Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra VS Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7

The most striking physical contrast between these two devices lies in their form factors. When unfolded, the Z Fold 7 spans a wide 143.2 mm in width — nearly double the 77.6 mm of the S25 Ultra — while also being dramatically thinner at 4.2 mm versus 8.2 mm. In practice, this means the Fold 7 in its open state offers a tablet-like footprint but an almost impossibly slim profile, while the S25 Ultra maintains a conventional, pocketable candy-bar shape. Despite their very different geometries, the two phones weigh nearly the same — 215 g versus 218 g — which is a genuine engineering achievement for the Fold 7 given its larger unfolded surface area.

On water resistance, the S25 Ultra holds a slight but meaningful advantage with an IP68 rating compared to the Fold 7's IP67. Both ratings confirm full dust protection and water resistance for everyday scenarios like rain or accidental splashes, but IP68 allows for deeper and longer submersion. For most users the difference is minor, but it is a real concession made to accommodate the Fold 7's hinge mechanism.

Overall, neither phone has a clear across-the-board design edge — they target fundamentally different priorities. The S25 Ultra wins on water resistance and offers a more compact, single-slab ergonomic experience. The Z Fold 7 wins on versatility with its foldable form and a smaller overall volume (95.3 cm³ vs 103.6 cm³), despite its wider unfolded footprint. The deciding factor comes down to use case: users who want a traditional, robust smartphone form will prefer the S25 Ultra, while those who value the flexibility of a folding display will accept the IP67 trade-off with the Fold 7.

Screen size and sharpness tell very different stories here. The Z Fold 7's main display stretches to a generous 8 inches, giving it a tablet-like canvas ideal for multitasking, media consumption, and productivity — a substantial upgrade over the S25 Ultra's already-large 6.9-inch panel. However, that extra screen real estate comes at a cost: with a pixel density of just 368 ppi versus the S25 Ultra's 498 ppi, text and fine detail will appear noticeably crisper on the Ultra. At typical viewing distances the Fold 7's sharpness is still comfortable, but side-by-side the difference is visible, especially in small text or high-detail images.

Where both phones stand on equal footing is brightness and HDR support — both deliver 2600 nits peak brightness and full HDR10+ compatibility, meaning outdoor legibility and premium streaming content look equally impressive on either device. The 120Hz refresh rate is also matched across the board, ensuring equally fluid scrolling and animations. One meaningful divergence is glass protection: the S25 Ultra features Gorilla Armor 2, a premium branded solution, while the Fold 7 uses Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on its cover screen but lacks branded damage-resistant glass on its main foldable panel — a known structural limitation of current folding display technology.

For display, the edge goes to the S25 Ultra if pixel-perfect sharpness and screen durability are priorities. But if raw screen size and the unique productivity advantages of a large foldable canvas matter more, the Z Fold 7 makes a compelling case — it also adds a secondary cover screen that the Ultra entirely lacks, giving it greater day-to-day flexibility without always needing to unfold the device.

Both phones are built around the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip on a 3 nm process, so the fundamentals — architecture, thermal envelope at 8.2W TDP, memory bandwidth, and GPU hardware — are shared. Yet the Z Fold 7 pulls ahead in benchmark scores by a meaningful margin: its AnTuTu score of 2,771,639 is roughly 25% higher than the S25 Ultra's 2,207,809, and it edges ahead in both Geekbench 6 single-core (3234 vs 3057) and multi-core (10059 vs 9846) results. The most likely explanation is the Fold 7's larger 16 GB of RAM versus the Ultra's 12 GB, which allows more data to stay in fast memory during benchmark workloads and in practice supports heavier multitasking without memory compression slowdowns.

An interesting counter-point is the GPU configuration. The S25 Ultra runs its Adreno 830 at a higher base clock of 1200 MHz compared to the Fold 7's 1100 MHz, suggesting Samsung tuned the Ultra's GPU more aggressively — potentially to serve its higher-resolution 1440p display. In sustained gaming or GPU-bound tasks, this higher clock could narrow the performance gap seen in CPU-weighted benchmarks. Both share the same GPU turbo ceiling and identical shading unit count, so the difference is subtle rather than transformative.

On balance, the Z Fold 7 holds the performance edge in this group, driven primarily by its RAM advantage and higher benchmark results across the board. For users who keep many apps open simultaneously or run demanding productivity workloads on that large display, the extra 4 GB of RAM is a tangible benefit. The S25 Ultra is no slouch — they share the same silicon — but the Fold 7's configuration gives it a measurable lead where it counts most.

The rear camera systems share a 200 MP primary sensor at their core, but diverge sharply from there. The S25 Ultra fields a four-lens array — adding two 50 MP sensors alongside its 10 MP telephoto — while the Z Fold 7 manages with three lenses, where the ultrawide drops to 12 MP and the telephoto to 10 MP. More consequentially, the S25 Ultra offers 5x optical zoom versus the Fold 7's 3x, a difference that is immediately noticeable when shooting distant subjects. Combined with its higher-resolution telephoto lenses, the Ultra is the stronger dedicated photography tool at range. Video recording also tips toward the Ultra, which captures 8K footage at 30 fps compared to the Fold 7's 24 fps — a meaningful difference for anyone shooting cinematic or high-motion content.

The front camera situation is where the Fold 7 flips the script. Its under-display front camera on the main inner screen is a unique structural advantage — selfies and video calls can be made on the large display without a visible punch-hole interruption. The cover screen adds a second front-facing option as well. The S25 Ultra's 12 MP conventional front camera likely delivers sharper selfie output in isolation, but the Fold 7's dual-front setup offers more versatility across both screens.

For cameras overall, the S25 Ultra holds a clear edge in rear imaging — more lenses, greater optical zoom reach, and higher-frame-rate 8K video make it the stronger choice for photography-focused users. The Z Fold 7 carves out its own niche with the under-display selfie camera and the flexibility of two usable front-facing setups, but those advantages are tied to its form factor rather than outright imaging capability.

Running the same version of Android 15, these two devices share an overwhelmingly similar software foundation — privacy controls, multitasking features, widget support, on-device AI, and productivity tools like split-screen and Picture-in-Picture are matched across the board. For most users, day-to-day software experience will feel virtually identical between the two.

Dig into the differences, however, and the S25 Ultra holds a consistent, if modest, advantage. It supports cross-site tracking blocking, Wi-Fi password sharing, and focus modes — three features absent on the Z Fold 7. Focus modes in particular have real daily-life utility, allowing users to filter notifications and limit app access during work, sleep, or personal time. Wi-Fi password sharing is a small but frequently appreciated convenience. The missing cross-site tracking protection on the Fold 7 is a minor privacy gap, though its impact depends heavily on which browser is used.

This group has a clear but narrow winner: the S25 Ultra edges ahead strictly on the basis of the three features the Fold 7 lacks. None of these omissions are dealbreakers, and the Fold 7 remains fully capable as a software platform — but for users who value a more complete out-of-the-box feature set without workarounds, the S25 Ultra delivers a slightly more polished OS experience.

Battery capacity is one of the clearest divides between these two devices. The S25 Ultra packs a 5000 mAh cell versus the Z Fold 7's 4400 mAh — a 14% difference that, all else being equal, translates directly into longer time between charges. Given that the Fold 7 also drives a larger 8-inch display, the gap in real-world endurance is likely even more pronounced than the raw numbers suggest, since bigger screens consume more power.

Wired charging is where the S25 Ultra extends its lead further. Its 45W charging speed is nearly double the Fold 7's 25W, meaning not only does the Ultra have more capacity to replenish, it fills up significantly faster. For users who rely on quick top-ups during the day, this is a practical advantage. Wireless charging is matched at 15W on both devices, and reverse wireless charging is identical at 4.5W — so for those who charge wirelessly as a primary method, the gap narrows considerably.

The S25 Ultra wins this category decisively. A larger battery combined with substantially faster wired charging gives it a meaningful advantage in day-to-day energy management. The Z Fold 7's 4400 mAh cell is a reasonable capacity in absolute terms, but paired with its power-hungry large display and slower replenishment rate, it is the weaker option for users who prioritize all-day battery confidence.

Audio is the rare category where these two devices are in complete lockstep. Both omit a 3.5 mm headphone jack, offer stereo speakers, and support the same trio of high-quality Bluetooth audio codecs: aptX, aptX HD, and LDAC. For wireless listening, this means both phones are equally capable of streaming lossless-quality audio to compatible headphones — LDAC in particular allows for significantly higher Bluetooth bitrates than standard codecs, making it relevant for audiophiles pairing with premium wireless headphones.

This group is a complete tie. There is no differentiator between the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 based on the provided audio specifications — every feature is matched identically. Users choosing between these two devices can safely set audio hardware aside as a deciding factor and focus on the other categories where real differences exist.

Connectivity fundamentals are nearly identical between these two devices — both support Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, 5G, NFC, USB 3.2 Type-C, and matching peak download and upload speeds. For most users, this means neither phone will feel faster or more connected than the other in everyday wireless scenarios. The shared Wi-Fi 7 support is worth noting as a forward-looking feature, offering significantly higher theoretical throughput and lower latency compared to Wi-Fi 6E on compatible routers.

Two differences stand out. First, the S25 Ultra supports dual physical SIM plus dual eSIM, while the Z Fold 7 is limited to one physical SIM and one eSIM. For frequent travelers or users juggling personal and work lines, the Ultra's more flexible SIM configuration is a practical advantage. Second, the S25 Ultra includes ANT+ support, a wireless protocol used primarily to connect fitness devices like heart rate monitors, cycling sensors, and GPS watches — absent on the Fold 7. Its relevance is niche but meaningful for fitness-oriented users who rely on ANT+ accessories.

The most significant exclusive feature in this category, however, is the S25 Ultra's included stylus. The Fold 7 ships with no stylus, and given the productivity potential of its large inner display, that omission is notable. Combined with the SIM and ANT+ advantages, the S25 Ultra takes this category — not through any difference in core wireless technology, but through a broader set of features that extend its utility for power users.

With only three data points in this group — and all three identical across both devices — the Miscellaneous category is a complete tie. Both the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 include a video light, neither uses sapphire glass, and neither incorporates an e-paper display. There is nothing in this specification group that distinguishes one device from the other or should influence a purchasing decision.