The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is about to become the new benchmark in the folding screen smartphone market. News, technical features, release date, price, we’ve summarized everything you need to know about Samsung’s next flagship.
Samsung is now offering us an update to its first line of folding-screen smartphones with the Z Fold 3, a device that follows the recipe of its predecessors, adding improvements here and there. With a goal for the South Korean manufacturer: to impose on consumers the idea that such a design is practical and represents the future of the mobile industry. The brand bets big with its fold, going so far as to abandon its Note range to make room for them.
📅 When is Galaxy Z Fold 3 released?
Samsung took advantage of the Galaxy Unpacked conference on August 11, 2021 to see it hover over the Galaxy Fold 3, alongside its other new folding-screen smartphone model, the Galaxy Z Flip 3. It will be available for sale on 27 of August. Pre-orders are now open.
💰 What is the price of the Galaxy Z Fold 3?
As announced by many rumors, the manufacturer decided to reduce the price, however, Samsung could not lower the price significantly. The Z Fold 3 is actually sold from 1799 euros.
📱 How does the Galaxy Z Fold 3 folding screen work?
The Galaxy Z Fold 3’s design has changed little compared to its predecessors. We find the same principle that has guided the range since its inception, namely a vertical hinge that allows the display to be folded inward horizontally. Unfolded, the device offers a comfortable tablet form factor. Folded, it can be easily stored anywhere and can be used with one hand. And then there’s Flex Mode, an intermediate way of folding the hinge so that the smartphone is on a flat surface in total stability, ideal for watching videos or in daylight with the controller.
The smartphone is on the other hand thicker than their ancestors, no longer very thin. It displays a few extra millimeters needed for digitizer integration, which will make the phone compatible with the use of an S-Pen, but we’ll come back to that in more detail a little later. The exact dimensions are 67.1 x 158.2 x 16 mm when the Z-Fold 3 is folded and 128.1 x 158.2 x 6.4 mm when it is unfolded. However, it is a little lighter at a few grams, or 271g.
One of the big news is the disappearance of the selfie camera in one punch, a design that gets in the way of the display. This is moved under the screen and therefore becomes invisible. A technology we’ve talked about for years and that finally feels ready at Samsung, whose engineers have had to face many development challenges.
The 7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X main screen has a resolution of 2208 x 1768 pixels, a refresh rate of 120 Hz and supports the HDR10 +. The external panel, dedicated to the use of the mobile folded on itself, has a diagonal of 6.23 inches with a definition of 2268 x 832, all in a very elongated 25:9 format. Features that don’t change compared to the Z-Fold 2, therefore.
On the other hand, the photoblock on the back is entitled to a welcome aesthetic retouch. The photosensors appear larger and closer together, with the Flash LED positioned just below them vertically. The whole is thus more discreet than in the previous generation.
As for colors, Samsung offers black, navy green and gradient pink models. The chassis of the device is made of aluminum, the back panel of glass, the front of glass in smartphone mode and plastic in tablet mode (to allow the folding action).
A little surprise, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is water resistant and has an IPX8 waterproof rating. Due to design constraints, Samsung has never been able to bring to market a waterproof folding screen smartphone. IPX8 means the device can be submerged in water up to 1.5m deep for 30 minutes, so you don’t have to be afraid of splashing, showering or falling into water. On the other hand, it is sensitive to dust and debris, like its predecessors.
🏎️ How is the Galaxy Z Fold 3 performing?
Requires ultra premium, Samsung equips its Galaxy Z Fold 3 with the best chip on the market for Android smartphones: the Snapdragon 888 engraved with a fineness of 5nm and compatible with 5G. And that’s right in Europe, when we received the SoC Exynos 2100 from Samsung internally in the Galaxy S21 series.
There is only one smartphone variant. Offers 12GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of internal memory. No microSD card slot is provided to expand storage.
🔋 What is the autonomy of the Galaxy Z Fold 3?
The Galaxy Z Fold benefits from a battery with a capacity of 4400 mAh, against the 4500 mAh battery of the Galaxy Z Fold 2. To compensate for this reduction, Samsung announces that it used a foldable Eco screen. two OLED, which consumes 25% less energy than the Z Fold 2.
In terms of recharge, the technical characteristics remain the same. The phone supports up to 25W of wired charging power and up to 11W via induction charging. Wireless reverse charging functionality for charging compatible accessories is limited to 4.5W.
📸 Is the Galaxy Z Fold 3 good at photos?
Photographic excellence at Samsung remains a prerogative of the Galaxy S series. The Z Fold 3 should function the same as the Z Fold 2 in this area, with a triple photosensor consisting of a 12MP and 12MP ultra-wide main module Angled lens and 12 MP telephoto that allows 2x optical zoom. In fact, it’s exactly the same setup as last year’s model. Our Galaxy Z Fold 2 test will therefore give you a good overview of its successor’s photographic capabilities.
There is still a difference to the front camera of the main screen (the one located under the slab), which ranges from 10 to 16 MP.
🖊️ Is the Galaxy Z Fold 3 compatible with the S-Pen?
Yes, and that is very good news. With Samsung putting aside its historic Note range, the brand seeks to offer the productivity tool as an optional accessory on other models. The Galaxy S21 Ultra was the first to take advantage of this, new versions of the South Korean manufacturer’s folding smartphone will follow suit.
During the conference, Samsung unveiled the new S-Pen specially designed for the Galaxy Z Fold 3. In fact, its private screen required a new version of its stylus, including the tip is softer and more elastic. Also, we advise against using the Galaxy S21 or Galaxy Note S-Pen as it is not intended for this purpose and may cause irreversible damage.
But in addition to the S-Pen, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is also compatible with a premium stylus reference from Samsung: the S-Pen Pro. It also benefits from lower latency, improved Bluetooth connectivity and support for more gestures through of the Air Action feature, which allows applications to be controlled remotely.
As a reminder, the S-Pen already allows you to take photos remotely, control a presentation, can be used with the DeX desktop experience mode, take a screenshot, write text by hand with the possibility of converting it to text. computer, drawing, underlining text…
🛠️ Galaxy Z Fold: What version of Android is installed?
The Galaxy Z Fold 3 will ship on Android 11. Samsung now promises three years of feature updates and four or five years of security updates for every next-gen smartphone model. Z Fold 3 is expected to move quickly to Android 12, whose official stable release is approaching.