos chips are more efficient.

Since flip phones have limited space for batteries, this could be a respectable tradeoff, given the phone is expected to arrive with a meager 300mAh bump to battery capacity when compared to the 4,000mAh on the Galaxy Z Flip 6. That's still lower than the 4,700mAh battery of the Razr Ultra, but that may not matter if the chip is more efficient.

Furthermore, it seems likely that the chip in the Galaxy Z Flip 7 will be more powerful than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powering the Galaxy Z Flip 6, and it should provide a superior experience. Leaked benchmarks indicate that the Galaxy Z Flip 7 is expected to achieve single- and multi-core scores of 2,012 and 7,563, respectively. They fall behind other Snapdragon 8 Elite devices, but that's likely due to the chip being underclocked to manage thermals in the flip phone chassis.

In fact, the scores are better than those of the Razr Ultra 2025, which received 1,743 and 6,714. The multi-core score outperforms past Snapdragon chips, but the single-core score lags behind some previous generations. It is possible that Motorola similarly underclocked the prime cores to manage heat, which tends to accumulate at the top half of flip phones.

Either way, the Razr Ultra performs very well in day-to-day use, and the Galaxy Z Flip 7 should perform similarly, if not better, thanks in part to the rumored (but likely) 12GB of RAM. We just hope Samsung does something about the meager 25W charging speed.

Boring cameras, exciting software

If you're hoping for a bump in camera performance, there may not be much in the way of notable upgrades over the Galaxy Z Flip 6. In fact, current rumors point to the Galaxy Z Flip 7 using the same 50MP+12MP wide and ultrawide setup as its predecessor. The only difference is the rumored Exynos chip, which could provide different image processing.

Still, knowing Samsung, the company is likely to introduce some interesting camera features to take advantage of the larger cover screen and more capable chipset.

Meanwhile, software is where Samsung shines, and the Galaxy Z Flip 7 could launch as one of the first phones with Android 16, aside from the Pixel. One UI 8 is already in beta, introducing new features such as enhanced multitasking, improved AI Select, refined Routines, and more. There have been rumors of interesting new AI features arriving, like Video Summarize, which will apparently summarize a video on your screen without you needing to actually watch it.

It's likely that we'll see AI features like this and more arrive on the Galaxy Z Flip 7. Thanks to the capabilities of a more powerful chip, some could be exclusive to the new phone or simply work better with enhanced capabilities for on-device AI processing.

Samsung also seems likely to extend its seven-year update promise to the Galaxy Z Flip 7, meaning you'll receive support for a bit longer than last year's model.

Should you wait?

There are already some good flip phones on the market from Samsung and Motorola, and it looks like the Galaxy Z Flip 7 won't really move the needle much. That said, it sounds like it'll be a decent upgrade over the Galaxy Z Flip 6, enough so that it would be worth waiting until the phone launches to decide on your next flip phone.

A larger cover screen, a newer chipset, and a bigger battery certainly sound promising. Even with the Exynos chipset, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 sounds like it could give the Razr Ultra 2025 a run for its money, especially if Samsung manages to launch it at the same price as its predecessor.

You can check out our early Galaxy Z Flip 7 vs. Razr Ultra 2025 comparison to get an idea of how these two phones might stack up against each other, or our Galaxy Z Flip 7 vs. Z Flip 6 comparison to see if you should just get last year's model or spring for the newer phone. This is especially important if you want to save money, as we expect the Galaxy Z Flip 6 may drop in price soon after the Z Flip 7 launches (there are already plenty of sweet discounts).

Either way, the launch may be fairly close, so if you can hold off, wait for the official launch to see how the Galaxy Z Flip 7 looks against the competition before making your decision.

For more news and information on Samsung’s upcoming foldables, check out our Ultimate Guide.