Samsung originally built Ocean Mode as a specialized tool for oceanographers working with the Galaxy S24 Ultra back in early 2025. The feature lives inside the Expert RAW camera app, and it tackles the issues that make underwater photography so frustrating: washed-out colors, that blue-green tint everything takes on when submerged, and motion blur from currents. It worked so well that Samsung opened it up to everyone, first on the Galaxy S26 Ultra at Unpacked, then on the Galaxy S25 Ultra just days ago.
Now, according to a new report, that same Expert RAW update (version 5.0.08.2) has now brought Ocean Mode to the Galaxy Z Fold 7. The mode corrects color to restore the reds and oranges that water strips away, reduces motion blur, and offers an interval shooting option that snaps images at two, five, or ten-second intervals.
Samsung’s Ocean Mode before and after. | Image by Samsung
There is one big caveat worth knowing about. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 carries an IP48 rating, which means it can survive a splash or a quick freshwater dip, but it is not built for the ocean. To that end, Samsung warns users to put the phone inside an underwater housing before turning on Ocean Mode. Saltwater is corrosive and can wreck internal components even if water never fully breaches the seals.
Samsung expanding its camera toolkit to the Z Fold 7 is a welcome move, though. Foldables have long carried a reputation for compromising on camera features compared to the S series, and anything that closes that gap deserves credit. The Z Fold 7 already packs a solid 200MP main sensor, so access to specialized shooting modes like this makes that price tag feel a bit more complete.
I got to watch a live demo of Ocean Mode during Unpacked this year, and I will say it was genuinely cool. Seeing how red light gets cancelled out the deeper you go, and then watching the software bring those colors back in real time, really drove home how far phone cameras have come.
That said, this is not something I picture doing with my own phone, and I suspect most Z Fold 7 owners feel the same way. For those who actually take their phones diving in waterproof cases, though, this is a legitimate upgrade worth grabbing.
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