Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G: Review, Specifications, Release Date and Price (Working On)
The Galaxy Z Fold 3 looks like the best foldable phone yet, with a more durable design and S Pen support, and the multitasking features are even better. You need a case to store the stylus and the cameras are not upgraded, but overall the Z Fold 3 looks very promising for power users.
Introduction
Foldable smartphones have been in the works for a while now and the foldable handset was introduced in the form of Samsung’s first foldable handset the Galaxy X back in 2013. However, the device never made its way to market and that seems to have forced the company to work on a new handset. However, foldable phones are still not mainstream and there are a lot of questions regarding their sustainability. Foldable phones usually require either a larger battery or a bigger battery for the display which will ultimately burn a hole in the pocket. When you fold the screen the additional pixels on the display cannot make up for the gap. The phone will simply become thicker than before. However, if you make the device thinner, you will simply be compromising on the battery.
Specs
6.7-inch display with a whopping 710ppi resolution 1.1Ghz Octa-core CPU 3GB RAM and 32GB storage (expandable up to 512GB via microSD card slot) 3,300mAh battery Rear fingerprint sensor Dual 12-megapixel rear camera 8-megapixel front camera Foldable phone, sure. But Samsung has its own hardware problems to contend with. Like the price of the foldable phone, the software and the overall user experience. Let’s hope the new foldable phone will be much more polished.
Design
The device measures 7.3mm thin with a simple ‘P’ logo on the back, which reveals a microSD slot. The dimensions of the foldable phone are 7.6×3.1×0.3 in (190x151x7.3 mm). The main body is made of Corning Gorilla Glass 5, which means it is shatter-resistant and more durable than the Galaxy S10. It has dual batteries (4,000 mAh and 4,100 mAh) but there is no indication about the processor or operating system powering it. As far as design goes, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 looks like the next best foldable smartphone but with an eye-catching design. The device has an interesting ‘Rise and Flex’ hinge that supports both folded and unfolded displays.
Display
We’ve come a long way with foldable screens. The ZTE Axon M made a good display and that helped the phone grab a lot of eyeballs. The foldable screen on the Galaxy Z Fold 3 looks best, compared to all the foldable phones till now. The FlexPai foldable smartphone showed off a far inferior display at MWC, so it’s fair to say the ZTE Axon M display is better than that. The ZTE Axon M’s display takes up half the phone’s front panel, where the foldable screen on the Galaxy Z Fold 3 shows as a single and compact screen. The ZTE Axon M is significantly bigger than the foldable screen on the Galaxy Z3 Plus. Also, when we stacked the ZTE Axon M against the Galaxy Note 9, its display is still inferior to the Galaxy Note 9.
Camera
Image 1 of 4 The camera has a fixed dual camera setup on the back with 13-megapixel and 5-megapixel sensors. Image 2 of 4 The Z3 has an 8-megapixel front facing camera. Image 3 of 4 Samsung seems to be betting on improved dual cameras to take on other foldable smartphone makers. Image 4 of 4 All-day battery life is promised for the Z3. The Z3 has an 8-megapixel front-facing camera, but with Samsung’s intelligence features, the company will be able to auto-detect your face and let you chat with the phone. It also has a more powerful 12-megapixel main camera with auto-focus, flash, HDR, EIS, and portrait mode on the back. The fingerprint sensor is located on the back, and the Galaxy Z3 has a water and dust resistance rating of IP68.
Performance and Battery Life
It looks decent and the phone might get better as more developers enable support. But it runs the latest Android Pie OS with heavy Samsung’s UX over the top, which gives you a Galaxy-like interface and interface customization. The UX comes with an improved multitasking view that enables one app with two panes, making multitasking easier. Samsung did add shortcuts to disable the edge feature, though. It also adds Samsung’s own call screen, but you can’t do that. It also includes split-screen mode, but it’s not quick enough, and not feature complete either. The phone gets a generous 4GB of RAM, but we had to switch to a beta-testing OS for the time being as the third-party developers couldn’t get around the third-party app limitation.
Verdict
Samsung has improved the design language of the Galaxy Z foldable phone from the Galaxy F to the Z Fold 3. We’ll have to wait and watch if these foldable phones can even come close to rival the flexible displays Samsung has shown off at the Samsung Developer Conference 2018, the most exciting foldable phone coming in the market.