Here we are. With the third-generation Galaxy Z Fold from Samsung. The first Galaxy Fold was impressive. It was impressive because we could have a
Here we are. With the third-generation Galaxy Z Fold from Samsung. The first Galaxy Fold was impressive. It was impressive because we could have a tablet-sized display in our pocket. But it was far from perfect. Then came the Galaxy Z Fold 2 last fall. Which was a huge improvement in almost every way. And it even earned an “Editor’s Choice” from us. Now here are with the Galaxy Z Fold 3. Which, on the surface, doesn’t look like a huge upgrade from the Fold 2. But it is. With the Galaxy Z Fold 3, Samsung opted to include a ton of smaller upgrades. Like making the Cover Display 120Hz, adding IPX8 water-proofing, and improving the hinge. Things that you would not notice if you just glanced at the phone. But they do make the phone an overall, better smartphone. And of course, we can’t forget about the biggest update for this phone. The price. It is now $1,799, that’s $200 cheaper than its predecessor. So Samsung is improving the foldable, while also working to get the cost down, and make it more affordable for everyone. So let’s jump into the review of the Galaxy Z Fold 3. Perhaps, more important than the hardware itself, is software. On a foldable, you can’t just slap the same software from your regular Android phone. As it just won’t work. Particularly true with the Galaxy Z Fold 3, with its second display, and the almost-square main display. Samsung has made some pretty big changes to the software since the original Galaxy Fold back in 2019. The software isn’t largely different here, so the blind eye, you won’t notice anything new. But there has been a lot of optimization behind-the-scenes, and Samsung has added a couple of new features. Like the Taskbar. It’s kinda like the taskbar on your Windows computer. Where you can quickly open up apps, and even pairs of apps. The ability to swipe in and open a pair of apps at once, is very useful. Particularly if you use multi-window or pop up often. Another change here is the ability to force apps to work in this aspect ratio. Some apps are pretty stubborn, like Instagram for one. Which even without forcing it to work in the Samsung Labs settings, it does actually work decently. Instagram for example, will cut out a 16:9 portion of the screen and center itself. So you are able to use it on the bigger internal display, without it being super stretched out and looking weird. But, you can’t use it in the pop-up mode. But you can force that to happen. Samsung will tell you that the app may not perform properly in pop-up mode, however. But it does work. A number of other apps have also been optimized for the Galaxy Z Fold 3. Like TikTok, Gmail and Spotify. And you also get the desktop versions of a number of apps like Settings, Gmail and Chrome when you use it on the main screen. Which is honestly, really useful. Instead of having the mobile version of Chrome stretched across the 7.6-inch main display, the desktop version with actual tabs at the top is a whole lot more useful. As for what version of Android this is on, it’s Android 11, and has One UI 3.1.1. It will most likely get updated to Android 12 soon, but since this is a foldable and more things need to be optimized here, it might be a bit later than you want it to be. The S Pen is here on the Galaxy Z Fold 3. But it is not included. You’ll have to shell out even more money for it. Samsung supplied us with the “Fold Edition” S Pen, which does not have a case. So you’re going to be carrying that one separate. And to be honest, that breaks the whole experience. Samsung really needs to find a way to put the S Pen inside the Galaxy Z Fold 3 (and the Galaxy S21 Ultra for that matter). Having to carry it separately, or buy an extra wide case for it, is not a good experience. You’re more likely to lose the S Pen Fold Edition because it is separate, or forget and leave it at home. Both of which are not good things. The way the S Pen works on the Galaxy Z Fold 3 isn’t really anything new. You can take notes with the S Pen, do some drawing, and much more. This is the Bluetooth model, so it can also be used for swiping through images in your gallery and such.
