Z Fold3 1 Week Review (from someone who used a Z Fold2)

[Mnky313]

So for some perspective I used a Z Fold2 for about 6 months or so before getting a Z Fold3, A lot of the major changes when switching from a traditional phone to a foldable are outlined in my review of the Z Fold2. I'll probably touch on them in this review but if you want more information about foldables in general, go here.

Also in a similar vein of how I didn't pay full price for my Z Fold2, I paid no where near full price for my Z Fold3. Samsung allows for 4 devices to be traded in and gives an extra $200 on the first device, I traded in 2 Note20 Ultras and 2 Galaxy Folds, all of them were cracked except for 1 Note20 Ultra. They gave me $1500 trade in credit for those devices which I got for ~$800 on Ebay (though I did have to un-FRP lock the 2 Note20s). I also sold the Galaxy Buds Pro I got for free for ~$100 so I'm ~$1000 out of pocket for this Z Fold3 before selling my Z Fold2. $1000 is still a lot to spend on a phone but it's way less than $1800 and considering I got 1 year of care+ as well I'll take it. I plan to keep this phone for a while (I hope :P) 

As mentioned in the Z fold2 review, I stopped rooting my phones because most of the features I rooted for are available without root. This being said they are making it harder and harder to do custom theming which I'll touch on later in the review.

A lot of people seem to think the Z Fold3 is an incremental upgrade over the ZFold2 and in a lot of ways it is however it was definitely worth the upgrade for me.

The main differences between Z Fold3 and Z Fold2:

• BOTH displays are now 120Hz
• Inner display now has S-Pen support 
• Inner display has an under display camera instead of a hole punch
• IPX8 Water resistance
• Slightly lighter and thinner
• Faster SoC and Better Cameras (ya know, the normal stuff)
• 80% stronger inner fake glass.
• Some new colours and a bunch of small things I didn't mention

Both displays now being 120Hz is great, especially for games like Pokemon Go which can't really be used on the inner display without splitscreen. Overall it makes using the outer screen for certain things not fell like a compromise.

S-Pen support is AWESOME! Now yes, it sucks that the pen isn't stored in the phone but I will say the larger S-Pen is a lot nicer to write with. I feel like the S-Pen support is more akin to a surface with a pen rather than a Note phone. I am still working on a way to keep the pen attached to the phone, I have some super thin rare earth magnets coming eventually but I've also tried those stick on pen holders and haven't found a configuration that feels good to hold and allows for wireless charging.
P.S. Don't buy the Samsung S-Pen case, it's bad.... Like real bad. Head over the r/GalaxyFold and see all the people complaining about it xD.

Under display camera is very visible when looking for it especially on light backgrounds but it's still miles better than a hold punch. That's about all I have to say about it, it's good enough.

Water resistance is a huge bonus, It's something that hasn't really mattered to me as much as I thought because I end up repairing my phones for buying cheap ones that are already cracked so the seal is broken anyway. At least I shouldn't have to worry about the rain or stuff like that, Don't really go anywhere where my phone gets wet....

The Z Fold3 is very squared off feeling compared to the Z Fold2, Idk how else to put it. It's still quite thick but it doesn't really bother me and the narrower than normal design when closed is actually something I really like. I talked more in my Z Fold2 review about it.

 

Battery life has been more or less the same as my Z Fold2, plenty good enough to use throughout the day as long as I top up with my wireless charger whenever I'm at my desk.

 

Durability is apparently much improved on the Z Fold3, I didn't honestly notice a huge difference between the included screen protectors but there is a slight difference. It does feel a little more like glass but not something that's revolutionary. I will say there are no marks on the screen protector even after using the S-Pen a bunch, my Z Fold2 has a ton of small dents/marks on the protector.

Phantom silver is dope, absolutely love the look of it.

 

Now the negatives again:

 

there really aren't any compared the Z Fold2, it's a direct upgrade. The battery is a smaller capacity (Z Fold3 is 4400mAh, Z Fold2 is 4500mAh) but combined with the new SoC and some optimizations I assume it's about the same as the Z Fold3.

But I will still point out that there still isn't and will likely never be a headphone jack or SD Card slot again... I just ask that can you at least offer a replacement damnit, add 2 USB C ports if you have to, still annoying that I can't connect headphones and a USB cable to a PC or charger.... SD Card doesn't really bother me but if you're someone who needs over 512GB in your phone it sucks that it's missing.


Notes about Software things:

Everyone talks about the pinned sidebar but I haven't seen the ^{little baby app switcher} mentioned, it's really nice especially because that space on the navbar goes unused otherwise.

#Hex_ is still working with some workarounds on OneUI 3.1.1 (You need to freeze the app using a freezer app that needs DEVICE_OWNER permissions which is a pain because you can only grant that permission when you have no accounts on your phone, so you need to remove all your accounts, grant it, and add them all back.

_{feeling lazy, might fix formatting later.}

 

feel free to ask questions, I'll try and answer them

[Quackers101]

wait for fold69 gen

Samsung is a letdown in general, see that their software side is just getting worse and worse with their locked down system and updates to forced bloat to preventing using other OS's outside of samsung. Also knowing this is likely not going to give them any longer lifetime with software updates and patches. (see google and apple?)

"80% stronger inner fake glass." 80% from 2 while still being 2 is a big upgrade

 

Seems like a fun toy to play around with, but cant see that it would become more waste of money until it breaks or decreases rapidly in value.

Spoiler

(inb4 more nonsense from me and) Inb4 they use 2 glass screens and a middle plastic diffuser like method with foldable plastic and touch, with side chin that lights up the middle part which is pre-calculated or auto adjusting projectors which in no way impossible or would not work at all. Or modular lenses in the hinge that uses extra rendered screen in full mode and disabled middle part in folded mode and uses 2 seperate screens.

 

[Skiiwee29]

Truthfully, Folding phones to me are 100% gimmick and a massive waste of R&D. Just for a slightly bigger screen? That's why they have Phablets... 

 

Maybe I'm just to old and don't really "get" or understand the WHY with folding screen phones?

[Mnky313]

15 hours ago, Skiiwee29 said:

Truthfully, Folding phones to me are 100% gimmick and a massive waste of R&D. Just for a slightly bigger screen? That's why they have Phablets... 

 

Maybe I'm just to old and don't really "get" or understand the WHY with folding screen phones?

Idk, I mentioned in my Fold2 review that I got it just to try it out and see if it's something I like and it definitely is.

If you just look at the numbers, yeah. it's just a slightly larger screen however it really feels like having 2 phones, so if you multitask a lot on your phone it's awesome. Stuff like watching videos really isn't any different than on something like a Note20 Ultra.

I honestly also really like the narrow outer screen, it's actually something I can use one handed and doesn't feel unwieldy to hold and use (one handed).

 

It really depends on how you use your phone, if you're the kind of person that is constantly switching between apps or trying to use split-screen on a normal phone it might be great but if you're not a heavy multitasker it probably won't be any better than a normal phone.