In this article, I will be giving you my hands on impressions of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, and I will give you a brief comparison between this new generation foldable compared to the Z Fold 2 that I have right now.
Build Quality
Looking at the Z Fold 3’s build quality, compared to the previous version, it is a tad bit lighter at only 271 grams compared to 282 grams and while the numbers sound like that’s not much of a difference, but if I held both phones side by side, there is surely a difference.
In terms on how it feels on the hands, even when I was using the Z Fold 2 as my daily driver for almost more than half a year, I had to put on a case, because it was slippery due to the glossy finish where the Z Fold 3 had a matte finish, not only at the back of the phone but also at the sides as well, which I definitely preferred more. So yes, this new rendition of the Z Fold 3 did feel way much better to hold, especially with a thin form factor.
In terms of the color options, compared to last year’s Z Fold 2, which only came in Mystic Black and Mystic Bronze, this new Z Fold 3 comes with 3 colors to choose from, between:
- Phantom Black, which I have with me right now
- then there is Phantom Green
- and Phantom Silver, which is a color that also caught my eye
The camera arrays are towards the left, which has a different design than the Z Fold 2, with a medium-sized camera bump, so if it’s unfolded if you type the phone on a surface it will wobble just a tiny bit.
Like the Z Fold 2, the rear has a Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection and with an improved folding mechanism on the Z Fold 3.
Based on folding both phones at the same time, while unfolding it felt almost the same, where I felt there was more apparent improvement is when you are folding the phone, as the Z Fold 3 felt more solid when folding the device since the aluminum build was 10 percent better.
So one of the significant upgrades on the Z Fold 3 is that Samsung has amazingly put in an IP8 water resistance rating, which was one of the main concerns that people had for the previous generation so that is now not an issue.
Next, looking at the ports and buttons, it is the same when folded, where you will find the speaker grills towards the top and the USB-C port below and there more speaker grills compared to the Z Fold 2.
The volume rocker and the side-mounted fingerprint sensor are on the right which to me was SUPER helpful where not only it unlocked the phone super fast but I also found that during my usage of the Z Fold 2 for almost more than half of a year, the fingerprint scrolling was one of the best software features, and it is nice that it is here on the Z Fold 3 as well.
Also on the right towards the top, although at different positions, there is a single SIM ejector slot.
And finally, towards the top, you will find the second speaker grill since this is also a phone which has superior high-quality stereo speakers, with again a more speaker grills on the new Z Fold 3.
Display
Now looking at the displays on the Z Fold 3, unique to this foldable devices, there are two screens, where the cover screen is when the device is folded and that comes with the same 6.2-inch size BUT now with a better Dynamic AMOLED 2x Display compared to a Super AMOLED Display on the Z Fold 2.
While the screen quality when looking side to side looks equally as good still, but where you will be able to see a huge difference is the higher 120 Hz refresh rate, compared to only 60 Hz on the previous Z Fold 2. I have to be honest to say that, even with the previous 60 Hz, I didn’t mind using the cover screen during my daily usage on the Z Fold 2, but yes, having this 120 Hz refresh rate definitely gives a nicer experience when using this cover screen display.
Unfolded, you will be getting a similar amazing experience as the Z Fold 2, which has a 7.6 inch, QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x Infinity Flex Display, with the same 120 Hz screen refresh rate.
This time around, the screen on the Z Fold 3 is not only 29 percent brighter BUT you will notice that there is no camera hole punch on the screen for the Z Fold 3, not because there is no front camera but it is because this is the very first device from Samsung that has the under-display selfie camera.
And while the screen quality for the unfoldable side is the same, I do like the overall experience that the Z Fold 3 gave, due to the notch-less design that it gives.
Cameras
Now in terms of the cameras, for the Z Fold 3, the camera arrays are pretty much the same where there is a triple camera setup on the rear:
- a 12-megapixel, f 2.2 main lens in the middle
- a 12-megapixel f1.8 wide-angle lens on top, and
- a 12-megapixel f 2.4 telephoto lens, with 2 times optical zoom and 10 times digital zoom
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.
Based on my quick test shots, the photos coming out from these foldables are the highest flagship-level quality, so was the 4k 30 frames per second videos as well. And I am super happy to note that the under-display camera was also very great.
So there was some debate going on about this camera being blurred and all, and I have to say that it is totally not cloudy, as seen in these test shots over here as the image processing is really great, yes you might not get a tack sharp images as the cover display’s selfie camera but let me tell you all this – being a person who have been using the Z Fold 2 for more than half a year, I actually almost never use this camera anyway, and we are have to give credit to Samsung for not only including it rather than just taking it away, but to also go the extra mile of introducing this technology to us consumers as well.
But yes, stay tuned for my in depth review as I am looking to test these features out further.
Specs
Next looking at the specs of the devices, the Z Fold 3 comes with the Snapdragon 888 5nm which has 5G support for stand-alone and non-stand-alone 5G Networks, with the Adreno 660 GPU and with 12 gigabytes of RAM with either 128 or 256 gigabytes of UFS 3.1 storage.
Battery
Then as for battery, the phone has 4400 milliamps of battery, which is 100 milliamps lesser than the Z Fold 2, which we shall find out how does the battery performs when I use the phone daily and in case you all didn’t know that these batteries are divided into each part of the phone giving you a safer and fast charging as well up to 25 watts and wireless charging up to 11 watts. And it has reverse wireless charging as well up to 4.5 watts.
Software
In terms of software, the phone comes pre-installed with my current favorite Android Skin, the One UI version 3.1.1 on top of Android 11 of course , which has even further software experience than the Z Fold 2, which I already have experienced and appreciated very much, so I am looking forward to using the phone more daily to revert back to y’all on how it was, so stay tuned once again for my full video review.
S Pen Support
And finally, a HUGE upgrade which was even on my personal wishlist to have on the Z Fold 2 was an S Pen support.
While it is sold separately, Samsung has given the S Pen support on this Z Fold 3 by using either the non-Bluetooth S Pen Fold Edition, which can be attached to the cover of the Z Fold 3, and the Bluetooth S Pen Pro variants.
Where the S Pen Pro has added support for air commands, air actions and also supports other S Pen supported devices like the Galaxy Tab with the simple quick switch on the Pen.
And the S Pen Fold Edition was made to use for only the Z Fold 3 with support of the Air Commands, and even though I don’t have the S Pen Pro or the S Pen Fold Edition to show you all, just so you all know that the S Pen Pro has a bigger form factor compared to the Fold Edition.
So yes, since it now has S Pen support, it also means that you can even do even more cool software features, like writing notes while watching a YouTube video or even during video calls. Then there’s also the S Pen to text, which converts from your handwriting to text which includes non-English characters and many more other S Pen-related features.
I will definitely go into deeper if I can get my hands on the S Pen Pro or the S Pen Fold Edition when I fully review the phone.
Price
And finally, let’s talk about 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.
Pre Order the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 At The Link Below:-
https://www.samsung.com/my/smartphones/galaxy-z-fold3-5g/buy/
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So guys, with this, do let me know what you guys would like to know specifically about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 in the comment section below and I will be answering your comments directly when I do a full video review on the phone.
