Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 (2021): Everything you need to know
The Pitch
If you wanted to sum it up in a sentence, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is a Galaxy Z Fold 2 with a few new tricks up its sleeve.
Picking up where the Galaxy Note 20 left off, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 supports Samsung’s S-Pen. It also takes the reins off Samsung’s flagship phablet when it comes to innovation, debuting a neat under-display camera that allows for easy selfies with no notch required.
While the durability and form-factor improvements Samsung are making this time around aren’t as flashy, they’re another sign that company are in it for the long-run when it comes to carving out a dominant slice of the foldable smartphone market.
The Specs
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G
Inner Display: 7.6-inch AMOLED 2X screen @ 120Hz
Outer Display: 6.2-inch AMOLED 2X screen
Resolution: 1768 x 2208 pixels
RAM: 12 GB
ROM: 256 GB / 512 GB
Expandable Storage: No
Headphone Jack: No
Fingerprint Scanner: Yes, side-mounted
Operating System: Android 11 at launch
Battery Size: 4400mAh
Rear Camera: 12-megapixel (f/1.8) wide lens + 12-megapixel (f/2.4) telephoto + 12-megapixel (f/2.2) ultrawide lens
Front-Facing Camera: 16-megapixel (f/1.8) under display camera + 10-megapixel (f/2.2) cover camera
The Reviews
Given how recently the Galaxy Z Fold 3 was announced, it’s not a huge surprise that there aren’t that many reviews of the device online yet.
Still, the early reception for Samsung’s third-gen flagship foldable are pretty promising so far.
Engadget’s Cherlynn Low came away impressed:
Three generations in, Samsung has clearly learned a lot and the Z Fold 3, at least based on this preview, feels very refined.
Meanwhile, The Verge’s Chris Welch paid special attention to the under-display camera on the Z Fold 3:
Focus on any other part of the screen, and the under-display camera sort of vanishes from view in a way that a hole-punch camera wouldn’t. It still seems like a lot of work for minimal payoff, but sometimes Samsung just likes to flex.
T3’s Yasmine Crossland went so far as to suggest that this might just be the foldable that gets Samsung’s cult of power users over the line:
For some, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G will still be too pricey. For others, it’ll still be a bit too chunky. But when it comes down to it the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G does actually seem like a folding phone worth buying if you’re the type who could make the most of it.
