The Vivo X Fold 5 is here and just like its predecessor, its focus is to solely make the user experience more practical. With a slimmer chassis and a stronger hinge, Vivo’s flagship foldable aims to make using a book-style foldable as easy as a conventional slab phone. With a versatile camera system and a large capacity battery, the Vivo X Fold 5 would have an easy time in the competitive premium foldable phone market had Samsung not launched the Galaxy Z Fold 7.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 came out just a few days prior to Vivo’s foldable device, offering the same kind of features and upgrades. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 has a similarly slimmer chassis, an upgraded triple rear camera system and a brand new Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. With a higher price tag than before, Samsung hopes to present its foldable phone as a more premium choice over everything else.
So, which one of these foldable phones should you invest in? Let’s find out.
Vivo X Fold 5 vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Design and build
The Vivo X Fold 5 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 feature cutting-edge book-style foldable design with sleek chassis and robust hinges. When unfolded, the sides are 4.3mm, which make it barely any thicker than a standard USB-C port. Samsung’s Fold 7, however, measures 4.2mm, which gives it a slightly slimmer profile. To the naked eye, both of these devices feel like slim, even when folded shut. Both have a premium build quality. While Samsung’s choice of Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 glass and Victus 2 on the back make it seem stronger, Vivo’s back panel design with a circular central hump makes it more stable on the desk. Both devices feature water and dust resistance.
Vivo X Fold 5 vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Display
The Vivo X Fold 5 features an 8.03-inch 2K+ 8T LTPO AMOLED main foldable display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 4,500 nits. The cover display measures 6.53 inches with a Full HD+ LTPO AMOLED panel, also with 120Hz refresh rate and 4,500 nits peak brightness.
On the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, the main foldable display is an 8.0-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X (2184×1968) panel with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate and a peak brightness of 2600 nits. The cover display is a 6.5-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X (2520×1080, 21:9) panel, also with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate.
While both have cutting-edge display technologies, Vivo’s foldable OLED panels are brighter, thereby making them more legible outdoors. Samsung’s AMOLED panel, on the other hand, is more colour accurate and the UTG glass on the main display is stronger.
Vivo X Fold 5 vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Performance
The Vivo X Fold 5 relies on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor paired with 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. It comes with Vivo’s FunTouch OS 15 based on Android 15 out of the box, featuring new multitasking modes inspired from the iPadOS 26. While this alone is a highly capable setup that can deal with any computing task, it is no match for Samsung’s sheer specs and raw performance capabilities.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile Platform for Galaxy chip featuring 12GB or 16GB of RAM and storage options up to 1TB. Samsung claims 38% faster processing and 41% quicker AI than the Z Fold 6 – the predecessor that utilised the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. With Samsung’s One UI 8 interface based on Android 16, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is not only faster but offers a more polished user experience, all while featuring lots of useful multitasking UI elements. Compared to the Vivo, the Samsung Fold 7 is a generation ahead!
Vivo X Fold 5 vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Cameras
The Vivo X Fold 5 features a versatile triple-camera setup co-engineered with ZEISS: a 50MP Sony IMX921 primary sensor (OIS), a 50MP Samsung JN1 ultra-wide-angle sensor, and a 50MP Sony IMX882 3x periscope telephoto lens. A 20MP front-facing camera handles selfies, one of each of the cover and main display.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 features an upgraded 200MP main wide-angle camera (with 2x optical quality zoom), a 12MP ultra-wide camera, and a 10MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. It also has a 10MP cover camera and a 10MP main display camera.
While both phones offer multiple focal lengths on their rear cameras, Vivo’s sensor quality and resolution is significantly higher for the ultrawide and telephoto shooters. The same stands for the front cameras. With the ZEISS lenses and T* coating, the optical system on the Vivo is notably superior.
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Vivo X Fold 5 vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
Vivo X Fold 5 vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Battery and charging
The Vivo X Fold 5 packs a substantial 6,000mAh battery with a fast 80W wired charging and 40W wireless charging. In contrast, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 relies on a much smaller 4,400mAh battery with 25W wired charging support (50% in ~30 min) and Fast Wireless Charging 2.0.
It takes no scientist to decipher than the Vivo X Fold 5 will fare much better in battery stamina performance. Even when it comes to charging, the Vivo X Fold 5 will fill up its battery much faster than the Samsung version. Additionally, Vivo offers the 80W fast charging adapter in the box.
Vivo X Fold 5 vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Price
The Vivo X Fold 5, similar to its predecessor, comes with a lower price tag of Rs 1,49,999 for its sole variant with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage. This, despite being premium, is more accessible than Samsung’s pricing.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 in India starts from Rs 1,74,999 for the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage variant and goes up to Rs 2,10,999 for the 16GB + 1TB model.
Vivo X Fold 5 vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: Verdict
Choosing between the Vivo X Fold 5 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is a tricky task. On one hand, you have the less pricey Vivo X Fold 5 with a large 6,000mAh battery, fast wired charging, superior triple rear cameras and a host of interesting camera filters.
On the other hand, you have the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 with the latest 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, a thinner chassis that’s also lighter and a superior IP48 water and dust resistance rating, Samsung’s superior One UI 8 software ecosystem with the latest Android 16 OS and deeper Galaxy AI integration, and a 200MP main camera. Samsung’s wider availability and established after-sales support are other aspects to factor in. A premium of Rs 25,000 may put off many, but when you look at the larger picture, it is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 that emerges victorious.
