Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 hands-on review: The best foldable thing yet?

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Update: Our hands-on review of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 now includes a video (below) and we’ll continue testing the phone, as we just got to a review device. Stay in touch with TechRadar for more updates.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is the foldable phone designed to convince you that third time is magic when it comes to buying in the future of smartphones, and without the Galaxy Note 21, there’s a lot of pressure on Samsung to cash in on that adage.

We’ve worked with the Z Fold 3, tested its familiar 2-in-1 design, and decided to fold and open the 7.6-inch flexible screen until someone told us to stop (one eventually didn’t). This foldable phone feels more durable than its predecessors, and this time around is water-resistant (Samsung told us not to submerge it in water — until now), while our tablet-like interior screen has withstood the care of Samsung’s new S Pen. Pen and S Pen Pro.

S Pen support makes perfect sense on a screen this size, and it was something people were clamoring for with the first two folds. There’s more written and official real estate here than any Galaxy Note smartphone, yet it’s more convenient than any traditional full-size tablet due to the fact that the Z Fold 3 can be closed at half its open size and tucked away in a pocket.

(Image credit: TechRadar) Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 at Samsung for $0

It might change the way you use your phone day in and day out, if you’re looking for an S Pen and a case to carry it – the stylus is sold separately and does not fit inside the phone. This would be annoying to longtime Note fans, even if we found the new stylus to be larger and easier than the smaller S Pen. Also, call your camera expectations: This is a foldable with good cameras, but it lacked the zoom appeal of last year’s Samsung Galaxy S21 and Note 20 Ultra.

The big hook is the slightly cheaper price next to the Fold 2, and perhaps more convincingly, the excellent Z Fold 3 trade deals that Samsung is offering in many areas. Those who normally consider themselves early adopters, but have their doubts about Samsung’s first two generations of foldables, were right to hold on to them, but now it might be time to step back.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 Release Date & Price

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 release date is Friday, August 27 in the US and UK, while in Australia it is September 10.

Galaxy Z Fold 3 pre-orders are now open in all regions through Samsung’s website, and the phone will be available from other retailers and carriers in the coming weeks.

The Z Fold 3 is cheaper than the Galaxy Z Fold 2 launch price, but be warned that foldable phones are still significantly more expensive than traditional high-end smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra or iPhone 12 Pro Max.

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It starts at $1,799 / £1,599 / AU$2,499 for the 256GB model, while if you want the extra capacity you can get the 512GB Z Fold 3 for $1,899/£1,699 / 2,649 Australian dollars. The Z Fold 2 started at $1,999 / £1,799 / AU$2,999 when it was released last year.

In the US, Samsung offers some enticing exchange deals — up to $800 if you run an old device, whether it’s a phone, tablet, wearable, or any combination of the three, and you can add up to four to access those maximum value. You can, then, get this phone for $1,000, and that’s a more compelling price tag.

In the UK you’ll be able to get up to £250 trade-in on your phone, and pre-order will get you a Fold Starter Kit which includes a charger, case for the Z Fold 3 and S Pen. We have yet to hear of any similar deals in Australia

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The Galaxy Z Fold 3 retains the book-like design and functionality of its predecessors, with a limited usable 6.2-inch display on the outside of the phone that opens to reveal a massive 7.6-inch screen on the inside.

It’s great, even if it isn’t always practical to carry such a thick and tall device when today’s thin and light smartphones are so much cheaper – although some believe getting the 7.6-inch internal screen is a price worth paying in their pockets and staying ahead of the curve. technology curve.

This indoor screen uses the same AMOLED technology used in last-generation smartphones, with a resolution of 2208 x 1768. This isn’t the sharpest smartphone screen we’ve seen, but it’s bright, and provides a great picture when you’re watching a video or just scrolling on the screen.

Running through the middle of that screen, you’ll see the fold as the phone snaps together. The onscreen image is still visible in this fold, but the crease is noticeable when you open the device and view the screen at full size.

Samsung has made some improvements to the hinge here, and the materials used are more durable than those used in all previous attempts at folding. There’s a noticeable difference here when you open the phone, and it feels more powerful than the Galaxy Z Fold 2, although durability issues will likely remain a concern for some.

It’s a touch lighter than the Z Fold 2 at 271 grams compared to 282 grams, but it’s still a huge phone.

Camera and Specifications

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The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3’s camera specs mirror what we got last year: a 12MP main camera with f/1.8 aperture, a 12MP ultrawide camera with f/2.2 aperture, and a 12MP f/2.4 telephoto camera capable of 2x optical zoom .

You’ll get optical image stabilization in the telephoto and ultra-wide cameras on this device, and we found image quality from the Galaxy Z Fold 2’s nearly identical cameras to be good, but last year we noticed the Note 20 Ultra noticeably outperformed it. Now that we’re in 2021, some Note fans may be expecting more — and the S21 Ultra, which also uses the S Pen, could be an option for those who appreciate the camera’s ability to form factor. Foldable phones have just about everything except for the prowess of a high-end camera.

There are two additional cameras on the Galaxy Z Fold 3, both designed for selfies. On the phone’s external display, you’ll find a 10MP f/2.2 shooter, which matches what we saw on the Z Fold 2.

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Selfie captured with the front-screen camera on the Galaxy Z Fold 3 (Image credit: TechRadar)

More importantly, the Z Fold 3 also comes with Samsung’s first commercially available under-display camera, which is hidden under the display on the right side of the interior display – although when we say it’s hidden, it’s not completely invisible. You’ll be able to see the camera pulse when the screen is off, and when the screen is on, a slight matrix effect means you’ll always know where the camera is.

This is a 4MP f/1.8 camera, and we found it to work noticeably less than the one on the front screen. Photos taken with this camera were much less sharp, and we could see a lot of people falling behind the “normal” option for their selfies.

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset – at least that chip we’re told is in the variant that will be on sale in the UK, while Samsung hasn’t clarified the specs for the US model.

The Snapdragon 888 is the chipset we’ve seen in the vast majority of high-end smartphones in 2021, and it works great in our experience, so we’re not expecting any performance issues here. The processor is paired with 12 GB of RAM.

You have the option of 256GB or 512GB of onboard storage, but there’s no Samsung including microSD support for additional space. This was the case for the Galaxy Z Fold 2, so it would make sense here.

Battery and S Pen

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is powered by a 4,400mAh battery, which is 100mAh smaller than the battery in the Z Fold 2 — we’re assuming Samsung has scaled back the physical size of the battery a bit so it can downsize the phone. touch.

We can’t comment on the Z Fold 3’s battery life just yet, as we haven’t had a chance to use it extensively, but we did find the Galaxy Z Fold 2 was able to last a full day, and we expect that to be a similar story here.

There’s no charger in the box with the Galaxy Z Fold 3, so you’ll want to keep your existing charger or buy it separately.

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 runs Android 11 with Samsung’s own One UI overlay on top. There are some improvements here to fit the foldable design – for example, the on-screen keyboard appears in two separate sections – and it’s very similar to what we’ve seen on previous folds.

The S Pen is a major addition here — it’s the first time Samsung has included stylus support in a foldable phone — but it’s not a must-have feature from what we’ve seen so far.

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If you enjoy using the stylus with your phone, you will love using the S Pen on the big screen of this phone. However, there’s no obvious place to store your stylus – you’ll need to choose a specific case to have a place to put it – and it costs more than a phone.

But frustratingly, there’s no place on the phone to store the stylus – no slot, as on the Note series, and no magnetic connection, as on Apple’s iPads. Instead, you will have to pay extra for a separate case that you will need to put in your pocket next to the phone.

The pen worked well in our limited time to test the phone. It’s a little strange to run the stylus over the middle element of the home screen, you can feel where the phone is bent, although if you don’t press too hard, you won’t feel like you’re going to cause anything. Damage.

It’s also important to note that the S Pen will only work with the home and indoor screen on this phone – you can’t use it on the external display.

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The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 could be a great device for those who have been on the fence about switching to a foldable phone for the past couple of years. Ordinary consumers won’t be persuaded to ditch their more affordable smartphones – that’s the intended function of Samsung’s seemingly gateway device, the Z Flip 3 – but the most demanding customers with deep enough pockets may finally be hooked.

S Pen support, which everyone has been clamoring for a year ago when the Z Fold 2 was first introduced, has finally made its debut on a foldable device, with Samsung moving the stylus functionality to the foldable flagship as it looks like it will discontinue the Note line.

Not only does you get Samsung’s best cameras, but the slightly lower price tag compared to last year’s Fold (and in some areas, excellent exchange deals), make this foldable phone an accessible option for early adopters who’ve already hit the snooze button on the idea of ​​a 2-in-1 phone. But now you want a much-needed wow factor in 2021.

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