Josh Hendrickson
The original Galaxy Fold is an aspirational device at best. The idea of a phone that becomes a tablet is tantalizing, but the hardware just wasn’t up to snuff. Between failed review units and a tiny external display, it was the flagship you should skip. Now the Galaxy Z Fold fold two solves some of those problems.
Close the original $2,000 Fold, and you’re in for an eyesore. The external display is tiny and surrounded by ginormous bezels. At best you’d check notifications, but you wouldn’t want to type on it. Open the device up, and you get weird dimensions thanks to the six cameras and odd locations.
With the Z Fold 2, Samsung set out to address those issues. The external display is much larger now at 6.2-inches and looks useful. And the internal screen’s six cameras are gone, with a hole punch camera in its place. That screen now spans 7.6-inches (measured diagonally) and looks like a vast improvement.
That’s not where the changes stop, though. While Samsung says it completely reengineered the hinge, it still has a gap at both ends. That means you might have to deal with dust or other foreign particles. The company says it has new tech to prevent that outcome and based it on the brushes you can find in vacuums.
Samsung says that the inner Ultra-Thin Glass layer is covered by a redesigned set of layers that maximize durability while maintaining flexibility, but time will tell if all the changes make a difference.
If you don’t like creases, that hasn’t changed either, and that’s obvious right away from the phone’s wallpaper. Like the original, it’s artfully designed with some convenient negative space where the crease would show.
The phone is powered by a 4,500 mAh battery and supports 25 W fast charging, 11 W wireless charging, and reverse wireless charging. That last feature will come in handy if you pick up the new Samsung Galaxy Buds Live earbuds. The power button doubles as a fingerprint scanner for easy phone access.
On the backside, you’ll find a triple-camera array, sporting 12 MP lenses for the main, telephoto, and ultrawide options. You can get a 5G capable version of the phone if your area supports it. Overall, the new phone feels like a refinement of the original, not a complete redesign. You can grab it in Mystic Black and Mystic Bronze, or a limited Thom Browne Edition. If you buy the phone from Samsung, you can even change out the hinge color.
Samsung says it will reveal pricing, availability, and additional details on September 1. Pre-orders will open the same day.
