Today, Samsung hosted part 2 of its Unpacked event where the company finally revealed all the details about the new Galaxy Z Fold 2. The phone’s a successor to 2019’s Galaxy Fold with a new design, better specs, and a higher price tag.
That price tag stands at $1,999 which is $19 higher than the original Fold’s. Quite frankly, the uptick in cost may be worth it when you consider what you get for the money.
For starters, the device carries an all-new design with a much larger front display, a squarer form factor, and improved speakers. Samsung says they offer the “best dynamic sound available on a Galaxy device,” and for $2,000, I’d hope they did.
As for the rest of the design, Samsung says it’s re-engineered with a new hinge that keeps dirt and dust at bay, while the overall construction has also improved greatly.
The front display now measures in at 6.2-inches instead of 4.6-inches. The screen uses a Super AMOLED panel with a 2260×816 resolution and 25:9 aspect ratio. When you open the phone, you’ll be greeted by a 7.6-inch “Dynamic AMOLED 2X” display complete with a 2208×1768 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and hole-punch notch. This is a big improvement over the 7.3-inch screen in the original Fold which was only 60Hz and was covered in delicate plastic. The Z Fold 2 uses Samsung’s plastic/glass hybrid coating found on the Z Flip for a much more durable experience.
Inside the Z Fold 2, Samsung includes the Snapdragon 865 Plus processor with 12GB of RAM, up to 512GB of storage, and a 4,500mAh battery. The device runs Android 10 although I’m sure Samsung’s working on Android 11. You also get 5G connectivity, fast wireless charging, reverse wireless charging, a fingerprint sensor on the side of the device, and Samsung Pay which is compatible with any credit card reader.
On the back of the Z Fold 2, Samsung packs a trio of cameras. There’s a main 12MP sensor with an f/1.8 aperture, “Super Speed” dual pixel autofocus, and OIS. Next, there’s a 12MP ultra-wide lens with an f/2.2 aperture. Finally, the company throws in a 12MP f/2.4 telephoto lens with PDAF. There are also a pair of 10MP selfie cameras, with one mounted to the front of the device and the other mounted to the inner screen. The phone’s camera app has a ton of nice-to-have features like a photo gallery/viewfinder, Auto framing, the ability to take selfies with the rear cameras, and more all thanks to the device’s form factor.
Speaking of which, there are also plenty of features that take advantage of the Z Fold 2’s large screen including Multi-Active Window, Multi-Window Tray, drag and drop, the Edge Panel, multi-layout support for the home screen, and optimization for apps like Microsoft 365 and YouTube. Unfortunately, this doesn’t include an optimized Kindle app which Microsoft was able to get for the Surface Duo, but I guess it’ll come in due time.
Overall, if you were tempted to buy a Galaxy Fold but didn’t because of its first-gen growing pains, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 is what you’ve been waiting for. Almost everything wrong with the original Fold has been resolved with the Z Fold 2. It’ll be interesting to see how well it sells when it launches on September 18th.
Samsung says the new foldable will be available from AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and the company’s online store. It’ll ship in both Mystic Bronze and Mystic Black.
