With an enhanced clamshell design and a smart software integration, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 phone promises to help busy professionals be more productive. The recently upgraded Galaxy Z Flip includes Samsung DeX for the first time, allowing you to multitask and work across multiple work-related applications without the need to take a laptop along. A cover design change offers a bigger display, ideal for working sessions, too. The new processor is likely fast enough for most needs—but it’s slower than the competition. Read on for my full Samsung Galaxy Z Flip review.
My Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 review tested how it compares to its predecessor.
Illustration: Forbes / Photo: Retailer
As the consumer tech and electronics editor at Forbes Vetted, I often need my phone to do more than the typical smartphone, and I’m always working on the go. After rigorously testing the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 for over three weeks (normally I carry the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra), here’s what I learned, including how this phone might support busy professionals.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7: Design And Displays
Subtle Design Changes Offer Big Quality Of Life Improvements
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7’s slims down from its predecessor. It’s 0.4mm thinner and a hair wider than its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6. Both design changes to made the phone easier to grasp and hold in my hand for long periods. A wider profile with thinner bezels also makes both the cover display, called the Flex Window, and unfolded main display larger.
The biggest design change is in the Flex Window: It now stretches across the entirety of the top half of the device for more display real estate, making it easier and faster to compose messages and emails without opening the phone.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7: Performance And Software
Finally—It Gets DeX
Two major changes this year shape the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7. The first is the new in-house Exynos processor, which shifts away from Qualcomm partnership seen in previous iterations. The Exynos felt speedy when I worked and flipped through my apps, but it also produced some of the lowest benchmarking scores I’ve seen from Samsung to date: a 2,287 for single-core and 7,272 for multi-core scores. That means that it’s slower than many of its predecessors I’ve tested, including the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, which gave me scores of 2,867 and 9,699, respectively. Still, the Flip 7’s speed should be fast enough for most—just not the fastest.
The Flex Window now covers the entire panel, offering a bigger display.
Rebecca Isaacs for Forbes
But the biggest update, and the reason I believe this phone could be a real workhorse for busy professionals, isn’t in the chipset. It’s the addition of DeX. If you’ve never used this software before, DeX can be found under the phone’s settings menu. Tap it on, and it turns the Samsung UI into a mini computer, especially when you pair a portable monitor and keyboard to it. DeX turns your apps into windows and tabs, and you can sort them on your display to work wherever you are. The phone’s main display converts into a mouse touchpad. Now you can have multiple windows open, so you can be writing an email, updating a spreadsheet and more, all simultaneously. It’s a unique software that’s become crucial to my workflow, especially when paired with my Viture Pro XR glasses.
If you need a computer in a pinch, the Samsung DeX software on the Flip 7 allows you to turn the phone into a portable PC with a few additions.
Rebecca Isaacs for Forbes
I tested DeX on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 using a portable monitor and XR glasses; the unfolded display makes it easier to maneuver the touchpad, but make sure you have plenty of battery life. You can’t use the cover display as a touchpad when the phone is closed. It’s a minor disappointment, especially when considering how many times I’ve used DeX in flight. I would have loved to use that Flex Window to save precious tray table real estate. You can connect via cable or wirelessly provided have a compatible display available. During testing, I also noted that a wired connection means you can’t charge your phone, too.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7: Cameras
Some Minor Tweaks
There aren’t many upgrades to the cameras this year on the Flip series, but there are a few callouts worth mentioning. Samsung upgraded its ProVisual Engine software to enhance post-processing. Personally, I appreciate its cameras, but for this model if you zoom in closely, you can expect some detail loss. It’s not the end of the world, and unless you’re zooming in to see the most minute details, you won’t notice. The lenses aren’t as robust as its foldable sibling, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, but keep in mind that while the Flip 7 starts at $1,100, the Fold 7 starts at $1,800.
Photos of my cat look good initially, but there’s some minor degradation when zoomed in.
Rebecca Isaacs for Forbes
The Samsung Galaxy Flip 7 is still one of the best ways to take selfies. With most phones, you have to use the front camera, which probably ranges from a 10 to 12 megapixel lens. But the Flip offers the Flex Window, so you can use the Selfie Mode to snap photos using the 50MP lens to take more detailed shots. It’s easy to zoom in via the settings bar.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7: Verdict
A More Compact Tool For Professionals
If you like the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra series or the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold series but aren’t enthused by their bulk, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 aims to be a Goldilocks of work phones. While the new design may be a hair larger, it doesn’t feel larger, and it easily can slip into any jacket or suit pocket.
This phone was first built with content creators in mind, and it continues to work well for that community, but I believe business professionals who work with social feeds or who need to work on anything, from docs to spreadsheets while away from the office, should also consider the Flip 7. The cameras are useful for most needs, and the 50MP selfie cam feels like a jack-of-all-trades. And the addition of the DeX software makes it easier for busy professionals to work more efficiently.
At $1,100, this phone is more affordable than both the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. It’s a well-balanced package with a lovely design, a decent chipset, a good set of cameras and that DeX software to improve access and efficiency to all your apps.
How I Tested The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7
I used the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 as my main phone for three weeks. I took calls, snapped photographs of various subjects, sent messages and more. When diving into the software, I considered new offerings, including DeX. I used DeX across two different devices, a Dell portable monitor and the Viture Pro XR glasses. In addition to responsiveness, I also worked on my assignments using one of these setups to understand its performance in real-world business professional settings.
Because Samsung went in-house with this new Exynos chipset, I rigorously tested it. I used Geekbench 6 and ran the CPU Benchmark Test three separate times throughout the three-week testing period. From there, I cross-referenced the numbers of other phones I’ve benchmarked to see how the new chipset compared to more established processors like Apple’s A series bionic chipset, Google’s Tensor chips and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon series chips.
Why Trust Forbes Vetted
The Forbes Vetted team has published hundreds of tech and electronics guides that leverage our hands-on testing and research.
- Consumer tech and electronics editor Rebecca Isaacs has been involved in tech journalism for more than six years. She has done deep dives into the Apple ecosystem with the iPhone 16 Pro and also reviewed plenty of Android devices. Most recently, she tested and reviewed the best Android phones and the best Samsung phones. She regularly attends Samsung Unpacked and other tech events, including CES. For this story, she tested the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 over the course of about three weeks.
- As she tests phones, Isaacs focuses on aspects of interest to everyone, from folks who prefer a simple call-and-text device to heavy mobile gamers who want a powerful and seamless experience. As a result, her testing is relevant to how general users, gamers and content creators may interact with these phones.
- The editor of this story is Rose Gordon Sala, the deputy editor who oversees the consumer tech and kids and baby gear sections of Forbes Vetted, and has more than 20 years of editing experience.