In this article, not only will I be reviewing the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 after using it for more than a week BUT I will be answering YOUR questions which you have asked me in my first impressions video, and also let you know whether or not, the claims made by MKBHD and Mr. Whose The Boss saying that the cameras are B+ and not “flagship quality”, are true? So don’t miss out!

Specs

First, let’s have a quick recap on the exact specs of the Z Fold 3, where it comes with Snapdragon 888 5nm Chipset, which has 5G support for stand-alone and non-stand-alone 5G Networks, with the Adreno 660 GPU. 

And this review unit is the 12 gigabytes of RAM with 256 gigabytes of UFS 3.1 storage, with One UI version 3.1.1 skin on top of Android 11.

Build 

Looking at the Z Fold 3’s build quality, and using the phone daily, as mentioned in my previous video, I did feel that there was quite a difference in weight and how it feels in the hands, especially since I was using the Z Fold 2 for 9 months plus.

The matte finish at the back and also the sides was really the plus factor, which made me have no anxiety using the phone daily without having a case on.

And mind you this is rather a premium-priced phone and that feeling of “Oh, I better be careful of not dropping the phone when I take it out from my pocket or holding it” isn’t there, which is a really great feeling to have.

And of course, with the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection and the IPX8 water-resistant rating also was an added factor of me just being super confident of the overall build of the phone.

While the phone does wobble a bit if you place it with the cover screen on top BUT when I usually use the phone on my desk, I tend to open the Fold halfway to type, which Samsung calls it the Flex Mode, when it comes to replying to messages or just replying to YouTube comments, and here is where the phone not only did not wobble, but since the keyboard layout was nice and wide, I didn’t have any issues typing like this, which was great to know.

Also worth mentioning is that the improved hinge was quite significant, especially when I was folding the device, the screen did also feel a tad bit thicker since it can now support the S Pen.

So overall it feels extremely solid and premium at the same time, and the side fingerprint power button is also pretty solid and not too clicky as how it was on the Z Fold 2, which could be due to the device being new, but still very satisfactory indeed.

So yes, overall I would totally rate the Z Fold 3 an A+ for the overall design and build when I was using it daily!

 

Display

Next, let’s talk about the displays of the Fold 3.

As a recap, the cover screen is a 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2x Display compared to a Super AMOLED Display on the Z Fold 2.

And where there was a REALLY huge difference in using the phone daily is this particular screen over here, since it had a higher 120-hertz refresh rate compared to the previous generation.

And while some may have complained about how “narrow” the screen is over here, as a previous user of the Z Fold 2, I didn’t feel any much of a difference.

And if you are familiar with this kind of screen ratio, like how it is on the Sony Xperia series, using this screen most of the time will totally be a walk in the park and yes, I personally did not have lots of typing issues, even with this screen size as well.

Now if you ask me would I prefer a wider screen over here, I would say, no because remember, the idea of this cover screen is not to use the phone much on this mode, since it is supposed to be a Foldable phone anyways. 

And second of all, if it was wider, it would create an even bigger dimension of the overall phone too, which as mentioned I really like how it is right now.

So yes, no complaints at all over here, especially on how it first was in the first generation and how it is right now.

Unfolded, the screen opens up to a brighter 7.6-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x Infinity Flex Display, also with the adaptive 120-hertz screen.

And yes, here is where I could see quite a big difference in the brightness of the screen.

I just loved how the screen was extremely bright even during really harsh sunlight, even when I was taking photos during the day and the adaptive brightness is still one of the best as how other Samsung phones were compared to some brands out right now.

When it comes to viewing video content, because of the new under-display camera technology, you will have a better video content experience.

Yes, you can still see a tad bit of a camera cutout if you really look for it, but as I mentioned previously, it’s nice that Samsung gave us this technology rather than totally taking the cameras out over here.

Even when I was using the Z Fold 2 daily, I can’t remember whether or not I did take a selfie photo unfolded, so yes, overall, the screen and the viewing experience using it for content consumption and daily use cases were extremely pleasant indeed.

And as for your question @Fahmi Sabri, it is possible to view the video on its full screen, but this comes down to the aspect ratio of the content, where for example, if you watch something like the Synder’s cut Justice League, it will fill up the screen nicely since it has an aspect ratio of 4:3.

 

Cameras

Now in terms of the specs of the cameras, it has a triple camera system for the rear and 2 on the inside:

• a 12-megapixel, F 2.2 main lens in the middle
• a 12-megapixel F 1.8 wide-angle lens on top, and 
• a 12-megapixel f 2.4 telephoto lens, with 2 times optical zoom and 10 times digital zoom
• 

Then the cover display’s selfie camera is a 10-megapixel f 2.2 camera and the under-display camera is a 4-megapixel f 1.8 aperture lens.

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So here is where we shall found out whether Mr. Marques Brownlee a.k.a MKBHD and Mr. Arun Maini a.ka. Mr. Whose The Boss was right on the camera’s being B+ or not “flagship level quality”…hmm?

Ultrawide

Firstly, the ultrawide lenses look flawless, with amazingly wide shots, superior dynamic range with absolutely no barrel distortion.

Main

The main lenses not only looked great but there were no color shift issues, so it really does look high in quality and all of the images look very consistent as you guys can see.

10-times Zoom

You can zoom digitally up to 10 times and 2 times optically, which although at 10 times zoom, the images were pretty decent too, so it is nice that there is an option for that.

Portrait

The portrait mode was very high in quality, with one of the best subjects to background blur and edge detection, and it is nice that it works very well even during backlit situations as well.

Night mode

The night mode also looked great with an amazing balance of highlights and shadows too, for all of the lenses.

Selfie

As for the selfie shots, it looked really nice too, as seen in these images over here.

Portrait Selfie

So were the portrait selfie images, with similarly amazing results for the rear portrait mode as well.

In-Display Selfie

Then if you have missed my first impressions video, the in-display selfie shots, were not as “bad” as seen in these test images, like I said, it’s not as sharp as the front cover display, but it’s nice that it’s there and as a user of the Z Fold 2, I almost never use this camera anyways.

Now speaking of selfies, like the previous Z Fold 2, having the option of using the rear camera to take selfie photos through the cover screen is still one of the best features of the Fold, which I also really loved and appreciated as well.

Video Rear

As for the video, the rear camera records at 4k up to 60 frames per second, for the ultrawide and the main lens, with not only amazing dynamic range and perfect exposure but also gimbal-like stabilization.

Video Front

Then as for the front camera, it records the same exact resolution and frame rate as well, with also extremely well-stabilized shots.

So guys, with this, it clearly proves, that the cameras are not B+, and a high megapixel count is not all that matters BECAUSE what plays a HUGE role is the image processing, so as much as I respect both MKBHD and Mr. Whose The Boss, I will have to humbly disagree with them on saying about how the camera doesn’t perform like a flagship smartphone because as you guys can see, it clearly did.

Audio Quality

Next, in terms of the phone’s speakers, once again the stereo speakers were not only really loud but the overall audio quality was just the best compared to any smartphone due to the size and the form factor of the phone, especially since the stereo speakers are placed nicely on top and at the bottom.

Software

As for the Z Fold 3’s software, it comes with the One UI version 3.1.1 skin, on top of Android 11, and here is where I also appreciate this new iteration of the Fold compared to the previous generation when I was using it daily.

Since it comes with the new One UI version, if you swipe towards the left it will go to the Google Feed, which the previous Z Fold 2 didn’t have.

Other than continuity features from the Cover Screen to the Main unfolded screen, there is this new Advanced Feature called Labs, which you can dive in deeper to change the aspect ratio, for something like Instagram, which the previous Fold 2 could not do, and you can change the aspect ratio for other apps over there as well.

You can also now have other apps to do the Flex Modes, other than typically only the camera app or the Youtube app, Facebook or Google Calendar.

Then you can even Pin your favorite apps, which creates this sort of a dock-style menu to easily have your favorite apps always on the screen as well.

Then other than the settings mode, you can have two columns open on other apps like Gmail to have the same two-column feature as well when you put the Fold on a landscape position, which is a really sweet feature. So there is your answer @Shubob TV

Now speaking of the software multitasking features, I would like to humbly apologize as I couldn’t get my hands on both the Fold edition S Pen, and even the S Pen Pro, to go through further on that.

It was all on pre-order and by the time I would get it will be way past my review period, so sorry about that @Rayyan Nadeem

But who knows, in case I do, I will definitely do a dedicated S Pen review for the Z Fold 3, so let me know if that’s something that you would like to see.

As I would love to test out the features like writing notes while watching a YouTube video or even during video calls, S Pen to Text, which converts from your handwriting to text which includes non-English characters, and many more other S Pen-related features.

And finally one of the biggest questions that people asked about this particular phone is how it was when it comes to the overall chipset. Compared to the devices that I have test it out, which has the Snapdragon 888 chipset like the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra and the One Plus 9, I am here to tell you that you do not have to worry anymore when it comes to the Snapdragon 888 chipset on this particular smartphone as there were no signs of overheating when using the phone for a week plus or so. 

So yes, you all don’t have to blame Snapdragon because it all comes down to how the phone handles the chipset and the Z Fold 3 handles it pretty well.

Gaming

Next, let’s talk about how the Z Fold 3 when it comes to gaming.

Firstly on Genshin Impact, it worked perfectly at medium settings at 60 fps with motion blur turned off, with not a single lag or overheating issues.

The display quality was nice, but because of its squared shaped screen the controls are a bit different and it is something that will take a while for you to get used to, especially because of how the navigation tools in game are either a bit too high or too low compared to a regular screen.

Then as for PUBG, it worked flawlessly with graphics set at UHD and frame rate set to extreme and once again, no with no overheating or lagging once again the field of view and the aspect ratio makes it a bit harder to touch the control on the top of the screen.

So yes, gaming on the Fold 3 overall is really great, but it will take a while to get used to because of the size and shape, so for casual types of games it should be better.

And just for FUN, I didn’t see anyone trying this on YouTube but I decided to go crazy to really FLEX the flex mode where I ran both Genshin Impact and PUBG Mobile at the same time and was tremendously surprised that it actually worked!

 

Battery 

Then as for battery, the phone has 4400 milliamps of battery, which is 100 milliamps lesser than the Z Fold 2 BUT the battery life was surprisingly better than the Z Fold 2, and I think it’s due to the adaptive screen technology and the new One UI version.

I did a heavy test usage on the 60-hertz screen and I got about 5 hours and 55 minutes at 10 percent battery with dark mode turned on.

And when I adjusted it to the adaptive 120-hertz screen I got ONLY slightly less of 5 hours and 23 minutes of screen on time at 10 percent battery.

With this, you are better off just adjusting the screen to the adaptive 120 hertz, as the differences are not THAT much, since it does adjust the screen refresh rate according to your usage.

So I would say, overall the screen on time and the battery life was very good for a foldable smartphone, especially when the fact that I was using the phone very frequently on both screens.

Then the phone has fast charging up to 25-watts and wireless charging up to 11-watts and it has reverse wireless charging as well up to 4.5-watts.

 

Conclusion

So in conclusion, I honestly think that it is really nice to know that since the first generation Fold, there have been lots of improvements and tweaks that Samsung has made.

And it is extra nice to know that they have been serious about trying to really make the Fold more efficient to be used by people who really want to have a different level of experience when using Foldable devices.

Yes, there are some other Foldable smartphones out there, from Xiaomi, HUAWEI to name a few, but where Samsung gets the better edge is the fact that this is their 3rd generation foldable smartphone, while others are only at the 2nd or 1st generation.

And the software experience and the camera performance is definitely one of the main things that make THIS foldable more appealing compared to other foldables out right now.

And finally, just a recap of the price of the Z Fold 3, where the 12 gigabytes of RAM with 256 gigabytes of storage variant is RM6699

and the higher 512 gigabytes of storage variant with the same 12 gigabytes of RAM is priced at RM7099 and I will leave links down below for you to check it out and if you are planning to get yourself one.

So guys, with this, do let me know if money wasn’t an issue, are you guys now open to using a foldable, or are you STILL skeptical? Let me know in the comments section below!

If you ask me, if I would upgrade from the Z Fold 2 to this Z Fold 3, I will tell you that…I am going to start collecting some cash right now, just like how I did for the Z Fold2….because once I do, I am surely going to get it!

Pre Order the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 At The Link Below:-

https://www.samsung.com/my/smartphones/galaxy-z-fold3-5g/buy/