@clacke Pantheon Files can compress and extract 7z files (actually Archive Manager from GNOME does the work)
https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/FileRoller
@diti you are right that it does not offer compression level settings. other GUIs might have them
there is an open issue for that https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/file-roller/-/issues/89
there is ark from kde as an example that have this setting. maybe that's for you? https://apps.kde.org/ark/
not sure if 7-Zip still has the best compression. there are some very performant new ones