Galaxy Z Fold 2 review - an extravagant success

# The Galaxy Z Fold 2: A Deep Dive into its Hardware and Software Experience

## Introduction

The Galaxy Z Fold 2, Samsung’s third attempt at a foldable phone, has arrived with a lot to offer. Priced at $2000, it’s not cheap, but after several iterations, Samsung seems to have gotten closer to perfection. In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at the hardware and software experience of the Galaxy Z Fold 2, based on the full transcription of the video.

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## Hardware Improvements: From Fold 1 to Fold 2

The Galaxy Z Fold 2 builds on the lessons learned from its predecessors. One of the most significant improvements is the use of glass for the main display, which feels more premium and durable than the original foldable models. The hinge has also been significantly refined, now featuring eight cams that make it stiffer and more precise. Elastic brushes inside the hinge help keep dirt out, and the magnets have been adjusted to create a satisfying flip sound when closed.

The overall design is slightly more professional, with tighter tolerances and a less “loosey-goosey” feel compared to earlier models. The edges are a bit square, and the bezels on the inside are smaller, giving it a sleeker appearance. While Samsung doesn’t claim this is more durable than the original Galaxy Fold, it certainly feels stronger. The company also offers a one-time screen replacement for $149 in case of breakage.

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## When Closed: A Heavy, Super Thick Object

When closed, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 is an unusually thick and heavy device—almost like a “super oblong stick” or a “remote thing.” It’s hard to ignore its presence, even in the roomiest pockets. However, when opened, it transforms into a impressive 7.6-inch screen, which feels like a significant upgrade over previous foldables.

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## The Screen: A Mixed Bag of Perfections and Flaws

The main display is where the Galaxy Z Fold 2 shines. It features a dynamic refresh rate that adjusts from as low as 11 Hz to as high as 120 Hz, which significantly reduces the “jelly scroll” effect that plagued earlier foldable models. This feature alone makes scrolling feel smoother and more responsive, especially when browsing through content.

However, there are some drawbacks. The screen is covered with a plastic protector, even though Samsung offers an option to remove it. This protector does its job well but can show minor scratches over time. Additionally, the center crease on the screen is visible when viewed at certain angles and feels slightly annoying at first. Despite this, you eventually forget about the crease once you start using the device.

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## The Outer Cover Display: A Step in the Right Direction

The outer cover display has improved compared to previous models. It’s now a full height display, making it more useful for quick tasks like checking notifications or sending short messages. However, it’s still quite narrow, which makes typing on it difficult. For most users, they’ll likely open the device to access the larger screen anyway.

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## The Big Screen Experience: Mixed Results

The main selling point of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 is its 7.6-inch foldable display. While Samsung has made strides in optimizing the layout for apps, not all apps are designed with tablets in mind. For example, popular apps like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram still feel stretched and awkward on the larger screen.

That said, there are some redeeming qualities. The device supports a “tablet layout” for certain apps, allowing you to view content in a more natural way. Multi-tasking is also better than before, thanks to Samsung’s windowing system, which lets you tile apps side by side or use a split-screen view. You can even create custom layouts and save them for quick access.

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## Flex Mode: Expanding the Use Case

One of the standout features of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 is its ability to operate in “Flex mode.” This feature allows the device to be used at various angles, thanks to the strong hinge that holds the screen up. For example, you can start a video on the outer display, then flip it over to watch it on the larger screen. While this mode works well with Samsung’s camera app and a few others, app support is still limited.

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## Performance, Battery Life, and Cameras

Under the hood, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 is a powerful device. It boasts 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, making it capable of handling multiple apps at once. The battery life is decent, with around five hours of screen time on a single charge.

As for the cameras, this isn’t the device you’d want if photography or videography is your primary concern. The main camera system includes three 12-megapixel sensors (wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto), but they feel slightly overprocessed, with Samsung’s usual tendency to brighten images excessively. The selfie camera is also underwhelming.

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## Should You Buy the Galaxy Z Fold 2?

At $2000, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 is a luxury purchase. It’s not for everyone, especially if you’re not someone who appreciates the novelty of having a foldable screen. However, if you’re willing to pay a premium for a device that feels like it’s ahead of its time, this could be worth considering.

Samsung has done an excellent job improving the hardware, and while there are still issues with app optimization and multitasking on Android, they’ve made significant progress. If future iterations can address these software limitations and perhaps reduce the price point, we might see the Galaxy Z Fold line become even more popular—potentially rivaling the Note series in popularity.

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## Conclusion

The Galaxy Z Fold 2 represents Samsung’s best attempt at a foldable phone so far. It’s not perfect, but it’s clear that the company is committed to refining this technology. For now, it’s a niche product for tech enthusiasts and those willing to pay top dollar for cutting-edge hardware. But if you’re one of the few who can appreciate what Samsung has achieved here, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 might just be worth the investment.

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If you’d like to see how the Galaxy Z Fold 2 stacks up against other devices like the Microsoft Surface Duo or the LG Velvet, check out our comparison video for more insights!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(upbeat music)- This is the Galaxy Z Fold 2.Technically it's the thirdbecause the first wasnever really releasedand so the second foldbecame the first fold,which makes this attempt number threefor Samsung's idea ofmaking a phone that unfoldsinto a little tablet.It is 2000 bucks,which is way too much to pay forwhat you get out of this thing.But having said that, I gotta tell ya,I feel like the third time's the charm,because I'm a little bit charmed.(upbeat music)There are two ways totalk about the hardwareon the Z Fold 2.The first is to just talkabout all of the thingsthat Samsung has fixedfrom the original fold.And that list is actuallyquite a lot longerthan I would have guessed.The main display here ismade out of glass now,the hinge is way betterand the cover displayon the outside is actuallybig enough to use.They're all huge improvementsover the original.So for example, thishinge now has eight camsthat make it a little bit stiffer.There's elastic brushes on theinside to keep the dirt out.Now, when you close it,there is still a little gap on the inside,but Samsung has added some little bitsto make that gap feel smaller.They've moved the magnetsaround a little bit,so there's still a satisfying(flip sound)when you close it.The edges overall arejust a little bit square,the bezels on the insideare a little bit smaller.The whole thing just feels alittle bit more professional.The tolerances are tighter andeverything has been refinedto the point where it reallyfeels like a well engineeredproduct instead of being alittle bit loosey goosey,like the original one.Those cams hold the screen inplace at different angles too,so you get some extra functionality there.Now I can't promise thatthis is gonna be more durablethan your original Galaxy Fold,but it sure does feel stronger.And Samsung will provide aonetime screen replacementfor 149 bucks if you happen to break it.Now, the other way totalk about the hardwarein the Z Fold 2 is to just point out thatit's still a really unfamiliar objectto carry around for most of us.When it's closed,it is this super thick andsuper heavy oblong stick,remote thing.I don't care what your pockets look like,or what pocket you put this in,you're gonna feel it. it'sjust a weird big object.But when it's open,you get this very good,very big 7.6 inch screen.And there's a lot totalk about this screen,but I just want to start withthe downsides kind of quickly,because I don't know,I think they're just therealities of what a folding glassscreen has to be like in 2020,because physics instead ofbeing straight up errorson Samsung's part.So even though this isSamsung's ultra thin glass here,instead of plastic,it is still covered with aplastic screen protector,and technically I'm toldthat you can go to Samsungand have them take thisscreen protector off,but honestly having iton here is for the best,but that does mean that itwe'll pick up little dingsif you're nailed hits itand it does feel like a plastic screen.Now the screen is alsosurrounded by a fairly thinplastic rail that youcan't feel on the edges.There's even two little nubbins herethat keep this greensfrom clacking togetherwhen he closed it too hard.Finally, yes,there is a crease inthe middle of the screenand you can see it and feel itwhen you rub your finger over it.If you're viewing the screen at an angleand the light hits it just right,it's visible enough tobe a little bit annoying,but straight on the creasepretty much disappears,like notches or hole punchesdo on smartphone screens.You get used to itand eventually you almost forgetthat that crease is there.Now having said all that,I don't want you to get the wrong idea.I think the screen is very, very good.It's only about 372 pixels per inch or so,but that's more than enough tomake those pixels disappear.More important to me isthis corner right here.There is no longer a big huge cutoutfor a bunch of selfie cameras,there is just this one little hole punchfor a single selfie camera,which means you get thefull expanse of the screento work with and to watch videos on.But the most importantthing that Samsung has doneto this screen is put ina dynamic refresh rate.It goes all the way down to11 Hertz and save battery lifeor all the way up to a highrefresh rate of 120 Hertz.And what higher refresh ratescreens do is they make it feelmore like you're physicallymoving the pixelsand that's here on the fold toobut the most important partof it is that it significantlyimproves a big problem thatI had with the first foldand that's jelly scroll.Pretty much all smartphonescreens have this littledifference in howquickly the pixels updatefrom one side to theother when you scroll.But usually you don't noticeit because on most smartphonesit happens vertically fromthe top to the bottom,but the fold needs to haveits little bits to drivethe screen on the sideinstead of on the bottom,so you see it more oftenwhen you're scrolling.However, switching to120 Hertz refresh ratecuts that difference way, way down.So it's really hard tosee that jelly scrollunless you're really looking for it.Samsung has eliminated the problemby switching to a higherrefresh rate screen.Now this outer cover display,it's not as technically impressive,it doesn't have a high refresh rate,but that's not really a big deal.I am wildly happy that Samsungmade it the full heightof the fold, which makesthe screen actually useful.It's still really narrow though,so it's hard to type onbut if you just use it forthose quick phone thingsthat you do when you're outand about and on a waiting inline or something, it's fine,but for anything else,I ended up opening it upto get the big screen.And that's the point, right?To have this big screen,to do big screen stufflike gaming or watching moviesor reading or multitasking.So let's just talk aboutthe big screen experienceon the Z Fold 2,because the way that I wouldcharacterize it is mixed.Alright good stuff for us this time,Samsung has gotten the messagethat it's little tabletsshould have a tablet layout.So you can go into the settingsand select that layout for apps,which means it's slightly fewer apps havethat big blown up phone app look on here,but really only some of them do itwhen you hold it normallyvertically like this.For the rest of them, ifyou turn it 90 degrees,you do get that nice tabletlayout with multiple panesor tabs, or two pages in the Kindle app,or the whole tablet deal.Plus having a biggerscreen for games and videois very, very good.If you are not watching it full screen,I don't know if picture and picturedoesn't cover your other work,reading PDFs and docs and other thingsthat are annoying to do on yourphone are really nice here.Plus just a few apps likeMicrosoft for example,do support drag and dropbetween apps and multiple pains,but you really shouldn'tdepend on it being there.Android has always the go.There's also this featurethat Samsung calls flex mode,see because the hinge is strong enoughto hold itself up at multiple angles,Samsung has made some software tricksto take advantage of it.So for example you can starta video on the outer screen,flip it up to view it like that,then you can flip it over to view iton the top of the middle screen,and then you can open itall the way up to watch iton the big screen.A few other apps do things in flex modelike Samsung's camera app,but really not enough apps support itfor it to matter that much.But do you know how youalways hear the Android appsare bad on tablets? Yeah.Here's Facebook all stretchy and weird.And here's Twitter alsoall stretchy and weird,and here's Instagram, itdoesn't even have a tablet mode.Neither does Lightroom.The whole situation is a little bit betterthan it used to be withAndroid apps on tablets,but that's not saying much.Now Samsung has anoption where you can likechange the stretchiness ofphone apps if you want tobut really the fix is to useSamsung's windowing systemto tile apps and split-screen,or even like a three up layout.You pull this little dockhere out to the side,it's like a drawer and thenyou drag out the app iconsto where you want them on the screen.It works really well.You can even drag apps outinto the middle of the screento make them into little popup windows,that can then reduce down into a bubble.You can swap apps around and the painswith these little bars,you can even save combos of appsthat you use often togetherso you can just open upboth apps with a single tap.There's a small problemwith the system though,notice that I said you useSamsung's windowing system,not Google's.Android is dumb aboutmulti window systems.All of this multi-taskingstuff is somethingthat Samsung had to builditself on top of Android,and it does work pretty well,but you can also hell thatit's like a layer abovewhat the system understands.Plus Samsung system iscompletely different fromhow LG handles multi windowsor how Microsoft does itwith the Surface Duo.But different companies doing multitaskingin different ways, reallyshouldn't bother you too much.But what should botheryou is that the core stuffthat the operatingsystem should understandjust doesn't work likesaving your window statewhen you switch between screens,or putting app pairs thatyou've got tiled togetherinto the multitasking screen,when you switched tomultitasking it just goes backto being a single appbecause Android doesn't knowthat you can have two appsopen at the same time.Now, if you're adept withAndroid and you understandall of these differentoperating system layers,it's actually not too bad,but you shouldn't have tobe that good in Androidto understand how all this works.And even in the best casesif you're a nerd like meand you get all those layers of UI,you still feel like you'reconstantly rearrangingor relaunching things to getthe layout that you want.But even after all of that, Istill loved this big screen.I love typing on it, I love reading on it,I love watching movies on it (indistinct),I love looking at Google maps on it.Having a big screen is greatand it almost makes theawkwardness of this shapetotally worth it.(upbeat music)Okay, let's do the classic phone stuff.Specs.It is fast,it has enough RAM to handlemultiple apps at once,it's got 12 gigs.There's 256 gigs of storage,but that's not expandable,but that's fine.Battery life is good, but not amazing.You'll get a day for sure.I'm getting a little overfive hours of screen time,but it's a big screen.And I have been pushing it pretty hard.There is 5G and maybein a couple of years,you'll be glad that it's therebut right now it's hmm 5G I don't know.There are two speakers,and Samsung says that they canreplace a Bluetooth speakerand no, but yeah,they get really loud andthey do sound pretty good,but I do wish there was a little base.Cameras,don't buy this for the cameras.There is a 10 megapixelselfie camera on the insideand also on the front,and they feel a little bit after-thoughty.They're really not that great.The main camera systemconsists of three 12 megapixelssensors, wide ultra wide and telephoto,they're tuned in the way thatSamsung photos get tuned,which means that they'rea little bit overzealouswith brightening things up,but you're not gonnaget any fancy zoom stuffor 8K video or even if I'm really honestresults that are quite asgood as say a Galaxy S20.I mean, I'm getting slightly better photosout of Galaxy S20,here's a couple of comparisons.Low-light performanceon the Z Fold 2 is good.And I think Samsung hasactually figured out low-lightwhich I'm glad.Samsung says that inflex mode here it can panand zoom on you whenyou're recording video,but the actually neattrick on this phone though,is you can hit this button right hereand then use the good 12 megapixel camerasto take a selfie of yourself.You know those annoyingpeople who take tabletphotos at concerts?Well now you could be the annoying personwho takes tablets selfies, do it,don't be ashamed, they're great.(upbeat music)So that is the Galaxy Z Fold 2.Should you buy it?No, it's $2,000!Only buy it if you wantlike a luxury phoneor you want an extravagant techie thing.But do keep an eye on it becausenow that it's on its second,well third iteration,Samsung has done what Samsung does,aggressively improve thehardware to the point whereit's genuinely greatand done a passable jobwith the software.If the cost can come down andI'm looking at you, Samsung,and if tablet apps and multitaskingand that whole interfacecan get better and look at you Google,then the fourth or the fifthiteration of this phoneis gonna be super popular,like replace the note popular.And I think Samsung knows it too.They've hinted at a futureversion of this phonethat's gonna have stylus support.I wouldn't turn that down,but I would rather see a price drop.(hands clap)Scared the cat.Hey everybody thanks so much for watching.If you're wondering how the Z Fold 2compares to the Microsoft Duoor even the weird LG Velvet thing,I've made a processor video of that.You can go check it out.\n"