Transcription
This is the current Flip 6. It is very nice, but it's not as nice as this, the brand new Galaxy Z Flip 7. And just look at that cover screen, or flex window as they call it. It is massive. We've gone from 3.4 in to 4.1. It has very much gone into that Motorola Razer territory with the full screen, but it also felt like the natural progression for the Flip 7. And together with the Fold 7, I reckon this is one of the biggest upgrades we've seen to Samsung's foldable flippable lineup in years. So, let me walk you through what's new, what's good, and also perhaps what's not so good.
Anyway, the headline is of course that new bigger flex window. But it's not just a bigger screen. It's also much brighter, now 2400 nits, matching the same as the internal main screen. And also, we get their vision booster, which improves the contrast and colors at those high brightnesses. They've also bumped the refresh rate from 60 to 120 hertz. And I love the fact you get these sort of color animations around the two cameras based on what you're doing, whether you're recording a video, taking a photo, and if you take a photo on a timer, it counts down left to right and actually subtly pulls your eyes towards the camera lenses, which is where you should be looking when taking a picture.
The Flip 7 is also significantly thinner this year. With the Flip 6, it was 6.9 to 14.9. So, Samsung have managed to shave off 1.2 2 mm when it's closed, which of course is one of the issues with the Flip because it really does stick out your trousers or wherever you put it. No change to the weight though, still 188 g. Well, technically it's 1 g heavier. So, it's skinnier, but not any lighter. Also, look at this hinge. It's 30% slimmer versus the Flip 6. That's a massive year-on-year improvement. They have kept basically the same camera system as the Flip 6, but they've reduced the size of it, but it means because we have the thinner chassis, the lenses don't stick out any more than they did.
It also comes in three colors. Well, technically fourth with the onlay exclusive mints, although I didn't get to see that in person, but I saw the blue shadow, the jet black, and the coral red, which definitely looks more pinkish than red. I'm actually, I reckon might be my favorite. But between the three, which would you go for?
New chip, of course, the Snapdragon 8. No, no, they didn't. They haven't done that. In a surprising twist of fate, Samsung's using their Exynos 2500 for the flip. And apparently this will be globally as well, not just like in European or Asian markets. They have no issues obviously with the Snapdragon chips. They use it in the 8 Elite for the Fold, the S25 series. Also, does this mean that the S26 series may use the Exynos chip again? Anyway, I'm sure it will be capable, but obviously there are questions over the ISP. Does it impact the camera in terms of Samsung's pro visual engine? You know, the processing also the modem for the networks for your mobile signal and also of course battery.
Now, this is where things sound more promising. The new chip paired with a new bigger battery, we're talking 4,300 mAh. That's up from 4,000 last year. Samsung are promising 2 and a half hours longer battery life versus the Flip 6 and a whopping 6 and 1/2 hours longer versus the Flip 5. But of course, I'll be testing all this, the battery life, the performance, a potential throttling in my full review, so make sure you have hit that subscribe button so you don't miss that. That'll be coming as soon as possible.
The Flip 7 also gets 12 GB of RAM and comes with either 256 or 512 gigs of storage. And they haven't increased the prices, at least here in the UK. I'll put a final pricing down here. You can still pay 100 more to get 512, but I think 256 will be absolutely fine for most of us. And also along with Wi-Fi 7, it now supports Bluetooth 5.4.
As for the camera, well, this won't take too long because it's basically exactly the same as last year's Flip 6 with a 50 megapixel main and a 12 megapixel ultrawide. No telephoto here. The Fold 7 actually enjoys quite a significant hardware upgrade in terms of the camera. Like the 200 megapixel camera that we got on the Ultra that's now squeezed into the Fold 7 and actually has a similar profile really to the Flip 7. So, it's a little bit disappointing that we couldn't also get that in the Flip especially when the Edge has it.
They have shrunk the actual whole camera module. So, the lenses aren't as sticky outy as they would have been. And also, we do get some of the benefits with their new Pro Visual Engine, which taps into the chip's ISP and also One UI 8. So, they're promising improved noise reduction, better low-light video. We can also now shoot 10-bit HDR video, very much like the Fold 7. And we get some pretty nifty new features when using the Flex Window. For example, they've improved the auto zoom, so it'll actually go between the ultrawide and the main and keep you in the frame. We've got this on-screen zoom slider. You can actually apply filters now directly through the flex window and you can flick through them. And also, as I showed you earlier, this very cool new camera hole visualization, as they call it. So, the software, the processing, it should improve the camera a little bit over last year. But as I say, chances are you're not coming from a Flip 6. And so if you have one of the previous gen phones, then this will be a more significant upgrade. But it would have been nice to see some new hardware on the Flip 7. As I say, particularly that 200 megapixels that we have on other devices now because then it would give you more sort of optical or at least lossless zoom range using that resolution cropping in because we don't have that third telephoto lens.
And of course on the inside, we have this 10 megapixel selfie camera. Same as before. Hang on, let me just try something. 4K 60. Ooh. Okay. So, on the Flip 6, I'm recording at 4K 60 here. I can't change the lens. I can digitally zoom in, but that's it. On the Flip 7, I tested at 4K 60, you can switch between the ultrawide and the one. And I also much prefer this new zoom slider. So, that is a benefit with the Flip 7.
But, can we just take a minute to really appreciate the size of this flex window? Also, the bezels, 1.25 mm around the flex window here. Those are the smallest bezels we've seen on any Samsung device. The downside, of course, is that the camera lenses themselves will obscure a little bit of what's on screen, but that's not really the end of the world. And also, while I am flicking through wallpapers and widgets, the first thing you should do if you buy a Flip is download the Good Lock app from the Galaxy App Store because through that, you can then play around and it will let you have all your regular full apps on the cover screen. So, you could have YouTube or Netflix or Google Maps or whatever it is on that Flex Window. So, really, you are turning it into a proper second screen. I think the reason Samsung don't encourage you or, you know, allow you to do it more easily just from the home screen is because they can't obviously guarantee what third-party apps will look like on that window cover screen. They want to make sure it's a nice experience. So, you may have some bugs and issues with Windows, but I've never really had any problems and it really does make it a lot more useful.
So, the Flip 7 ships with Android 16 with Samsung's One UI 8 on top, meaning it is one of the first phones to ship with the brand new version of Android. And as usual, Samsung do promise seven full years of OS updates. And I said a similar thing about the F 7 that now the hardware has got so much better and in this case sort of caught up with Motorola at least in terms of the flex window. I think Samsung's software with foldables and flips is the best on the market. So now potentially the Flip 7 will become the best flip phone out there. Potentially. We'll see.
But wait, there's more. There is one more thing because Samsung have launched a second Flip. This is the Flip 7 FE and it's £200 cheaper than the Flip 7. So, it's a little bit more of a budget option and basically takes the same design, same flex window, same screens as last year's Flip 6, but switches out last year's 8 Gen 3 chip from Snapdragon for their own Exynos 2400, which is a step down from the 2500 in the regular Flip 7. With the FE, you're also only getting 8 gigs of RAM rather than 12 and also base storage back to 128 rather than 256. So, that alone makes it kind of worth almost spending the extra 200 to get the Flip 7 full fat version. It's a bit of a weird device. I'm not really sure who I'd recommend the FE to. You'll want to get the 7. You get better specs, better design, better longevity really. And you could probably find a cheaper Flip 6 on a deal or a discount or secondhand instead.
I'm not sure about that, but I am sure about the Flip 7. I'm really excited for this. And very much like the Fold 7, as I say, this is a big upgrade this year. And if you do fancy buying one, if you use my link in the description, you'll get access to the uh pre-order deal where they double the storage for free. And also, I think you can get like an extra £50, $50 off it. So, make sure you check out those links. But what do you think? Are you tempted to buy a Flip 7, or have we all just moved on from flips and folds now? Thank you so much for watching, guys. I'll see you next time right here on the Tech Chat.