Galaxy Z Fold 7 vs Galaxy Z Fold 6: What Is Different?

Samsung’s foldable flagship keeps evolving, and the new Galaxy Z Fold 7 is here to tighten the gap between flexible phones and traditional slabs. But how much has really changed compared to last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 6? Here’s a closer look at how the two stack up.

Design and Build

One of the biggest talking points this year is how much slimmer and lighter the Fold 7 has become. It weighs 215 grams, which is noticeably lighter than the Fold 6’s 253 grams — a difference you’ll actually feel in your pocket or bag. Folded up, the Fold 7 measures 8.9mm thick, slimmer than the Fold 6’s 12.1mm. When unfolded, it’s just 4.2mm, a substantial trim-down compared to the previous generation’s 6.1mm profile. Overall, Samsung says the new design is about 26% thinner when open, which makes a big difference when you’re holding it like a tablet.

Materials have also had an upgrade. While the Fold 6 used Armor Aluminum and Gorilla Glass Victus+, the Fold 7 brings in tougher Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 on the cover display and an armored titanium layer in the frame. The hinge has been reworked too, with the new Armor Flex Hinge designed to disperse stress more evenly to reduce visible creasing over time. The water resistance rating sits at IP48 — a slight technical bump over the Fold 6’s IPX8 — adding dust protection to the mix.

Bigger and Brighter Screens

Open up the Fold 7 and you’re greeted by a slightly larger 8.0-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, up from the Fold 6’s 7.6-inch panel. The cover screen is bigger too, now 6.5 inches with a more usable 21:9 aspect ratio, compared to the Fold 6’s narrower 6.2-inch front display. Both the main and cover screens support adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz for smooth scrolling and gaming.

It’s a subtle bump in size, but combined with slimmer bezels and improved durability layers, it makes the Fold 7 feel more like a small tablet when opened and more like a regular phone when closed.

A Serious Camera Upgrade

Perhaps the most significant hardware leap is in the camera. The Fold 7 inherits the flagship-level 200MP wide-angle main camera, aligning it with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. That’s a big jump from the Fold 6’s 50MP main shooter. You still get a triple rear camera system with a 12MP ultra-wide lens and a 10MP telephoto lens with 3X optical zoom and up to 30X Space Zoom. However, the new high-resolution main sensor promises sharper details, especially in challenging lighting conditions.

Selfie shooters also get an improvement. The cover camera remains at 10MP, but the under-display camera on the main screen is now a more conventional 10MP sensor, replacing the Fold 6’s less impressive 4MP under-display camera. This upgrade should result in clearer video calls and selfies when the phone is unfolded.

Performance and Battery

Both generations rely on top-end Snapdragon silicon, but the Fold 7 debuts the new Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, which brings CPU, GPU, and NPU gains over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 used in the Fold 6. This means faster on-device AI processing, improved multitasking, and enhanced gaming performance.

Battery capacity hasn’t changed — both pack a 4,400mAh dual-cell battery — but Samsung claims improved power efficiency thanks to the new chipset and display tech. Wired charging still tops out at 25W, with wireless and reverse wireless charging features carried over from the Fold 6.

Smarter Software

The Fold 7 is Samsung’s first foldable to ship with Android 16 and One UI 8, bringing more AI-powered features out of the box. Tools like Generative Edit, Circle to Search, and Gemini Live are designed to take advantage of the larger screen, letting you edit photos, search for information mid-game, or drag and drop AI-generated content between apps more easily.

While the Fold 6 did get some of Samsung’s AI tools through updates, the Fold 7’s hardware is clearly tuned to run them more smoothly, and its larger screen makes them more practical to use side by side.

Which Should You Choose?

The Z Fold 6 was already a polished foldable, but the Fold 7 nudges the concept forward with a thinner, lighter build, stronger materials, and a serious camera upgrade. If you’re upgrading from an older Fold — especially anything before the Fold 5 — the Fold 7’s refinements will feel substantial. But for Fold 6 owners, the main draw is really the improved main camera, lighter design, and next-gen AI software.

With a familiar price point and Samsung’s promise of seven years of software support, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 looks like the foldable to beat — at least until the next iteration inevitably pushes the design even closer to the mainstream.

Filed in General. Read more about Android, Qualcomm, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite, Samsung and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.