Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 is Samsung’s second attempt at a foldable phone that has it all. But their first attempt at folding phone had its fair share of issues. Does the Galaxy Z Fold 2 prove that folding phones are here to stay or are there still issues to work out?

Design

If it’s not obvious by the name, the phone folds open. But instead of doing so vertically like the flip phones of yesteryear, it opens horizontally like a book. When closed, the phone also has a display on the exterior. This means you can use the phone like a standard smartphone when you’re not feeling the more tablet-like interface. Reviewers found the approach surprisingly effective. The phone is a little on the chunky side when folded up but not in such a way that it’s a true negative thing. It will still fit in your pocket or bag with ease.

The Guardian says, “It is easy to hold with lots of edges to grip. In two weeks of use not once did I feel I could drop the phone using it in one or two hands despite weighing a not inconsiderable 282g.”

Display

When folded the cover display acts as a typical smartphone albeit a little skinnier, but for updating statuses, doing a bit of google searching, and queuing up a favorite playlist, reviews indicate it’s pretty perfect.

When you unfold it, it has two modes: a larger magnified version of the cover display and a more natural tablet mode which makes things smaller and allows more to fit on the screen.

While there aren’t the durability concerns of previous folding displays, reviewers noted an obvious crease when the screen is off or occasionally at certain angles. But most claim that sort of thing is unavoidable when you have a folding display.

Performance

The Galaxy Z Fold 2 snappy and without lag, thanks to its 120Hz refresh rate. Reviewers also said it doesn’t seem to miss a beat while multitasking and switching between apps. It’s no different when the phone is folded closed and the cover display is used as a smartphone. Both methods offer flawless performance that is near the top of the Android performance charts.

Software & Storage

You cannot expand the storage in this phone. However, with 256GB of internal storage, that shouldn’t be a worry for most people. Samsung also optimized the Android 10 software to allow split-screen use in tablet mode. Reviewers mentioned that the split-screen was not always obliging and that only certain apps took advantage of the feature.

Cameras

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 has a lot of cameras. While the cameras are good, reviewers also said they were a let down for the price of the phone. They were also unimpressed with how the pictures seemed to be brightened and smoothed. The amount of overprocessing took detail from otherwise great pictures.

The Verge comments, “… When it comes to basic image quality, Samsung is still overzealous with brightening things up and with smoothing faces.”

Battery Life

If you’re worried about how having three screens might impact battery life, don’t be. The charge on Samsung’s Galaxy Fold 2 impressed reviewers who. Software optimizations and a large internal battery allowed reviewers to hit a full day of typical usage with ease.

CNet tested the battery life and declared, “… The day I exchanged my laptop for a Z Fold 2, I used resource-hungry live maps navigation for 2 hours in 28 hours, browsed and messaged nonstop, watched hours of Netflix, took dozens of photos and so on. Even on this heavy day, I still managed to get from morning to evening on a single charge.”

Audio

The sound is big and impressive with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2. Louder, reviewers said, than any other phone they experienced on the market right now. The only issue is where the speakers are located on the phone. They’re placed perfectly for hands-off use but once your hands rest on the edges of the phone, the sound is dampened.

Specs at a Glance

• Aluminum chassis
• AMOLED 7.6-inch display
• Octa-core 3.1 Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm SM8250 processor
• 12GB of RAM
• Android 10
• 256GB of storage
• 12MP triple-lens cameras and two 10MP selfie lenses
• 4500mAh battery

Bottom Line

There’s a lot to love with Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2. Samsung improved their hinge design, allowing the phone to be positioned in several different ways for watching and playing. When it works the split screen is a lot of fun and a useful tool. It’s a big plus that the phone can also be folded up and used as a regular smartphone. It seems like Samsung has improved the things that went wrong with the first incarnation of the phone.

CNet says, “I still don’t think this [expensive] Z Fold 2 with its fragile screen is worth it for most, but it’s a lot closer to the kind of device everyday people might have and want than last year’s inchoate edition.”

The Guardian states, “Following a bit of a false start with the original Fold last year, Samsung has hit a home run in its second attempt to make cutting-edge folding phone-tablets a reality – like the Galaxy Z Fold 2 is something really quite special.”

Tech Radar comments, “The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 is the only foldable phone you should consider buying in 2020 if you want to maximize that satisfying ‘wow’ factor when showing it off. It feels like you own a smartphone from the future when you collapse its tablet-sized screen in half, and the larger front display and stronger hinge fix the biggest Gen 1 issues.”