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The first generation of folding phones arrived last year, and there was no more talk of any than the Samsung Galaxy Fold. It was the first mainstream folding phone (despite its dazzling price tag) to go on sale globally, and while Samsung faced some challenges with initial build quality, it quickly reached out to those with a revised edition, and that device was generally well received.
While the original Fold was an exciting product, it did have some feature and design issues in addition to the aforementioned issues with its build.
With its successor, it seems that Samsung has taken all complaints into account and has come up with a product that is better in almost every way, except perhaps for its name: while the original device was known simply as Samsung Galaxy Fold it is now the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G, with a rather strange nickname.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 price and release date
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 release date is set for September 18 in the US and UK, where you can now pre-order the phone. We have yet to know when it will be released in Australia or the United Arab Emirates.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 has a starting price of $ 1,999 / £ 1,799 (around AU $ 2,700, UAE 7,300). We have yet to know the price of the phone in Australia or the United Arab Emirates, but we hope to hear more details soon.
There is also a separate limited edition version of the phone called the Thom Browne Bundle which will cost $ 3,299 / £ 2,999 and will be ready to buy on September 25.
Design and display
When it comes to folding, you have phones that fold inward, just like the two Galaxy Folds. and phones that fold out, like the Huawei Mate Xs. While there is no denying that inward-folding device screens are more protected, we found the Mate XS, which launched shortly after the original Fold, to be more convenient as it provides a much larger ‘front’ screen of 6.6 inches when folded than the Fold’s 4.6-inch exterior screen.
Although the Galaxy Z Fold 2 still folds inward, Samsung has greatly increased the screen size, to 6.2 inches. This is done by widening the Fold 2 and extending the screen across the entire front of the phone. This certainly makes using the Fold 2 in its folded state that much more practical, and you no longer have to open the phone for almost everything.
The Fold 2 is a bit heavier than the original Fold, but that weight helps make it feel a bit more premium in your hand. It’s also slightly thinner than the original Fold on both the thicker and thinner ends (one end of the phone is thicker when folded).
The corners are now less rounded, which brings the Fold closer to the design of the Note 20 Ultra, and the camera matrix on the back seems straight out of the Note 20 Ultra.
In addition, like the new Notes and other recent Samsung devices, the Fold 2 is available in the striking Mystic Bronze color, with a matte, fingerprint-resistant finish; There is also a Mystic Black option if you prefer to make your phones look more professional.
Samsung has integrated a fingerprint sensor into the power button that sits on the right side of the device when folded, which is in line with its other recent phones. This means that the volume control is slightly lower on this side, which we found made it easier to reach. Lastly, if you like to personalize your devices, you can change the hinge color when ordering the phone.
The colors of the hinges you choose are red, blue, gold and there may be extras depending on your market.
Where you’ll notice a big difference is when you open and close the Fold 2 – it makes the original Fold’s mechanism feel antique by comparison. The Fold 2’s CAM hinge feels consistently firm at all angles and, like the Z Flip, now has brushes inside the hinge to keep dust and dirt at bay; Unfortunately, the phone is not waterproof, so you will need to treat it with care.
The inner screen now has the same UTG (Ultra Thin Glass) coating found on the Z Flip, making it feel a bit more pleasant to use than the original Fold’s screen. This display is also slightly larger than the 7.6-inch Fold and has a fast 120Hz refresh rate, for smoother scrolling and smoother graphics. The combination of the larger, notchless display and 120Hz makes the Fold 2 feel like a substantial improvement over its predecessor.
Specifications and cameras
The Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus processor combined with 12GB of RAM, which should make it fast enough for everything you need the phone to do. If those specs sound familiar, it’s because they’re the same as the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, although in some regions that phone has the Exynos 990 chip.
Our only complaint here is the storage, which is fixed at 256GB without any microSD expansion.
The Fold 2 has three cameras, which are located in the upper left at the back of the device when folded and unfolded, and they all have 12MP sensors. The main camera is f / 1.8 and supports dual-pixel focus, which should make it fast and responsive even in low light. The telephoto camera can zoom in 2x optical or 10x hybrid, while the ultra-wide snapper lets you get creative with landscapes and the like.
The fact that you can use the cameras when the Fold 2 is partially unfolded, either in portrait or landscape orientation, also means that you can capture longer exposures or timelapses without having to place your phone on a tripod or support it in any other way.
You can use the main camera in conjunction with the front screen to take selfies in the traditional way when the phone is folded. When the phone is unfolded, you can select a mode that uses both the main and front displays so that both the photographer and the subject can see the framed photo.
The camera app supports the Pro Video mode that was available with the Note 20 series, and you can connect an external microphone to improve audio quality. We’ll be sure to put all of the Fold 2’s cameras and modes to the test for our full review.
software
Manufacturers face a double challenge with folding phones: They must not only ensure that the hardware works and that the design is attractive, but they must also ensure that the operating system and applications are optimized for the folding design. The good news is that Samsung has made real progress here in the year since it launched the original Fold.
The Galaxy Fold 2 supports three states: folded, half folded and unfolded and, along with various display options, this allows you to use the Fold as a phone in folded mode, a tablet in unfold mode, and as a hybrid in half folded mode. .
Samsung introduced the half-fold or flex mode with the Galaxy Z Flip. In this mode, the inner screen becomes two separate screens, allowing content to be displayed on one and relevant application controls and settings on the other.
In the case of the camera app, for example, you can display the live view of your scene or subject on one screen, and the camera controls (as well as preview images) on the other, while that if you are watching a video on YouTube you can have the playback controls on a separate screen, leaving the other free for content.
In a tablet state, you can have apps with multiple panels; for example, the files app may show you your folders on the left and their contents on the right. Messaging applications like Outlook behave similarly.
You can also have two applications running side by side, and drag and drop, or copy and paste, between them. As with the original Fold, a third app can also be launched in split-screen mode, and you can save these app pairs or trios as groups so that they can be launched together. Another cool feature is that you can take a screenshot that captures individual shots of both or all three apps.
Early verdict
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 looks like a significant and impressive improvement over the original fold, with Samsung taking into account feedback from users of the original Galaxy Fold and from critics to offer improvements across the board.
The phone is slightly wider, with a much larger front screen that makes using the outer screen much more convenient, while the larger size and faster refresh rate mean that when the device is unfolded, the screen main is a pleasure to use.
The hinge, a key area where the original device fell, feels reliable and smooth to use, and coupled with a slightly revamped design, it means the Fold 2 feels like a truly premium device. The specifications are as sophisticated as they come.
Samsung has also done a good job when it comes to software optimizations, which, among other things, means that the phone is more useful than the original Fold in flex mode, while many of Samsung’s built-in apps, along with the from Google and Microsoft. Support folded, unfolded and flexible states.
All of this combines to make the Galaxy Z Fold 2 feel more like a distinct, extremely versatile, and genuinely useful device, rather than just another phone that happens to be foldable.
