Samsung has pushed its Ocean Mode underwater camera feature to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, giving its foldable the same specialized shooting tool that started out on the Galaxy S24 Ultra and later spread to other flagship phones. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is now getting Ocean Mode through the latest Expert RAW app update, and the move matters less because anyone is likely to take a foldable scuba diving, and more because Samsung keeps narrowing the gap between its slab phones and its book-style devices.
Ocean Mode lives inside Samsung’s Expert RAW app and is built to fix exactly the things underwater photography gets wrong: faded colors, the blue-green cast that takes over submerged shots, and blur from moving water. The latest Expert RAW build, version 5.0.08.2, is what reportedly brings it to the Galaxy Z Fold 7. It can restore the reds and oranges water usually eats, and it can also shoot at two-, five-, or ten-second intervals.
What Ocean Mode does on the Galaxy Z Fold 7
This is not a gimmicky filter with a wetsuit on. Samsung originally designed Ocean Mode for the Galaxy S24 Ultra, then opened it up more broadly after seeing it work. That makes the Galaxy Z Fold 7 rollout part of a familiar Samsung pattern: launch a niche feature on the highest-end slab, then trickle it down once the marketing glow has done its job.
- Corrects color to bring back reds and oranges
- Reduces motion blur caused by currents
- Offers interval shooting at two-, five-, or ten-second intervals
Why Samsung still wants an underwater housing
There is, naturally, a catch. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 has an IP48 rating, which is fine for a splash or a quick freshwater dip, but not a free pass for ocean use. Samsung says the phone should be placed in an underwater housing before Ocean Mode is used, because saltwater can damage internal components even if the seals hold.
That warning is also a reminder that Samsung is still selling a premium phone with premium compromises. Foldables have spent years living in the shadow of the Galaxy S series on camera features, so every extra mode helps. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 already has a 200MP main sensor, and adding a specialist tool like this makes the camera setup feel less like an apology and more like a full feature list.
A niche feature that still has real value
For most people, this is the kind of thing that looks brilliant in a demo and never gets used again. But for anyone who actually takes a phone into the water with proper protection, Ocean Mode is a genuine upgrade rather than a marketing flourish. And yes, it does look good on stage when software drags color back out of the deep in real time.
The bigger question is how far Samsung keeps carrying these specialized camera tricks across its lineup. If Ocean Mode can jump from a Galaxy S Ultra to a foldable, the next obvious move is more of the same: features that once made the flagship slab feel special slowly becoming table stakes elsewhere.