Galaxy Z Fold 7 is durable but hard to repair

Samsung’s latest smartphone with a book-style foldable display, the Galaxy Z Fold 7, brings massive improvements over the Galaxy Z Fold 6 in terms of design, and is currently the thinnest and lightest in its segment. Despite that, it is very durable, as we have seen in three durability tests (1, 2, 3), meaning that it will withstand day-to-day use for years. But what if something goes wrong? How easy is the phone to repair? Well, not much.

iFixit, a platform that offers guides, parts, and tools for gadget repairs, has posted a video on YouTube where they have torn down the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and demonstrated its repairability, which you can check out below.

iFixit starts tearing down the Galaxy Z Fold 7 by pointing out that you don’t need apply heat to remove the phone’s back panel as Samsung introduced heatless back panel removal. 

However, it notes that the battery has a pull tab, which is supposed to make removing the unit easier, but in reality, it is very tough to use as you need to apply a lot of force and it often tears. iFixit says that Samsung should have used the enveloping adhesive wrapper, like that in the Galaxy S25 Ultra, as it is much easier to use and remove battery.

When it comes to removing the cover display, iFixit says that Samsung has used a very strong adhesive, which is unnecessary, and it makes detaching the screen from the body much harder. 

As for removing the inner screen, iFixit says that removing it is even harder. The foldable display’s bezels are glued to the device and the margins are tight. As a result, you will have to use a sharp object and apply a lot of pressure, which destroys the bezel. On the positive side, iFixit notes that the screen lifts up more easily than those on the previous models. However, none of that is of use because when you remove the display, it stops working, as it is sensitive to pressure and torsional rotation.

Lastly, iFixit points out that finding replacement parts for the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is very hard and the parts are very costly, especially the inner foldable screen. To add to that, Samsung isn’t offering free manuals for its repair. With the difficulty in taking the phone apart and all these challenges, iFixit has given the Galaxy Z Fold 7 a repairability score of 3 out of 10. We hope that Samsung works on this issue and makes the Galaxy Z Fold 8 easy to repair.