Hands-on: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 review
The first generation of foldable phones arrived last year, and none of them have been talked about more than Samsung Galaxy Fold. It was the first (despite its impressive price) foldable phone for sale globally, and while Samsung faced some challenges with its initial build quality, it quickly addressed those with a revised version, and this device was generally well received.
Although the original release was an exciting product, it had its share of feature and design issues, as well as the aforementioned issues with its build.
With its successor, Samsung seems to have taken all the complaints on board, and come up with a better product in almost all respects, except, perhaps for its name: while the original device was known simply as the Samsung Galaxy Fold it is now, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G is unruly.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 price and release date
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 release date has been set for September 18 in the US and UK, so you can pre-order the phone now. We have not yet learned when it will be released in Australia or the UAE.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 is scheduled to start at $ 1,999 / £ 1,799 (roughly AU $ 2,700, UAE 7,300). We do not yet know the price of the phone in Australia or the United Arab Emirates, but we hope to know more details soon.
There is also a limited edition phone called the Thom Browne bundle which is set to cost $ 3,299 / £ 2,999 and will be ready for purchase on September 25th.
Design and presentation
When it comes to foldable devices, you have phones that fold in, like both Galaxy Folds. And phones that fold out, like Huawei Mate XS. Although it’s not denied that the screens on internally foldable devices have more protection, we found the Mate XS, launched shortly after the original fold, to be more convenient, offering a much larger 6.6-inch “ front ” screen at Folding the external screen of 4.6 inches.
Although the Galaxy Z Fold 2 is still internally foldable, Samsung has significantly increased the screen size to 6.2 inches. This was done by making the Fold 2 wider, and extending the screen along the front of the phone. This definitely makes using the Fold 2 in its folded state a lot more practical, and you don’t have to open the phone for almost everything anymore.
The 2 fold is slightly heavier than the original fold, but this weight helps make it feel more special in your hand. It is also slightly thinner than the original fold at both the thick and thin ends (one end of the phone is thicker when folded).
The corners are now less rounded, which brings the fold closer to Note 20 Ultra In design – the camera array on the back looks like it’s hand picked directly from the Note 20 Ultra.
Also, like New Notes and other recent Samsung devices, the Fold 2 is available in a striking Mystic Bronze color, with a fingerprint-resistant matte finish; There’s also a Mystic Black option if you prefer your phones to look business-like.
Samsung has integrated a fingerprint sensor into the power button on the right side of the device when folded, which is in line with its other recent phones. This means that the volume control button is a little lower on this side, which we found easy to reach. Finally, if you want to customize your hardware, you can change the hinge color when ordering the phone.
Your choice of hinge colors are red, blue and gold and there may be additions depending on your market.
You’ll notice a big difference when opening and closing Fold 2 – it makes the original fold mechanism look outdated by comparison. The Fold 2’s CAM hinge appears consistently fixed at every angle, and as does the The Z face You now have brushes inside the hinge to keep dust and debris out; Unfortunately the phone is not waterproof so you will still need to treat it with care.
The internal display now has the same UTG (Ultra Thin Glass) layer on the Z Flip, making it a slightly nicer use than the screen in the original fold. This screen is also slightly larger than the 7.6-inch Fold screen, and it has a fast refresh rate of 120Hz, for smooth scrolling and smoother graphics. The combination of a larger screen, no notch and 120Hz makes the Fold 2 seem like a major upgrade from its predecessor.
Specifications and cameras
The Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus processor paired with 12GB of RAM, making it fast enough for whatever the phone needs. If these specifications are familiar, it is because they are the same as those of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, although in some areas this phone contains the Exynos 990 chip.
Our only complaint here is the storage, which was fixed at 256GB without any microSD expansion.
The Fold 2 has three cameras, which are located in the upper left on the back of the device when folded and unfolded, and all have 12 megapixel sensors. The primary camera is f / 1.8, and it supports dual pixel focus, making it fast and responsive even in low light. The telephoto camera can zoom in / out 2x optical or 10x hybrid, while the ultra-wide snapper allows you to get creative in landscapes and the like.
The fact that you can use the cameras when Fold 2 is partially exposed, either in the portrait or landscape orientation, also means that you can take longer exposures or longer periods of time without having to place your phone on a tripod or otherwise support it.
You can use the primary camera along with the front screen to take selfies the traditional way when the phone is folded. When the phone is unlocked, you can select a mode that uses both the main and front screens, so that both the photographer and the subject can see the picture in a frame.
The camera app supports the Pro Video mode that was provided with the Note 20 series, and you can connect an external microphone to improve the audio quality. We will make sure to put all the cameras and modes for the Fold 2 into its paces for our full review.
Software
Manufacturers face a double challenge with foldable phones: Not only do they need to make sure the hardware is functional, and the design is attractive, but they also need to make sure the operating system and apps are optimized for the foldable design. The good news is Samsung has made real progress here during the year since it launched the original foldable version.
Galaxy Fold 2 supports three cases: folded, half folded, and unfolded, in addition to various display options. This allows you to use the Fold feature as a phone in folded mode, as a tablet in unfolded mode, and as a hybrid device in half folded mode.
Samsung introduced the Half Fold or Flex mode with the Galaxy Z Flip. In this mode, the internal screen becomes two separate screens, allowing content to be displayed on one and the app’s controls and related 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 screen, while watching a YouTube video, you can have playback controls on a separate screen, Leave the other free for content.
In the case of a tablet, you can have apps with multiple panes – for example, the Files app can show you your folders on the left and their contents on the right. Messaging apps like Outlook behave similarly.
You can also run two apps side by side, drag and drop, or copy and paste between them. As with the original Fold, a third app can also run in split-screen mode, and you can save these pairs or triples of apps as groups so you can play them together. Another cool feature is that you can take a screenshot that takes individual snapshots of each or all of the three apps.
Early judgment
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 looks like an important and impressive upgrade over the original fold, with Samsung accepting board comments from the original Galaxy Fold users and critics to offer improvements across the board.
The phone is a little wider, with a much larger front screen that makes using the external screen more convenient, while the larger size and faster refresh rate mean that when the device is unlocked, the home screen is a pleasure to use.
The hinge – a major area the original device fell into – feels reliable and fluid to use, and combined with the slightly updated design, it means the Fold 2 looks like a really premium device. Specifications are of high quality as is.
Samsung has also done a good job when it comes to software improvements, which means, among other things, that the phone is more useful than the original Fold feature in Flexible Mode, while many of Samsung’s built-in apps, along with apps from the likes of Google and Microsoft support folded and exposed cases. And elastic.
All of this comes together to make the Galaxy Z Fold 2 look like a truly versatile, premium device, not just another foldable phone.
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