Samsung finally nails the foldable
Plus: Gemini brings photos to life, Gmail cleans your inbox, and a trick to stretch your airport voucher
Hello and welcome to another edition of my newsletter!
This week I was in Brooklyn for Samsung’s latest Unpacked event.
They usually do two of these a year—one for their standard S series phones, and one for their foldables, the Z series.
This time, it was all about the Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7.
Samsung has been making foldables since 2019, and they’ve come a long way. The first version was so basic, if a speck of dust got into the hinge, the whole screen could break. Not anymore—these latest models are so refined, they might finally be good enough to replace your regular smartphone.
Z Fold 7 - The first thing you notice is how much thinner and lighter it is compared to last year’s bulky model. But the most important change? The front screen.
That’s the screen you use most when it’s folded, and it’s now actually usable for everyday tasks. It’s 6.5 inches and much wider than before. Open it up and you get an 8-inch display—basically a mini tablet in your pocket.
For the first time, Samsung added its best 200MP camera to the Fold line.
There are a few trade-offs, however. There’s no more stylus support, which is ironic for a device that’s meant to be a productivity powerhouse. Also, the price went up $100—it’s now $2,000 for 256GB with 12GB of RAM.
After testing, I can say this phone is finally in a place where it’s recommendable. The outer screen is big enough, the inside screen is great for email, video, and multitasking. It’s expensive, but you won’t need a seperate tablet, which saves you about $500. I’m looking on the bright side of things, here.
That said, it’s super slippery, doesn’t lay flat on a table, and the power button is a little too recessed. Which is annoying because you need to use it non-stop - for unlocking with your fingerprint, taking screenshots, activating Gemini and launching the camera. It’s easily the worst aspect of this phone right now, and it can’t be improved with a software update. Also, battery life hasn’t wowed me, but that might be because I’ve been using it non-stop.
Z Flip 7 - This is the smaller phone that folds like a clamshell—think old-school flip phone.
The most noticeable update is the cover screen—now it stretches nearly edge to edge, with just two cutouts for the cameras.
Open it up and you get a full 6.9-inch display, in a more familiar aspect ratio. It’s wider than before and that makes a big difference in usability.
Samsung addressed one of the biggest complaints—battery life—by bumping up capacity by about 10%. Not huge, but helpful.
Camera hardware didn’t change, but the image processing is improved. And because of the flip design, you can use the main cameras for selfies and videos while previewing on the front screen. That’s a huge plus—your best cameras work for every shot.
Price remains the same at $1,100.
Both phones come with Gemini AI built in, which feels a lot more useful on these devices than Apple’s current AI offerings.
And remember—nobody pays full price for Samsung products. There’s always a trade-in, promo deal or special pricing for affinity groups (teachers, students, etc).
If $1,100 or $2,000 still feels steep, Samsung is releasing a Flip FE edition for $900. It has a smaller outer screen, smaller battery, and no dedicated zoom lens.
All of these phones go on sale July 25.
And so far, just about everyone I’ve talked to agrees—Samsung’s foldables are finally ready for prime time. But what I’m struggling with, after using the Fold for the past 48 hours… is who NEEDS a phone like this. It’s super cool that you can have phones like these, but I still can’t identify a specific use case scenario for either. That doesn’t mean you won’t be happy with them. These are Samsung’s best yet and I don’t think people who actually get them will be disappointed. I just think most consumers are wondering what the advantage is. If you identify one for you, then go for it.
Unless, of course, you want to stick with iPhone. Rumor has it Apple’s first foldable is coming in 2026, and you just know people will go wild—some will even pretend Samsung hasn’t been doing this for six years.
Samsung Z Fold 7 Sample Photos
One thing the Fold 7 really shines at is letting you enjoy your photo collection. Most of us take pictures on our phones and only ever see them on a small screen. But unfold the Fold 7 and that big inner display brings your shots to life.
Samsung also includes some of the best AI editing tools out there—and the large screen makes it easy to view before-and-after edits side by side.
Here are a few early shots taken with the Fold 7. The camera is fun to use, and the image quality is right in line with Samsung’s top-tier S25 Ultra—not surprising since they share the same 200-megapixel main lens.
Google Gemini turns your still photos into videos
Speaking of photos, Google’s Gemini AI has a wild new feature—it can bring still images to life.
Upload a photo and Gemini will turn it into an 8-second video, complete with sound. To try it, head to gemini.google.com, tap Video, then “Add photo,” and describe the scene you want to animate. It’s not perfect, but the results are pretty fascinating to watch.
Here’s a photo I took with the Fold 7 of a bee buzzing around a flower—plus the animated video Gemini created from it.
Just a heads-up: you’ll need to be a paying Google Gemini subscriber to access this tool, and it’s still gradually rolling out to accounts.
Tech Tidbits
Gmail’s new “Manage Subscriptions” feature is live - This tool makes it easy to unsubscribe from mailing lists. In Gmail, look on the left side panel under Inbox and Starred for “Manage Subscriptions.” Tap it to see a ranked list of all the subscriptions you’re on—sorted by how often they email you. One more tap lets you unsubscribe with ease.
Fubo settles privacy lawsuit for $3.4 million - The streaming service was accused of sharing user data with third parties without consent. If you subscribed—or even just used Fubo—anytime before May 29, 2025, you may be eligible to file a claim.
Q&A: TV for beach cams?
Carol from San Diego writes in…
Hi Rich,
I watch you on TV and listen on the radio — love it all!
Here’s my 1st world problem: I have too many TVs and want to use one to display public webcams — like beach cams, zoo cams, that kind of thing. I’d love to mount it on the ceiling and check the waves or see what the animals are up to. Is this even possible?
Absolutely! Plug in an Amazon Fire TV Stick or an Apple TV, then download the EarthCam app. It lets you stream tons of live public webcams, including beaches and zoos — perfect for background viewing or a live window to the world.
Feedbag
Louie from Downtown Los Angeles writes in…
I listen to your show every week and it’s always filled with so much useful information. So thank YOU!
Travel tip: Don’t waste that airline meal voucher
My wife rarely tags along on business trips, but she had some time off and joined me for a quick visit to NYC. Of course—Murphy’s Law—our return flight got delayed. Normally I breeze through trips without a hitch, but this time, we were stuck waiting.
After a certain amount of delay (I believe it’s three hours), United automatically sends out a $15 meal voucher in the form of a virtual prepaid credit card. You only get 24 hours to use it.
We’d already loaded up on snacks, so we didn’t need more food—but here’s the tip: that virtual card works at pretty much any restaurant, not just in the airport.
So we got creative. We logged onto the Sweetgreen website and used the virtual card to buy ourselves a $15 gift card. Worked like a charm. Now we get to enjoy lunch on United—on our own schedule.
If you ever find yourself delayed, keep this one in your back pocket.
P.S. This same trick works for turning a prepaid Visa card (especially one with a random balance!) into an Amazon gift card—here’s how.
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That’s all for now! Be sure to catch my radio show Saturdays from 11 AM to 2 PM PT on KFI AM 640—and call in with your tech questions at 1-888-RICH-101.
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– Rich