Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 review
Our Verdict
With a bigger cover display, improved pattern and innovative Flex Fashion, the Milky way Z Fold 2 is the best foldable telephone nonetheless and a productivity powerhouse.
For
- Bigger comprehend display
- Flex Mode adds versatility
- Improved multitasking
- More than durable design
- Apps brand use of tablet way
Against
- Quite expensive
- Relatively heavy
- Not h2o resistant
Tom's Guide Verdict
With a bigger cover display, improved blueprint and innovative Flex Way, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 is the all-time foldable telephone nonetheless and a productivity powerhouse.
Pros
- +
Bigger cover display
- +
Flex Mode adds versatility
- +
Improved multitasking
- +
More than durable design
- +
Apps brand employ of tablet way
- +
Cons
- -
Quite expensive
- -
Relatively heavy
- -
Not h2o resistant
- -
Update: The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is now bachelor with a more than durable design, water resistance S Pen support and improved multitasking. We no longer recommend the Milky way Z Fold 2. Meet our Galaxy Z Fold 3 review for our verdict.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 is a breakthrough leap better than the original Fold. And it needs to exist for the loftier toll. The front display is a lot bigger, 5G is standard, and the cruddy notch on the within is gone. Plus, this foldable is more durable than the first Fold.
Samsung has farther innovated to make this phone-tablet hybrid a lot more versatile, thanks to a new Flex Mode. Plus, the multitasking is improve for running up to 3 apps at the aforementioned time, and several apps have a dual-pane view for enhanced productivity.
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- Samsung Galaxy Note twenty Ultra review
- LG Wing vs Samsung Milky way Z Fold two: Which dual-screen phone wins?
The Galaxy Z Fold 2'south cameras are not equally avant-garde every bit what you'll find on the Galaxy S21 Ultra (especially the zoom) and the design is pretty hefty. Plus, Samsung is reportedly prepping the Galaxy Z Fold 3 for a launch that's tipped for August, a sequel that may offer Southward Pen support along with other upgrades.
Simply if you lot're in the market for a foldable phone now, the Z Fold 2 does a very good task of justifying Samsung's loftier asking price. Information technology's no wonder why we named this the all-time foldable telephone in our Tom'south Guide Awards 2021 for phones.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold ii review: What I like
- Bigger front display makes a huge difference: The encompass display has grown to six.2 inches, which means you lot don't have to use the internal brandish to get stuff washed. The exterior screen is narrower than typical phones, though.
- Apps finally make the nearly of tablet-size screen: For example, in Gmail you'll run into your list of emails on the left and the body of messages on the right, and Slack will display contacts on the left and messages on the right. The iPhone can't practice this.
- The multitasking is meliorate: Information technology's pretty piece of cake to create app pairs to launch three apps at once. I also like that you lot tin can drag and drib content from one window to some other in sure apps.
- Flex manner adds versatility: Thanks to the cam mechanism in the hinge, y'all can open the display at various angles. Flex Mode is in that location to take advantage of that. For example, in the photographic camera app, you'll see the alive previous up top and controls down below.
Samsung Milky way Z Fold 2 review: What I don't like
- The main brandish is smudge prone: Although the Ultra Thin Drinking glass on the 7.6-inch screen is more durable and has a better feel, information technology picks up smudges quickly. And, yes, the crease is still noticeable.
- Limited zoom: I can alive without the Galaxy S21 Ultra's 108MP sensor, but having only 2x optical zoom on a $2,000 phone when you tin go 10x on the Note is a bummer.
- No water resistance: When it started to drizzle outside I took the Z Fold 2 indoors because there is no h2o resistance promised for this device.
- This is a hefty device: At 9.ix ounces, the Z Fold two is heavier than the original Galaxy Fold (9.5 ounces) and I felt a bit of strain after several minutes of typing. Then again, you are getting a telephone and tablet in one.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold two review: Price and availability
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 specs
Price: $1,799
OS: Android 10
Main brandish: seven.half dozen inch inches 120Hz (2208 x 1768 pixels)
Comprehend display: vi.2 inches 60Hz (2260 ten 816 pixels)
CPU: Snapdragon 865 Plus
RAM: 12GB
Storage: 256GB
Rear cameras: 12MP broad, 12MP ultra-broad, 12MP telephoto (2x optical/10x digital zoom)
Selfie cameras: 10MP (cover), 10MP (master brandish)
Battery: 4,500 mAh
Bombardment life: 10 hours x minutes
Size: 6.ii x ii.6 10 0.66 inches (airtight); 6.2 x 5 x 0.27 inches (open)
Weight: 9.ix ounces
The Samsung Milky way Z Fold ii release date was September 18, 2020. It'south available for sale through multiple carriers likewise equally unlocked.
When information technology debuted the Galaxy Z Fold ii cost $1,999 for 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. Note that a microSD card slot is non included and there are no other capacities available. These days, afterward a permanent $200 cost cutting, the Galaxy Z Fold two sells for $1,799. (That could be a sign that Samsung is looking to articulate out stock in advance of the anticipated launch of the Milky way Z Fold 3 subsequently this yr.)
To put the Z Fold 2's price in context, Microsoft charges $1,400 for its Surface Duo phone. To run across how similar these two foldable devices are, cheque out our Microsoft Surface Duo vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 face-off.
If you're looking for Milky way Z Fold ii deals, the phone has been discounted as low as $999. So it can pay to expect for sales on this foldable phone. The Galaxy Z Fold 2 is available through all of the major carriers, including AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile (Sprint), as well as unlocked.
Samsung offers the Galaxy Z Premier Service for the Z Fold 2, which includes on-demand concierge support from dedicated experts. In addition, Z Fold two owners tin can get a membership to FoundersCard, access to a prepared meal from a Michelin star eating place and access to a various golf clubs.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 review: Design and durability
The Galaxy Z Fold 2 immediately makes a ameliorate impression than the Galaxy Fold considering of its larger exterior display. You lot no longer feel like you're operating Android through a peep hole, and that's because the cover screen has grown from iv.6 inches to 6.2 inches.
The interior display is likewise bigger at 7.half dozen inches for the Galaxy Z Fold 2, compared to 7.3 inches for the previous model. Even better, the ugly notch on the main screen is gone, replaced by a small cutout for a selfie camera.
Samsung also made several enhancements fo the Galaxy Z Fold two to better immovability and usability. This includes a sturdier new Ultra Thin Glass display, which is designed to provide a meliorate touchscreen feel than the plastic screen Fold, and a Hideaway hinge that uses sweeper technology to foreclose dust and clay from entering the phone.
In a third-party exam past YouTuber JerryRigEverything, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 survived having dirt thrown on information technology, which suggests that the new hinge works better than on the original model.
Similar to the Galaxy Z Flip 5G, the Galaxy Z Fold ii'due south hinge uses a CAM machinery that allows you to position the screen in multiple positions. And while at that place's notwithstanding a gap betwixt the two sides of the phone when closed, it'southward narrower than before.
The Galaxy Z Fold two comes in two colors: Mystic Statuary and Mystic Blackness. Only yous'll be able to add together some flair in the form of iv hinge color options if you guild through Samsung.com. Options include Metal Silvery, Metallic Gold, Metallic Ruby-red and Metallic Blue.
Measuring vi.ii x 2.6 x 0.66 inches when airtight and half-dozen.two x 5 x 0.27 inches when open up, the Milky way Z Fold 2 is slightly shorter but wider than its predecessor. It'due south also heavier, as the Z Fold 2 weights nine.nine ounces, compared to ix.48 ounces for the original model. I definitely felt a chip of strain after using the phone several minutes and typing out messages.
Another bummer: The Galaxy Z Fold 2 doesn't offer h2o resistance, so yous can't get information technology wet as you can with other flagship phones.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold two review: Display
In addition to a larger size, the 7.6-inch main brandish on the Milky way Z Fold 2 boasts a 120Hz refresh rate, and then you lot should enjoy smooth scrolling and overall performance compared to the 60Hz charge per unit on the Milky way Fold. Plus, considering the console is adaptive, information technology's smart enough to punch the rate down or upwards based on the content on screen.
The cover display on the Galaxy Z Fold ii does not offering a 120Hz refresh rate, but it'south still a heck of a lot meliorate than what the first Fold featured. Measuring half dozen.2 inches, this OLED screen is big enough to perform pretty much any task, and you tin still instantly resume what you lot were doing on the main display when you unfold the device.
Just keep in mind that the aspect ratio on the Z Fold ii'southward cover display is narrower than most phones, so typing can experience a chip cramped.
Galaxy Z Fold 2 review: Software and Flex Mode
One of the complaints we had about the Galaxy Fold is that many of the apps just felt like blow-up phone apps in tablet style. Simply Samsung is addressing this drawback with the Milky way Z Fold 2.
For case, in Gmail I could run into my letters on the left and the body of emails on the right. And in Slack my contacts were on the left and messages on the right. You demand to flip the Galaxy Z Fold 2 brandish's orientation to landscape way to see these changes, simply information technology makes a huge difference in productivity. And information technology makes the Galaxy Z Fold two experience more laptop-like. Samsung also promises an optimized viewing experience in Microsoft Role and YouTube.
The Milky way Z Fold 2'due south Flex Mode gives this foldable phone a lot of versatility. The idea is that you can have controls or settings on 1 side of the display and content on the other for maximum productivity.
I really enjoyed using Google Duo in Flex Mode, as information technology lets you set up the phone down in a laptop-similar position and accept a video call with the other person without having to hold the device. It'due south something I immediately wished my iPhone could do.
Samsung says that Flex Mode is supported by several Samsung apps, including Camera, Video call, Gallery, Video player, Clock and Calendar. And Google is supporting Flex Mode with YouTube equally well equally Google Duo. Samsung is working with third-party developers as well to create Flex Mode optimized apps.
Another key Galaxy Z Fold 2 upgrade is multi-tasking. With the improved Multi-Active Window feature, y'all tin open up to iii apps at the same time and can quickly create presets called App Pairs that yous launch with only a tap.
I tried this with Slack, Twitter, and Spotify too every bit YouTube, Photos and Messages, and it was very cool to launch iii apps at once.You can also quickly re-arrange the layout with a tap or drag an app from one window to some other.
Even libation, y'all can also elevate and drop content from one window to another. I had no problem dropping a photograph from the Gallery app into an outgoing message. Yet, it didn't piece of work with the Google Photos app. Multiple Samsung apps support Drag and Drop, as does Microsoft 365, Gmail, Chrome and Google Maps.
Samsung's App continuity feature is also on board from the original Galaxy Fold. The thought is that you tin can start an app on the cover brandish, open the main display and option upwards right where you left off. This worked in most apps, just the Sky Forcefulness 2 game forced to me restart the app when moving to the bigger sail.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 cameras
It's a bit strange to say this, merely the $two,000 Galaxy Z Fold 2 represents a step down from the $one,300 Milky way Annotation 20 when information technology comes to the cameras. You don't become a 108MP master sensor, a 5x optical zoom or a 50x Space Zoom, just y'all do get three capable shooters you can utilize in a multifariousness of means.
The Galaxy Z Fold ii features a 12MP main wide-angle photographic camera, a 12MP ultra-broad bending camera with a 123-degree field of view and a 12MP telephoto lens with a 2x optical zoom and 10x digital zoom.
The fun actually starts with the camera features that are unique to the Galaxy Z Fold 2. For case, Dual Preview lets subjects see how they're going to look using the front display while you're taking the shot. You can also take higher quality selfies with the rear cameras.
All yous need to do is burn down up the camera on the cover display and then press a button in the superlative right corner, then the Z Fold 2 volition invite you to unfold the device and yous'll see a live preview.
Another perk: you can prop up the Galaxy Z Fold 2 in what looks like laptop style and it will keep your bailiwick in focus when shooting video using a feature called Automobile framing. Thanks to Flex Mode, y'all tin can also review recent pictures on the bottom half of the screen while maintaining the live preview in the acme one-half.
The Z Fold 2'due south camera did a fantastic job capturing a close-up of these yellow and violet flowers. You can make out fine details in the petals and even fine aerosol of h2o when you zoom in.
I also took this selfie using the rear 12MP camera and the Z Fold 2'due south cover screen every bit the viewfinder. The blueish in my shirt pops, and the surrounding trees and grass expect vibrant. You lot simply can't do this on an iPhone.
Equally expected, the 10x digital zoom proved disappointing compared to the more powerful Space Zoom on the Milky way Note 20 Ultra. Every bit we zero in on the tree and hanging flower baskets, there's a fair amount of grain. Information technology's certainly passable, though.
The Galaxy Z Fold 2 did a fairly good job in this portrait shot, artfully blurring the photos in the groundwork. The bokeh effect is better on the Z Fold ii than the iPhone 12. However, my face is a bit more than blown out in Samsung'south shot.
In this shot of autumn decorations, the Milky way Z Fold 2 delivers a brighter overall prototype, and y'all can make out lots of detail in the turkeys. The iPhone 11 Pro Max does a meliorate chore rendering the hay just overall I give the edge to Samsung here.
The Galaxy Z Fold's two Nighttime mode worked well in this shot taken in most darkness of a wall hanging. However, the iPhone xi Pro Max's Night style captured a considerably brighter image of the scene.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 review: Performance
The Galaxy Z Fold 2 sports a Snapdragon 865 Plus processor along with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage (UFS3.1). So we would expect similar performance to the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
On Geekbench 5, which measures overall performance, the Galaxy Z Fold ii scored 3,193 on the mult-core portion. The Note 20 Ultra with the same fleck scored a slightly higher 3,294 and the Asus ROG Phone 3 hitting iii,393. The iPhone 11 Pro was fastest with three,500.
On the GFXBench graphics test, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 scored i,461 frames on the Aztec Ruins (High Tier) off-screen criterion, compared to 1,455 for the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and i,657 frames for the iPhone 11 Pro.
Overall, the Z Fold ii offers smooth performance, just I noticed small-scale software glitches at times. The YouTube app view didn't change I switched screen modes at one betoken, merely restarting the app resolved the problem.
In terms of 5G, the Milky way Z Fold 2 supports both mmWave and sub-6GHz flavors, and so you lot should accept no problems tapping into 5G networks where there is coverage. I didn't encounter the best results in central New Jersey. On AT&T'south network the Milky way Z Fold 2'southward download speed hit simply 22 Mbps, merely on T-Mobile it was a much higher 122 Mbps in the same location.
Considering the Z Fold 2 as well supports Ultra Wide Band technology, you tin leverage Samsung's Nearby Share features to quickly share files with other compatible devices, which thus far merely includes the Note 20 Ultra.
Galaxy Z Fold ii review: battery life and charging
The Galaxy Z Fold ii packs a 4,500 mAh bombardment, which should be able to go you through most of the 24-hour interval. The Milky way Fold had a slightly smaller 4,380 mAh, then this is a step upwardly.
On our battery test, which involves continuous web surfing at 150 nits of screen brightness, the Milky way Z Fold ii lasted ten hours and 10 minutes on the 60Hz display setting. That's not enough to make our list of best phone battery life, where are the handsets last longer than xi hours. But given the size of the Z Fold 2's brandish that's pretty good endurance.
As expected, the battery life dropped on the Z Fold 2 with the display gear up to 120Hz (adaptive), with the phone lasting nine hours and 5 minutes.
Anecdotally, the battery life on the Z Fold two is pretty solid. I started using the phone at 10 am and later on a day of heavy usage it had about 18% juice left at x pm.
The Z Fold 2 supports 25W fast charging, every bit well as fast wireless charging and PowerShare contrary charging. But nosotros didn't run into the best results in our testing. After 30 minutes the Z Fold ii was at 46% and nosotros would expect 50%. By comparison, the Note twenty Ultra hitting 56% in the aforementioned amount of time.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold two review: Verdict
Note that a Galaxy Z Fold 3 is rumored to launch this summer. It's expected to include a faster processor, S Pen support and mayhap an under-brandish photographic camera, amongst other upgrades. So yous'll probably want to agree off until mid-Baronial until you make a move.
Overall, though, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 is the quintessential example of a visitor listening to its customers and delivering a broad range of improvements they asked for. Even at its reduced $ane,799 price, this is a phone that's still very much for early adopters. At least the Z Fold 2 seems a lot less similar a prototype and more than like a feasible production.
The front display on the Galaxy Z Fold 2 lonely is a huge upgrade. I besides actually like Flex Manner and the versatility that gives this phone. Existence able to prop upward the device at various angles really makes the Z Fold 2 feel like a brand new blazon of device. And while the Mult-Active window multitasking requires a bit of a learning curve, it maximizes productivity.
If yous want a more powerful phone and better cameras, the iPhone 12 Pro Max is the improve option, simply Apple doesn't take anything nearly as innovative in its lineup to accept on the Z Fold 2. An iPhone Flip could exist on the way at some betoken, but we doubt it will be anytime shortly.
Overall, I am really impressed with what Samsung has accomplished with the Galaxy Z Fold two. This is clearly the best foldable telephone yet and a sign of great things to come in the category.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-2-review-pros-and-cons
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