The Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Fold 7 December update didn't go well for us

Samsung pushed out a new firmware update for its 2025 foldables in December, and my wife and I didn’t hesitate to install it on our Galaxy Z Flip 7s and Z Fold 7s. In hindsight, that may have been a mistake. Battery life has taken a noticeable hit, more than the usual short-term dip you can expect after a new update.

It’s normal for phones to struggle for a day or two while things settle, but it’s been weeks since we installed the AYKF firmware, and neither device has bounced back. A conservative estimate is that we lost around 20% battery life.

At first, I wondered if I was overthinking it, but then again, I wasn't alone facing these issues. We've also seen several reports from other Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 users describing similar battery drain issues after the update.

Not everyone is affected, though, which makes it harder to gauge how widespread the problem really is or why user reports are mixed.

As far as our experience goes, it's puzzling that nothing else has changed on our end apart from applying the update itself. Our usage habits are the same, and we haven’t installed any new apps recently that could explain the increased power drain.

Given the mixed reports from other users, your mileage with this new AYKF update (AYKE in Korea) might vary. Still, if you haven't yet updated your Galaxy Z Fold 7 or Z Flip 7 to this December firmware, it might be worth holding off a little longer.

The update consists of the December security patch, so it's not like you're missing out on a lot if you delay it. We will keep monitoring our foldable phones and see if anything improves in the meantime.

If you have already updated your foldable(s), feel free to share your experience with us via email or our social media channels.