The brand new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 showed us a load of new features this week after its original reveal after the Note 20 event a while back and we can't wait to get our hands on one once it's released on September 18.
This year has been a lot of things, but Samsung is absolutely smashing 2020. The S20 range of phones improved on the formula yet again, with the S20 Ultra impressing the most with a frankly insane 100X zoom. Then a summer frenzy saw the tech giant release the new Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, then we were all scrambling for the Galaxy Buds Live earbuds with their inspired bean-esque design, and the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra impressed on every front from gaming, stylus use, business, cameras, and your everyday needs. It's been relentless. But there's no sign of it stopping, Samsung is now set to release 2020's most desirable foldable phone. Although, given the price, we think it's going to be one to cross your fingers and toes for to harbor any hopes a discount in the Black Friday deals come November.
Okay, so you've probably gathered we're quite excited about the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2. As much as we were intrigued by the original Galaxy Fold phone-tablet combo, it was clear that improvements could be made, although we didn't expect them so soon in all honesty. As for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, we loved the compact design and being able to flip it open like the old-school Razr that never left our hearts, but that massive price for what opened out to be a regular-sized phone had us pining for a true follow-up to the Fold to give us a phone/tablet combo. Samsung does have some competition this month though, with Microsoft set to release its dual-screen, and very business-focused device, Surface Duo which is running on Android - instead of yet another yucky Windows-mobile OS.
We'll have extensive coverage for you soon, but for now, here are five things you need to know about the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2.
1: How much will the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 cost?
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 will launch at $1999 in the USA and £1799 in the UK. That's an extra $20 than the original model and rather annoyingly you don't get a free case or wireless earbuds this time. That being said, it's certainly looking like the Z fold 2 is a big step up from last year's model.
Contract options are likely to be pretty darn steep on monthly bills, so we expect most Fold 2 models to be sold straight-up SIM-free unlocked in the UK or unlocked/ tied to a network of your choice in the US for you to use your current SIM deal with. Samsung does, however, seem to be offering installment payment options in the US direct from its own store along with up to $500 off with some trade-ins. There are also discounted bundles available which include the Galaxy Watch 3 and Buds Live if you can stretch that budget further. Holding out for a discount on the phone itself? Then feel free to bookmark our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 prices guide for the latest deals.
If you really want to give your bank balance a beating, there's a limited edition Thom Browne version with a unique design on the phone itself, a styled case, and matching limited edition versions of the Galaxy Buds Live and Galaxy Watch 3 smartwatch... for a rather staggering $3299/£2999. We'll stick to Mystic Bronze, thanks.
2: The display is bigger and better
There are two fantastic improvements to the Galaxy Z Fold 2's display. First, that camera notch in the corner is gone. It always surprised us it was there in the first place, to be honest, given even Samsung's cheaper phones, like the lovely Galaxy A50, ditched it ages ago. See Apple, it's not actually that difficult.
The internal tablet-mode display is actually even bigger now at 7.6-inches thanks to the bezels being even thinner and it looks so much better by losing that prototype-feel of the original. The front display, which we imagine you'll use a lot for basic messaging and checking notifications, now covers most of the front surface of the phone at 6.2-inches, up from the 4.5-inches of the original.
When taking pictures of friends, the front display will actually show them what's in the frame and they'll be able to see how they look in advance, which might save you from all those tedious retakes when they weren't ready, didn't like how their smile looked and all the rest of it. Well, we can hope at least!
As for refresh rates, one of our most notable features in 2020 when looking at the best gaming phones, we're pleased to see the tablet display running at 120Hz. The front display cuts corners a little with just the standard 60Hz, but seeing as we imagine most users will want to stream/browse/game with the bigger screen, we don't see this as an issue.
If you were wondering, yes, there is still a crease in the screen, but it's not as noticeable thanks to the now even thinner flexible glass design. Fire up a game of Call of Duty Mobile or take advantage of the split-screen views to use multiple apps at once, and you'll forget all about it.
3: It has amazing multitasking potential
Using multiwindow or split-views on phones, tablets, and on PC has been around for a while now, yet it's consistently one of the most underrated and underused features. Admittedly, on mobile devices, it can be a little fiddly to arrange or set up sometimes, but it's becoming increasingly more useful on larger displays and the Z Fold 2's Multi-Active Window feature allows you to have two or three apps displaying at once if you like, which will let you multitask like a boss.
Watch a movie on the top half of the screen while leaving email open on the bottom along with a messenger app if you're killing time while waiting for a response on something. Browse the web while leaving your Spotify controls open. Or how about writing in a doc, with a PowerPoint open in another window and a browser in another all at once? 12GB of RAM means the Z Fold 2's performance won't suffer either when you have it spinning all these plates.
Better yet - and we want this function on other phones/tablets ASAP - if you have regular apps that you use simultaneously, you can set them up as a group to open them all at once in position without having to drag them around.
4: Samsung store exclusively stocks colored hinges
There's not a huge choice of color here. You'll be able to pick up the Galaxy Z Fold 2 in Mystic Bronze or Mystic Black at most retailers. It's worth noting though, given our hands-on experience with a Note 20 Ultra in Mystic Bronze, there's certainly a hint of rose gold to Samsung's new favorite color in real life as the color is a little bit paler than some of the press shots. This is something to bear in mind before picking one up if rose gold is a turn off for you. We think it's just right though and much more appealing than the usual black, white, or gray phones.
If you pre-order your Galaxy Z Fold 2 direct from Samsung though (and you might as well given prices are the same everywhere right now) you do get to choose the color of the hinge/spine of the phone with options in Mystic Bronze, Metallic Silver, Metallic Gold, Metallic Red, and Metallic Blue to choose from.
5: Everyone gets the Snapdragon processor
For years there's been a difference between the processor chipset included in the Galaxy phones between the EU and USA and it's still been the case as recently as the Note 20 series, with the US getting the generally faster Snapgradon while the EU has been getting the Exynos chipset.
Not this time. Wherever you buy the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2, you'll be getting the superior Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus processor. So there's no need to import from overseas if you felt like you were missing out. We're really hoping Snapdragon is going to be the new global chipset standard from now on from the South Korean firm.
There's certainly more to look forward to with the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 and the foldables market in general which seems to really be getting its act together after a few false starts over the last year or two. Stay tuned to GamesRadar and we'll bring you more very soon. Need an amazing phone now but don't want to spend that much? Then we'd recommend taking a look at the latest Samsung Galaxy Note 20 prices and Note 20 Ultra deals. If you're looking for a super cheap phone though and don't mind a smaller screen by today's standard's we think you should check out the latest iPhone SE prices and deals.
