Lighter, Thinner, and More Powerful

Samsung just released its latest book-style foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold 7, with numerous improvements over its predecessor. Given the thinner and lighter chassis, bigger screens, and a more powerful chipset, I prefer the Fold 7 over the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Price & Availability

The Fold 7 is available beginning July 15, 2025, at a starting price of $2,000 for the 256GB variant. Currently, Samsung is offering a free storage upgrade, allowing you to get the 512 GB variant for the same price as the 256 GB variant (which otherwise costs $2,119.99).

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold costs $1,799 for the 256GB variant. You can also get it for $ 1,699 at Best Buy (if you’re willing to activate it with Verizon or AT&T at the time of purchase).

Boxy vs. Rounded Corners

Right off the bat, the Fold 7 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold have a distinct look, characterized by the sharp, boxy edges of the Fold and the rounded corners (and edges) of the Pixel Fold. On top of that, the vertical camera array on the Fold 7 foldable looks nothing like the rectangular module (which protrudes quite a bit) on the Pixel Fold.

Samsung’s latest foldable has a slim side profile of 8.9mm when folded and 4.2mm when unfolded, making it noticeably thinner than the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which is 10.5mm thick when folded and 5.1mm thick in its unfolded state. Besides being slimmer, the Fold 7 is 42 grams lighter than the Pixel Fold, a difference that you’ll notice the moment you pick up the handsets.

For the cover screen, the Fold 7 utilizes Corning’s Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2, while the back is still crafted from Gorilla Glass Victus 2. On the other hand, the 2024 Pixel Fold uses Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for both the front and the rear glass. Both phones have an aluminum frame that holds the internal components in place.

The Fold 7 boasts a superior IP48 rating, implying that it can resist ingress damage from dust particles (larger than 1mm) and immersion in freshwater up to 1 meter for 30 minutes. Conversely, Google’s foldable comes with an IPX8 rating. While the phone can survive immersion in up to 1 meter, it is susceptible to damage from dust or dirt.

Samsung has launched the Fold 7 in a new Blue Shadow colorway (which looks like a darker version of the Galaxy S25’s Navy finish), along with other colors such as Jet Black, Silver Shadow, and Mint. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is available in two finishes: Obsidian and Porcelain.

While some people would prefer the rounded corners on the Pixel Fold, I personally like the boxy and lightweight design of the Fold 7 better (it wouldn’t feel as heavy and bulky in my pocket).

A Foldable Phone Is Less Fragile Than You Think

Go ahead and drop it.

Fold 7 Offers Bigger Cover and Inner Screens

The Fold 7 features a 6.5-inch cover screen and an 8.0-inch inner screen, both of which utilize a Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X panel that supports an adaptive refresh rate (up to 120Hz) and reaches a brightness of 2,600 nits. Unlike the Fold 6, the Fold 7 has dropped support for the S-Pen.

In comparison, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold features a slightly smaller cover screen (6.3 inches) but an equally large foldable screen (8.0 inches). Furthermore, both screens use an LTPO OLED panel that matches the Fold 7’s 120Hz adaptive refresh rate and boasts a higher peak brightness of 2,700 nits.

On both phones, the primary screen supports HDR10+ certification for a better visual experience on OTT platforms.

Snapdragon 8 Elite vs. Tensor G4

The Fold 7, like Samsung’s Galaxy S25 lineup, sports the Snapdragon 8 Elite (3nm) chipset. It comprises two 4.47GHz prime cores, the Adreno 830 GPU (capable of hardware-accelerated raytracing), and the Hexagon NPU (for on-device AI processing).

The Fold 7 is available in three storage variants, all of which offer 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB (UFS 4.0).

On the other side of the table, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold relies on Google’s Tensor G4 (4nm) processor. It offers a 3.1GHz prime core and the Mali-G715 GPU. The chipset is paired with 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM (more than the Fold 7 has) and up to 512GB of internal storage (albeit at the slower UFS 3.1 standard).

I don’t want to confuse you with different benchmark scores, so I’ll give you a direct comparison instead. The Snapdragon 8 Elite on the Fold 7 scores approximately twice as much as the Tensor G4 on the AnTuTu 10 benchmark, and a similar trend is observed in the GeekBench 6 multi-core CPU test.

Now, this doesn’t mean that the Tensor G4 can’t handle multitasking or video games. In fact, Google has optimized the chipset for specific use cases that revolve around the everyday tasks users perform on their smartphones, which include running useful Google AI features (that rely on an on-device Gemini Nano model).

However, when it comes to raw performance, especially while running demanding apps like high-end video games, 4K video editors, or heavy multitasking, the Snapdragon 8 Elite generally holds a significant advantage. So, if you’re a power user who prioritizes peak performance and pushes the device to its limits, the Fold 7 will help you get things done faster.

Both Foldables Get Seven Years of OS Updates

The Fold 7 (along with the Flip 7) is the first Samsung smartphone to run on a stable version of One UI 8, which is based on Android 16. It offers numerous updates, including a revamped My Files and Quick Share interface, as well as enhancements to the Samsung Internet and Samsung Health apps.

There’s a new 90:10 split-screen mode that lets you focus on one app while minimizing the other. Like its predecessor, the Fold 7 will get seven years of One UI and security updates (till 2032). Among other changes are new additions to the expansive Galaxy AI suite, including a feature that recognizes what the phone’s camera is looking at.

While Google’s second-generation foldable currently features Android 15, it will soon receive a stable Android 16 update with new features, including Live Updates, auto-grouping for notifications, haptic sliders, and advanced protection against online attacks and harmful apps.

Like the Fold 7, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold will also get seven years of major operating system updates (from its launch in 2024). You also get Google AI features like the Gemini voice assistant, Pixel Screenshots, and the Pixel Studio.

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Both Foldables Get Three Rear-Facing Cameras

Unlike the Fold 6, the Fold 7 houses a 200MP (f/1.7, OIS) primary sensor, which should capture more details even at lower resolutions (thanks to pixel binning). Then there’s a 10MP (f/2.4, OIS) secondary sensor with a 3x optical zoom lens, and a 12MP (f/2.2, 123° field of view) ultrawide sensor that lacks autofocus.

Samsung’s latest foldable also gets a new 10MP (f/2.2, ultrawide) punch-hole camera on the foldable screen, similar to the 10MP (f/2.2) camera on the cover screen. While the Fold 7’s primary camera can record 8K videos in up to 30 fps, all the other cameras max out at 4K 60 fps.

The Fold 7 also gets all the AI-based photo editing capabilities, including Generative Edit, Sketch to Image, Portrait Studio, Live Effects, Instant Slow-Mo, and Audio Eraser.

Google’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold also features a triple-rear-facing camera setup. It includes a 48MP (f/1.7, OIS) primary sensor, a 10.8MP (f/3.1, OIS) secondary sensor with a 5x optical zoom lens (higher than the Fold 7), and a 10.5MP (f/2.2) ultrawide sensor with dual-pixel autofocus for macro photography.

Both the inner and outer screens feature 10MP (f/2.2) punch-hole cameras. While the hardware might not look as impressive, Google is known for extracting excellent pictures with mediocre hardware through computational photography.

All the sensors can record 4K video at up to 60 fps. The phone also offers video recording features like Audio Magic Eraser, Night Sight Video, and Video Boost. You also get plenty of AI-based editing features, such as Magic Editor, Magic Eraser, Add Me, Video Boost, Night Sight Video, and Audio Magic Eraser.

Pixel 9 Pro Fold Features a Bigger Battery

Despite other brands leveling up their foldable battery game, Samsung has decided to stick with the 4,400 mAh battery for the Fold 7 (the same as Fold 6). It supports 25W wired and 15W wireless charging.

The slightly thicker chassis of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold houses a larger 4,650 mAh battery that supports 21W wired and 7.5W wireless charging. While the battery should last longer than the Fold 7, it charges at a slower rate.

Related

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Which Foldable Is Right for You?

If you want the latest, absolute best book-style foldable on the market, you can’t go wrong with the Fold 7. It features an exceptionally thin side profile, weighs less, has a more powerful processor, and offers more customization options via the One UI user interface.

If you’re already using a Fold 4 or Fold 5, you can also get a decent trade-in value for your current handset, which reduces the Fold 7’s effective price.

Like the Fold 7, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold also offers seven years of software updates, so that isn’t an issue. However, if you prefer the rounded edges, brighter screens, the stock Android user interface, and Pixel Camera (along with the suite of AI-based editing features), you’re better off with the Pixel Fold.

I recommend the Pixel 9 Pro Fold to anyone who has been using a Pixel device for a few years and wants to try the foldable form factor.

• 

  Brand

  Samsung

  RAM

  12GB

  Storage

  256GB

  Battery

  4,400mAh

  Operating System

  One UI 8

  Connectivity

  5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4

  Samsung’s thinnest and lightest Fold yet feels like a regular phone when closed and a powerful multitasking machine when open. With a brighter 8-inch display and on-device Galaxy AI, it’s ready for work, play, and everything in between.

  
  

I’ve also compared the Fold 7 to the Fold 6, as well as Samsung’s latest Flip 7 to the Flip 6 and the Flip 7 FE, if you’d like to check that out.