The new Galaxy Z Fold 7 is impressively thin, and as I found in our Galaxy Z Fold 7 review, this hardware design makes it the best folding phone for most people. Yet, there’s one key problem with it: the camera design.
Samsung chose to keep the camera in its trademark vertical array on the left rear of the Galaxy Z Fold 7, and it’s considerably thicker than the rest of the phone. It’s surprisingly not that top-heavy, but an unfortunate side-effect of the design is a wobble when placed on its rear on a phone. A wobble would be an understatement; it wobbles considerably, which can be frustrating if you put your phone rear-first on a table, especially with vibrations enabled.
You may be thinking that a case would solve the problem, but it turns out that most won’t. I’ve found one that will, but it misses the mark in one big way. I’ve tried many Galaxy Z Fold 7 cases, and here’s the one thing that’s still missing.
Most Galaxy Z Fold 7 cases take the same approach
Most Galaxy Z Fold 7 cases that I’ve tried have followed the same approach: protect the back of the phone and the camera primarily, and secondly, add any specific accessories for that case to the bottom half of the case.
Samsung’s official cases have all followed the same mold. Each one serves a specific, singular purpose, rather than trying to do too much like many of the best third-party options.
The silicone case comes with a kickstand attached, but it doesn’t solve the wobble issue. The carbon fiber case lacks any other purpose (other than being an ultra-thin and somewhat protective case), so the wobble is considerable with that case attached. The same applies to the clear case.
Many of the best third-party cases also fail to solve this wobble problem, with most companies focusing on durability or thickness, or featuring accessories like kickstands.
The official clear grip case almost solves the wobble
Then there’s the clear grip case, and since I first saw this alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 7 at Galaxy Unpacked, I’ve wondered if this case would solve the wobble. The key difference from the regular clear case is the added adjustable grip strap, and this is nearly identical in thickness to the camera surround.
Hurrah, I hear you cry? Unfortunately, not quite: the grip is on the left rear like the camera bump, which means there’s nothing counterbalancing it on the right rear side. The net result is that this clear case half-solves the wobble problem, but it feels counterintuitive considering the alternative would have also solved this.
The grip case would have been the ideal contender to also solve this problem as the strap is adjustable to one of two positions. At its smaller setting, it’s the same thickness as the camera bump (but this makes it quite hard to hold if you have larger hands like me). At the larger size, it’s thicker than the camera bump.
This is what Samsung should have done instead
Despite this, it feels like a missed opportunity to provide a solution for customers. Instead, the solution feels obvious: build cases with the grip on the other side of the phone. Yes, it will impact how comfortable it is – E.g., when using the grip case, it may be too far to be completely comfortable – but this is a trade-off that’s likely worth it.
There’s another possible approach as well: add a few small superfluous items to the case that happen to be in the right position and the right size to help solve the wobble. We’ve already seen some handy customers modify their Galaxy Z Fold 7 to solve this problem, so it’s clear that there’s demand for a solution. The real question is which case company will provide that solution.
The best Galaxy Z Fold 7 cases so far
After trying so many Galaxy Z Fold 7 cases, I realized that while I appreciate several cases, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 design is too good to cover it. Yes, I love the kickstand on the Silicon case, and the grip case is wonderful for keeping hold of the phone, but both somewhat take away from the phone’s beauty.
We’re still finalizing our best Galaxy Z Fold 7 cases guide, but so far, I like Spigen’s ultra-thin case for the best carbon fiber case, and Samsung’s official grip case is the best I’ve tried for adding grip. If you’re looking to add a kickstand, this is where it gets interesting: Samsung offers the best silicon kickstand case, while Thinborne provides protection for both the front and rear of your phone, is ultra-thin, and has a magnetic ring for MagSafe-like charging.
As we reported previously, the official Galaxy Z Fold 7 cases come with the anti-reflecting screen protector included, so you’ll want to keep this in mind.
