Berke İpekçiThe Galaxy Z Fold 7 bears a striking resemblance to last year’s Special Edition rather than its direct predecessors. It’s larger, thinner, and notably more robust. Samsung has enhanced the primary camera system, but the absence of Under-Display Camera technology persists—a surprising holdout, considering recent trends.
For anyone familiar with the SE, much of this will sound familiar. S Pen enthusiasts may be disappointed, as the Fold 7 still doesn’t address some long-standing concerns. While Samsung has taken steps to improve the foldable series’ overall direction, the latest model isn’t without its compromises. It’s progress, but certainly not perfection.
Here’s the bottom line: Samsung’s latest Fold 7 had to scale back some of its more ambitious features to keep things moving. For starters, they’ve dropped the Under Display Camera (UDC) tech—opinions on that are mixed, to be fair. But perhaps more noticeably, the Galaxy Z Fold 7, much like the so-called Special Edition, no longer supports the S Pen. That’s a significant shift, especially since the S Pen had become something of a hallmark for the Fold lineup. Whether this is a strategic decision or simply a necessary compromise, it definitely changes the device’s value proposition.
The S Pen situation with the Fold series has been confusing from the start—none of the S Pens ever worked with the cover display, which made the overall experience feel incomplete. The Z Fold’s S Pen integration was never streamlined or particularly intuitive, and after several product cycles, Samsung had to reevaluate its approach.
Last year’s launch of the Fold SE, which also skipped S Pen support, seemed to test the market’s appetite for change. The positive response likely encouraged Samsung to move on from the S Pen idea altogether. With the global release of the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Samsung has now clearly committed to leaving S Pen support behind for this product line.
If you were hoping for S Pen support with the Galaxy Z Fold 7, that’s unfortunately not in the cards right now. Still, the device appears to represent a significant upgrade for most users. Whether Samsung’s decision to skip the S Pen this time will pay off remains to be seen.
