Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 Review – Only Foldable Phone That Makes Sense

The original Samsung Galaxy Fold was a disaster when it was launched and review units totally bombed. Cut to now, Samsung has come a long way since then with the latest Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G. It packs in a futuristic foldable display and has flagship specifications that make Galaxy Z Fold 2 is must-try if you are thinking about buying a foldable phone and you are ready to shell out an extrinsic amount for the luxury.

Recycle Your Old Phone, Get Rewarded!

Here’s a hands-on Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 that you must read to decide whether to purchase or not.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G is available in a single storage configuration that is 12GB+256GB in India. You can choose between Mystic Black or Mystic Bronze colour variants both at a price tag of Rs 1,49,999/- on Amazon India and Samsung India website. You can get the device at Rs 12,457.20/mo on No Cost EMI while the standard EMI starts at Rs 6,5933.53/mo.

You can exchange your old smartphone (if it’s eligible) to get up to Rs 40,000/ on the Samsung India website while the exchange on Amazon comes with up to Rs 12,600/- off on the price tag.

Before we talk in detail about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 let’s see what the on-paper specs look like?

• Display: 19.27 centimetres (7.6-inch) dynamic AMOLED 2X – Infinity-O display, QXGA+ multi-touch capacitive touchscreen
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+
• Storage: 12GB/256GB
• Software: OneUI 3.1 based on Android v10.0
• Rear cameras: Triple camera setup – Wide: 12MP (F1.8) + Tele: 12MP (F2.4) 2x optical zoom + UW: 12MP (F2.2)
• Selfie camera: Cover display (HID): 10MP (F2.2) + Main display (HID): 10MP (F2.2)
• Battery: 4,500 mAh, 25W Type-C fast charger
• Weight: 279g
• Dimensions: 159.20 x 128.20 x 6.90

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 has a foldable design. You get the main screen when open and a secondary display when it is closed. Apparently, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G has come a long way compared to its original version. The secondary (outer) display is 6.53-inch which is way larger than the 4.6-inch display used on the original Fold while the inner display has grown by 0.3-inch offering a full view and an edge-to-edge viewing experience.

Gone is the shabby notch and now, it is replaced by a tiny cut-out on the middle of the right half of the inner display which is almost unnoticeable. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 has a Corning Gorilla Glass Victus outside which aids in protection against falls. In fact, during a week of testing it, I must have accidentally dropped it several times and it was left unhurt. Although it also depends on the intensity of the drop since you can’t expect it to throw from a height of 5 meters and expect it to withstand it.

Planning to upgrade? Sell Your Old Phone in 60 Seconds From Home

The inner display has an Ultra-Thin Glass display which makes it feel sturdy and more touchscreen-y rather than making it feel like a plastic screen which is a huge upgrade over the original Fold.

The hinge has undergone a series of upgrades and it is now closed and doesn’t let dirt and debris from entering the hinge. This prevents any clicking sound which is something the original Fold was infested with. Further, if you are using the phone for the first time, you will feel as if the hinge is a bit firm but once you get used to it, the hinge does tend to loosen offering a smooth folding and unfolding. If you use both the original Fold and the Fold 2 5G, you will see that the latter has a loose hinge while the latter has a firm and sturdy hinge that allows for tent mode, flex mode, and more.

Unfortunately, there’s no water resistance so don’t try dipping it in water for some reason. Even if the phone does tend to have some level of resistance, it isn’t officially recognized and thus, not covered under warranty.

You can either go for a default hinge colour variant or pick yours from four colour options i.e. Metallic Blue, Metallic Red, Metallic Gold, and Metallic Silver.

The primary display is a 7.6inch 120Hz foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ while the secondary display is a 6.23-inch Super AMOLED display with a Corning Gorilla Glass Victus on top of it. And by no means Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G is light at 282 grams because it is packing in two halves of smartphones. I am not used to heavy phones because it is tiring but the user experience does pay off.

The giant inner display folds in two halves and is supported by eight cams under the hood that add more friction and stability. Samsung has used Ultra-Thin Glass instead of plastic which makes it durable.

Talking about the inner display, it boasts a 120Hz refresh rate offering a much greater level of smoothness in scrolling, transitions, and animations. This is a much-needed upgrade from 60Hz Galaxy Fold. The giant display is great for content consumption and gaming. The excess of display gives you more area to play which is great during gaming since you can see what’s going on a larger plane than even the largest display available on a flagship phone.

The outer display spans across 6.23-inch OLED diagonally which is larger than the one used on Galaxy Fold. It is not just larger, it is wider and has narrow bezels, unlike the Fold that enables using the cover display as a standalone phone. It is an OLED display so you can expect it to have accurate colours, brighter whites and darker blacks, and more. But it is limited to 60Hz which is standard while the inner display offers 120Hz.

I ended up using the cover display most of the time although it was a better experience being able to switch between a not so smaller cover display to a larger inner display that folds.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 uses a Snapdragon 865 Plus SoC with a 12GB+256GB UFS 3.1 storage configuration. For the uninitiated, SD865 Plus is a flagship overclocked chipset released last year and its Galaxy Note 20 Ultra preceded Galaxy Z Fold 2 if in case you have used the former.

Talking about performance, it is pure bliss to use the foldable phone. It is one of the fastest Android smartphones out there and its 120Hz display goes at a superfast speed for animations and transitions. It is impressive and there’s no doubt out. About the features, Galaxy Z Fold 2 reaches 3,193 points on multi-core test on Geekbench and for reference, iPhone 11 Pro scores 3,500 points while the Note 20 Ultra has 3,294 points. This goes around showing just how powerful the foldable smartphone is in comparison to other flagship devices of last year.

Best Camera Flagship Phone Under Rs.70,000? Check Out: Vivo X60 Pro Plus Quick Review

Transitioning from inner display to outer is vice versa takes just a fraction of a second which is great. You can end up doing more than you would do on a smartphone thanks to the larger inner display that works like a tablet while folding in a smartphone form factor. This all clubs to its superiority in terms of performance.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 as usual comes with OneUI 2.5 based on Android 10 out-of-the-box. It is now getting OneUI 3.1 based on Android 11 and since Samsung has confirmed releasing three years of guaranteed Android OS upgrades, you are covered till Android 13 for sure. The OneUI 3.1 is great for one-handed usage with some neat features including the Dark Mode and more. The software is optimized to run smoothly on such a giant display while allowing support to foldability which is what the phone’s main selling is.

You are buying an INR 1,50,000/- smartphone for a reason. However, Samsung somehow watered down the camera setup a bit compared to the original Fold. The device has a 12MP primary, 12MP ultra wide-angle cam with a 123-degree FoV, and finally, a 12MP telephoto cam with 2x optical and 10x digital zoom on-board. This is a step down from last year’s 108MP primary sensor with 5x optical zoom although you get a capable shooter, to be honest.

The selfie shooter comes with a 10MP cover and a 10MP primary sensor which comes at a total of 5 camera setups on the INR 1,50,000/-  foldable smartphone. Although the device fails to reach the competent photography chops of Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, it does manage to satisfy users if not make them feel overjoyed.

Talking about the rear camera setup, you can grab quality shots using the three lenses separately for different shots. The dynamic range is excellent and the primary sensor does capture both the subject and the background in detail unless a portrait effect is applied to the background. Colours pop up and that is what makes the primary sensor better than many others.

I compared the phone with Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max which is currently among the best phones for photography. As it goes without saying, both the devices were head-on against each other. Close-up shots on Galaxy Z Fold 2 captured even the finest details such as lines on the petal of a flower all with accurate colour reproduction.

Unlike usual camera setups, you have three ways to take a selfie now. You can either rely on the 10MP cover selfie shooter which is good for video calling and stuff. You can switch to the primary selfie shooter on the inner display which is still at 10MP although you get a much larger viewfinder to check for details. Next up, flip the phone, use the cover display as a viewfinder and use the 12MP primary rear camera for high-quality selfies that are unmatched by any other sensor on the device.

Cropping isn’t a strong suit on Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G if you are going ahead of the optical zoom limit. Go to 10x digital zoom and you will see grains which is something Galaxy Note 20 Ultra was able to suppress thanks to its powerful Space Zoom. However, the shots are pretty good even in zoomed position.

Bokeh or portrait effect on the device is highly satisfying too. When compared to iPhone 11 Pro Max, although the latter stays try to the colours, Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G captured a brighter image while adding more details than the 11 Pro Max. On the contrary, in the night mode shots where iPhone 11 Pro Max was able to take brighter images, Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G was able to capture more details albeit it dimmed down the shot. So usually, you get a trade-off at some point in some lighting conditions. Overall, I would say Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G has a satisfying camera setup although not as much as a flagship camera. But hey, you aren’t paying the luxury for the camera but it’s a foldable display, isn’t it?

The battery is an essential commodity especially when you have a flagship phone with a foldable display which is rare. So, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 packs in a 4,500 mAh battery which is a tad bit larger than 4,380 mAh on the original Fold. The battery on Galaxy Z Fold 2 lasted around 10 hours on web surfing at 150 nits. The earlier backup time was for 60Hz while turning on 120Hz mode gives a much lower backup as usual.

Frustrated with an old draining battery? Affordable Mobile Battery Replacement at Doorstep

It is an average-sized battery but it does last longer than usual although you need to account for two displays instead of one and the battery consumption is proportional to it. But surprisingly, it did impress me that the phone was able to get 5 to 6 hours of SoT which is a big deal. The phone is supplied with a 25W charging tech and you don’t need a science degree to ascertain that it is slow to charge a battery that size on a flagship phone. There’s wireless charging and PowerShare reverse charging support as well.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G arrives with a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. It has improved over time and makes unlocking the phone a pretty easy and quick task. Simply place your thumb (or any finger that you have registered) and it will unlock the phone right away. It has an accuracy rating of above 95 per cent when I tested which is better than most FPSs out there.

The phone has 5G support and caters to both mmWave and sub-6GHz networks across various bands. Now you don’t have a 5G connection in India at the moment but once you buy it, you will be ahead in the game with a 5G enabled smartphone that reaches insane speeds when tested outside India in areas where 5G was available.

Other connectivity features include a USB Type-C port, Wi-Fi 6 dual-band support; Bluetooth v5.0 with aptX HD, LE, and A2DP; GPS and NFC among others.

You still get a facial recognition system on board that works alright. Plus, you have a pattern and PIN mechanism onboard that you can use as a last resort if neither of the facial or side-mounted FPS works (which is highly unlikely).

Next up, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G arrives with a stereo speaker setup that makes up for a great prospect. The speakers are balanced, loud, and have a solid sound quality overall. There’s not much bass on-board.

Pros

• Powerful processor
• Foldable display with UTG film
• Excellent battery life
• Runs on the latest OS

Cons

• It is very expensive
• Relatively slower charging speeds