Samsung fans now have two choices in the premium segment: the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Z Fold 7. The two Galaxy flagships are fully loaded with innovations, packing modern hardware with exceptional performance and the power of AI.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra was released earlier this year, while the Galaxy Z Fold 7 just went official at yesterday’s Samsung Unpacked event. These phones have some surprising similarities, but we will attempt to choose the real winner.

Let’s check which flagship deserves your money.

Design

Galaxy S25 Ultra is a bar-type phone, while the Fold 7 is a book-style folding handset. There’s no comparison between the two in terms of design, as it totally depends on the consumer’s liking whether bar or fold is preferred.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra is 8.2mm thick and weighs 218 grams. On the other side, the Fold 7 is just 8.9mm thick when folded and 4.2mm unfolded. It’s a huge difference in thickness due to form factor, and the weight is 215 grams.

Display

Samsung’s Fold 7 brings a larger cover and inner screen over the Z Fold 6. The outer screen is now 6.5 inches, which expands to 8 inches when unfolded. You can use the cover screen as a bar-type phone and unfold it to have a tablet-like experience.

Source – Samsung Mobile Press

On the flip side, the Galaxy S25 Ultra keeps its phablet approach alive. It has a huge 6.9-inch screen, but the phone doesn’t feel bulky. It’s crafted for maximum performance and peak experience in all types of usage.

Image – SammyFans

Camera

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra and Z Fold 7 share the same main and telephoto sensors of 200-megapixel and 10-megapixel with 3x optical zoom.

Samsung has used a better selfie camera in the Galaxy S25 Ultra than the Z Fold 7. The former uses a 12MP lens, while the latter has two selfie snappers of 10MP on the cover and inner screens each.

You get a better 50-megapixel ultrawide camera in the S25 Ultra as compared to the Fold 7’s 12MP sensor. Periscope camera is the biggest advantage, with the S25 Ultra having a 50MP sensor, while the Z Fold 7 lacks 4th sensor entirely.

Image – SammyFans

Performance

Both the Galaxy Fold 7 and Galaxy S25 Ultra are equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor. This chip uses Qualcomm’s custom Oryon CPU, with the “for Galaxy” variant offering a maximum frequency of up to 4.47GHz.

Durability

Galaxy S25 Ultra features an IP69 rating, whereas the Z Fold 7 has an IP48 rating. Both are resistant to dust and water at certain levels. But if we take practical durability into account, the Galaxy S25 Ultra beats the Z Fold 7 without any battle.

Samsung is doing a great job with its foldable phones. The devices use better and durable screens and hinges. Outer material is also getting advanced to ramp up durability, but the form factor itself is the biggest letdown for durability.

Image – SammyFans

Software

Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the first smartphone that launch with Android 16. It runs One UI 8, which Samsung is currently Beta testing on the S25 Ultra. It’s not a big deal as S25 Ultra is getting all the bells and whistles with the software upgrade.

If we look long term, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 will end up getting an additional OS upgrade than the S25 Ultra. It gets One UI 8 out of the box, which is a generation ahead of the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s One UI 7, but it’s not a winning factor.

Price

Available for pre-order, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 starts at $2,000 in the US. It’s the most expensive Samsung smartphone due to its folding form factor. You can purchase the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which has a starting price tag of $1,300.

Note – Both prices are listing prices for the US market.

Verdict

Having over half a decade of covering Samsung, I can’t advise a Galaxy Z Fold 7 purchase over the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The foldable phone is the greatest in terms of innovation and experience, but the form factor is literally immature.

If you prefer longevity, go ahead and snag a Galaxy S25 Ultra – you will never regret it. Samsung’s durability claims aside, once your foldable phone gets faulty, you will gonna regret your decision of owning a premature technology.

Samsung’s One UI is a big part of what makes Galaxy phones and tablets unique. With One UI 7 finally rolling out to users, attention is shifting to the next chapter: One UI 8. The upcoming software update, based on Android 16, brings exciting new features to Samsung devices.

In this article, we will discuss the release date, the beta testing program, which devices will get One UI 8 based on Samsung’s update policy, and what this means for Galaxy users.

Samsung One UI 8 Release Date:

Historically, Samsung has aligned its major One UI releases with the annual Android update cycle, typically landing in the fourth quarter, around October or November, following Google’s stable Android release. For instance, One UI 6 debuted on October 30, 2023, while One UI 7, delayed significantly, launched on April 7, 2025. However, One UI 8 is breaking this pattern completely.

Android 16-based One UI 8 was officially released on July 9, 2025, at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event. The company successfully achieved an ambitious summer 2025 stable release timeline, arriving in July, months ahead of Samsung’s traditional fall update schedule.

Samsung says the update is set to gradually roll out to other compatible Galaxy devices, ensuring a broader reach across its ecosystem.

For existing devices, the Galaxy S25 series stands the best chance of getting the stable One UI 8 update in late July 2025, with stable versions already found on Samsung’s internal servers. The update for other devices like the Galaxy S24, S23, and older foldables will likely start in August 2025, with a phased rollout to ensure stability.

Samsung One UI 8 Beta Program:

Samsung officially launched the One UI 8 beta program on May 28, 2025, starting with the Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra in Germany, Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Beta program has now expanded to India and Poland.

Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra users can apply to install the One UI 8 beta through the Samsung Members app using the new sign-up process announced by Samsung. Samsung released the beta program without any major official announcement, with Beta 1 arriving on May 28, Beta 2 on June 12, and Beta 3 on June 30, 2025.

The beta program followed Samsung’s usual approach of starting with flagship devices. Samsung successfully rolled out One UI 8 Beta 3 for the Galaxy S25 series and has extended the beta program to the Galaxy Watch 7 and Ultra.

Samsung One UI 8 Eligible Devices:

While Samsung hasn’t officially confirmed the One UI 8 device list, we can rely on its official software update policy to identify the devices guaranteed to receive the update. Samsung now offers up to seven years of OS upgrades for select flagship devices (starting with the Galaxy S24 series) and four years for others, alongside five years of security updates for many models. Based on this policy and the confirmed One UI 7 rollout, the following devices are certain to be eligible for One UI 8:

• Galaxy S Series: 
  • Galaxy S25 Edge, S25, S25+, S25 Ultra, Galaxy S24, S24+, S24 Ultra, S24 FE, Galaxy S23, S23+, S23 Ultra, S23 FE, Galaxy S22, S22+, S22 Ultra.
• Galaxy Z Series: 
  • Galaxy Z Fold7, Z Flip7, Flip7 FE (Launched with One UI 8), Galaxy Z Fold6, Z Flip6, Galaxy Z Fold5, Z Flip5, Galaxy Z Fold4, Z Flip4.
• Galaxy Tab Series:
  • Galaxy Tab S10+, Tab S10 Ultra, Galaxy Tab S9, S9+, S9 Ultra, Galaxy Tab S8, S8+, S8 Ultra.

Mid-range models like the Galaxy A55 and A35 may also qualify under the four-year policy. Older devices, such as the Galaxy S21 series, may miss out, as four-year support may end before One UI 8 arrives.

One UI 8

The launch of One UI 8 aligned perfectly with Samsung’s new foldables—the Galaxy Z Fold7, Z Flip7, and Z Flip7 FE, which launched on July 9, 2025. These devices ship with Android 16-based One UI 8 preinstalled. This marked a significant change for Samsung, bringing a major update much sooner than fans expected.

If you have any questions about One UI. Let me know on my X handle (SamsungSWUpdate), and I’ll help you figure out when it might get the update!

At Unpacked, Samsung officially confirmed the One UI 8 Watch 4/Classic upgrade. That said, the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic are now confirmed to be getting the Wear OS 6-based One UI 8 Watch upgrade this year.

On June 30, Samsung kicked off the One UI 8 Watch Beta Program. The company mentioned that the Watch 5 and later models are eligible. It sparked a debate that Samsung has dropped the Watch 4 series from Wear OS 6 eligibility.

Well, the official confirmation at Unpacked has cleared all the doubts.

Wear OS 6 plus One UI 8 Watch

Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic are the first Samsung smartwatches that launch with Wear OS. While the software support is about to end this August, Samsung is still bringing a big free upgrade, marking the 4th OS release.

Wear OS 6 will come to the Watch 4 series as its fourth major update. This new OS arrives on Samsung smartwatches as part of One UI 8 Watch. The development hasn’t yet begun, so a specific timeline is tough to predict.

Samsung’s new One UI 8 Watch succeeds the One UI 6 Watch version. The company has entirely skipped v7 to match the Galaxy Watch and One UI Watch numbering. Like One UI 7 for Mobile, One UI 8 Watch brings big visual revamps.

The new design and tiles are being hated by many. Samsung is likely to make some visual changes during the Beta Program. Notably, the entire focus is shifted to offering streamlined user experiences to Galaxy Watch owners.

Meanwhile, your Galaxy Watch is also getting a big AI upgrade. Google started rolling out the Gemini AI assistant to Wear OS watches running Wear OS 4+. Samsung’s entire Wear OS smartwatch lineup is eligible for this AI upgrade.

Google officially announces AI assistant Gemini for Samsung and Wear OS smartwatches. Samsung’s latest Galaxy Watch 8 series marks the debut of official Wear OS 6 and integrates the Gemini AI assistant as well.

Starting July 9, Google has started rolling out Gemini AI to Wear OS smartwatches from Samsung, Oppo, OnePlus, and Xiaomi, along with its own Pixel watches. This major upgrade will replace the classic Google Assistant on your watch.

AI assistant Gemini is starting to roll out to Wear OS 4+ watches over the coming weeks. Watches upgrading to Wear OS 6 will also include support for your watch brand’s apps, so you can keep using the apps you use every day.

Google says Gemini for Wear OS is as powerful and smart as its Android variant. Users will have a consistent, smart assistant right on their wrist. Gemini unlocks a more natural, intelligent, and capable way to manage tasks and access info.

Gemini for Wear OS – Key Features

You can start talking with Gemini by simply saying “Hey Google,” as well as pressing and holding the side button on your watch, or tapping on the Gemini app icon on your watch screen. It’s easy to access and ready to impress with its capabilities.

Source – Google

You can talk to it naturally, just like you would with a friend, and it gets you, picking up on your speech patterns and giving quick, clear answers.

Your watch can now tackle bigger tasks that used to mean grabbing your phone and jumping through hoops. With Gemini, it’s all streamlined, working across your apps to get things done fast.

Gemini can also connect to Gmail and Google Calendar. Just head to the Gemini app settings on your paired phone, turn on the apps you want to use, and give it the okay with permissions.

Plus, Gemini has got your back for keeping track of important stuff. Ask it to save something you need to remember, and it will pull it up for you whenever you ask.

Samsung has become the first OEM to launch phones running Android 16. The new operating system is already available on Pixel phones and several other manufacturers’ devices in Beta, but Samsung just flipped the script.

Google historically maintained its lead in rolling out new OS updates and launching phones with new OS. Things have changed drastically this year, with Samsung becoming the first to launch phones running Android 16 out of the box.

The search engine giant would be the next to launch Android 16 phones. The Pixel 10 series could launch in Fall 2025. Thereafter, Chinese OEMs would join the party with their flagship devices throughout the year and early months of 2026.

Not 1 or 2, Samsung just launched 3 Android 16 phones

Galaxy Z Fold 7, Z Flip 7, and Z Flip7 FE boot Android 16. Samsung has unveiled these foldable phones during yesterday’s Unpacked event in the US. Pre-orders are now live with up to $1,100 savings, and general release is set for July 25.

Android 16 comes on top of One UI 8 for Galaxy devices. Samsung’s new One UI iteration refined the user experience by bringing smoother animations, enhanced functionalities, optimized performance, and faster app launches.

This is a significant upgrade over One UI 7, which brought some of the biggest UI changes in Samsung’s history. The Korean tech giant also confirmed that the One UI 8 will be rolled out gradually to other Galaxy devices.

One UI 8 Beta with Android 16 is already available on the Galaxy S25 series. The Beta participants have received two Beta updates so far. The performance and stability are being ensured during the testing before the official rollout begins.