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The first iPhone released more than a decade ago, ushering in the modern era of smartphones. Since then, device manufacturers have toyed with various phone designs with physical keyboards, ticker displays, and modular components, but none of these ideas stuck. In recent years, almost every major phone has been a larger version of the original iPhone’s candy bar form factor. We are for a change, and I think that the folding ones are. First-gen folds cheered me on in 2019 and early 2020, but after using the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2, I’m convinced that we’ll all have folds in the future. But maybe not him close future.
A tablet in your pocket
The Galaxy Z Fold2 is Samsung’s second or third generation foldable, depending on how you want to count. The original Galaxy Fold was redesigned after early review units showed a propensity for display glitches, and the updated Fold was released a few months later, in the summer of 2019. While it didn’t fall apart, the technology still was. quite limited. The Z Fold2 enhances the latest Fold in a number of ways to become something I really want to use.
The outer cover display on the Fold2 now fills most of the available space instead of having massive bezels, and the hinge is even more robust with additional brushes to clean dust. When you open the Fold2, you get an impressive 7.6-inch foldable OLED panel with an improved 120Hz refresh rate. There is also a folding glass layer on the screen that makes it feel sturdier. While the Fold2 is a “phone,” I see it more as a tablet that fits in my pocket. Yes, it is a large phone when folded, but I think it is actually easier to transport than the Note20 Ultra, which takes up even more space.
Hearing the words “Android” and “tablet” in the same sentence can get you moving, and I get it. The dearth of Android apps optimized for tablets has made the experience horrible compared to something like the iPad. This is not a big problem with the Fold2 because we are not talking about a 10-inch screen. Even extended phone apps are usually fine on this screen. The aspect ratio is a bigger issue – some apps just don’t play well with the square screen.
The cover display is fine for sending a quick message or checking your notifications. However, I almost always use the main folding screen. It’s a two-handed experience, to be sure, but writing on it is quite comfortable for me. I’m probably 30 percent faster with a real computer, but again, this is a phone that fits in my pocket. I can do real work on this device no matter where it is; I wrote this entire article about him. The larger screen is part of what makes it possible, but Samsung’s multi-window system is vital to the experience as well.
The Z Fold2 allows you to split screen applications or even use a three interface. Some of the user experiences need improvement, but I see signs of greatness. On my “real” computer, I like to have multiple windows tiled for easy access. I was amazed at how much of that experience I was able to replicate on the Fold2. For example, I have used windows to do research in Chrome while also monitoring Slack chats and managing email intermittently. This is not possible on a regular phone or smaller folding devices like the Z Flip without switching windows and disrupting my workflow.
The Fold2 changes the way I interact with the smartphone in my pocket, and that’s refreshing after years of nearly identical flat glass plates.
A phone of the future
Clearly, I really like the Z Fold2, but I would never tell most people to buy it. It’s ridiculously expensive at $ 2,000, but I can understand why – this is a phone of the future. And since it is from the future, many applications and technologies have not caught up. Some apps just don’t work well with Fold2, and Samsung’s window system needs some polishing. However, no one else is really competing in this space. Google added basic folding support to Android, but it’s mostly letting Samsung do its thing (I really wish Google would take the lead here). And while foldable OLED technology has come a long way, the Fold2’s panel can get scratched, it doesn’t repel oils, and even Samsung can’t make a foldable waterproof.
These shortcomings are real, but they will fix over time. Hinges and flexible OLEDs will be more durable, the crease will be less visible, costs will go down, and OEMs will explore more styles of foldable phones. Imagine you could carry a smartphone that folds out into a small tablet. or a big one depending on what you need. That’s still the realm of science fiction, but the Z Fold2 would have looked like science fiction 10 years ago.
Technology always starts out as prohibitively expensive, but Samsung is pushing the boundaries to claim the prestige of being first. It can do so thanks to its leadership in OLED technology, even Apple uses Samsung displays. Now when Apple finally makes a foldable, Samsung can look down and remind everyone that it pioneered foldables as early as 2019.
The Z Fold2 has the feel of a super-advanced technology demo that, through scale and determination, Samsung has turned into a product you can buy. So of course this comes at a high price. You shouldn’t buy it because your old phone broke down and you need a new one. Your should Buy it if you want to take a look at the future of computing.
I realize that’s the kind of proclamation that could age like good milk, but I’m willing to take a chance and say you’ll probably have a folding phone for years to come. Just as it became increasingly difficult to find phones that didn’t look at least a little like the iPhone OG, it could be harder to find phones that didn’t owe something to the Galaxy Z Fold2.
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