Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Fold2 had been originally announced several weeks ago alongside the Note20 series, however the company had been delaying the official launch of the phone until September. Well, September has now come and Samsung is now ready to fully unveil the specifications of the new flagship foldable phone and finally starting to take pre-orders.
The new iteration is an important generational evolution over last year’s problem-ridden Galaxy Fold, promising to notably improve some of the key weaknesses of the first design.
| Samsung Galaxy Folds | ||
| Galaxy Z Fold2 | Galaxy Fold | |
| SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ 1x Cortex A77 @ 3.1GHz 3x Cortex A77 @ 2.42GHz 4x Cortex A55 @ 1.80GHz Adreno 650 @ 670MHz |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 1x Kryo 485 (CA76) @ 2.84GHz 3x Kryo 485 (CA76) @ 2.42GHz 4x Kryo 485 (CA55) @ 1.80GHz Adreno 640 |
| Display | Main Display: 7.6" 2208 x 1768 Foldable Dynamic AMOLED (11.25:9) Cover display: 6.2" 2260 x 816 AMOLED (25:9) |
Main Display: 7.3" 2048 x 1536 Foldable Dynamic AMOLED (4.2:3) Cover display: 4.6" 1680 x 720 Super AMOLED (21:9) |
| Dimensions | Folded: 159.2 x 68.0 x 13.8 - 16.8mm Unfolded: 159.2 x 128.2 x 6.0 - 6.9mm 282g |
Folded: 160.9 x 62.8 x 15.7 - 17.1mm Unfolded: 160.9 x 117.9 x 6.9mm 276g |
| RAM | 12GB LPDDR5 | 12GB LPDDR4X |
| NAND | 256GB UFS3.1 | 512GB UFS3.0 |
| Battery | 4500mAh (17.41Wh) typ. | 4380mAh (16.86Wh) |
| Front Camera | Cover & Front Cameras (2x identical) 10MP 1.22μm F2.2 FOV: 80˚ |
Cover Camera: 10MP f/2.2 "Selfie camera" Front camera: 10MP f/1.9 4K video recording Front camera: 8MP, f/2.2 Dual Pixel PDAF |
| Primary Rear Camera | 83° Wide Angle 12MP 1.8µm Dual Pixel PDAF f/1.8 w/ OIS |
77° Wide Angle 12MP 1.4µm Dual Pixel PDAF Adjustable aperture f/1.5 or f/2.4 |
| Secondary Rear Camera | 123° Ultra-Wide Angle 12MP 1.12µm f/2.2 |
123° Ultra-Wide Angle 16MP 1.0µm f/2.2 |
| Tertiary Rear Camera | 45° / Telephoto lens 2x zoom 12MP 1.0µm f/2.4 w/OIS |
|
| SIM Size | ??? | NanoSIM |
| Wireless | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax 2x2 MU-MIMO, BT 5.0 LE, NFC, GPS/Glonass/Galileo/BDS |
802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2x2 MU-MIMO, BT 5.0 LE, NFC, GPS/Glonass/Galileo/BDS |
| Connectivity | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| Features | They both fold | |
| Launch OS | Android 10 | Android 9.0 |
| Launch Price | $1999 | $1980 / 2000€ |
From a specification standpoint, the new Z Fold2 updates its hardware to the newest Snapdragon 865+ from Qualcomm which we’ve seen in a lot of the recent smartphone releases this summer.
Samsung opted to keep the RAM steady at 12GB, and oddly enough we’ve seen a reduction in the storage department as the Z Fold2 comes with 256GB of UFS3.1 storage, half of the 512GB of the first Galaxy Fold.
Big upgrades include a new redesigned screen with a more robust and better functioning hinge mechanism. The new display grows to 6.7” diagonal when unfolded, reaching a new 2208 x 1768 resolution.
Samsung here did away with the big corner notch with the multiple front cameras, instead opting for a hole-punch camera in the right half of the internal screen. The camera module here is a 10MP unit with 1.22µm pixels and f/2.2 optics.
A bigger display upgrade has been made on the cover display side of the phone, as the new screen grows from 4.6” to 6.2”, with much less bezel surrounding it. It’s a big change in the looks of the phone and makes the cover display significantly more usable. Samsung here also opted for a hole-punch camera at the top centre of the panel, with an identical 10MP module as the internal front camera.
In terms of the primary rear-facing cameras, the main unit has seen an upgrade to an identical module as found in the Galaxy S20 with a 12MP f/1.76” sensor with 1.8µm pixels and an f/1.8 optics with OIS.
The ultra-wide is a bit different than the original Fold in that it reduces its resolution from 16Mp to 12MP, but retains the same sensor size – it’s not the same unit as on the S20 and Note20 series. We still see a super-wide 123° field-of-view with an f/2.2 aperture.
The telephoto unit has 2x optical magnification and seems to be a continuation of the unit we’ve seen on the original Fold, with a 12MP 1.0µm sensor and f/2.4 optics with OIS.
Samsung promises various new software improvements this generation, making for a more seamless experience between the different displays, as well as having extensive optimisations for simultaneous multi-tasking with multiple open apps at once.
The new Galaxy Z Fold2 is now open for pre-orders starting September 2nd at a launch price of $1999, with general availability starting September 25th.