SAMSUNG GALAXY Z FOLD 2 REVIEW: THE BEST FOLDABLE SMARTPHONE
Will 2021 be the year of folding smartphones? Probably not, the sector is still young and too exclusive, given the prices that circulate, but if there is a certainty this is represented by Samsung. The Korean house was among the first to offer folding devices ready for the general public, starting with the excellent but improved first generation Galaxy Fold up to the Galaxy Z Flip. Thanks to the presence of multiple models, and the good name of the company in this field, Samsung has managed to gain a huge market share in the foldable segment, which exceeds 70%, in fact we are facing almost a monopoly. bacobolts.yictic
In the last months of 2020 a new model has also arrived, the
Galaxy Z Fold 2 which we will talk about in this test, which has managed to
improve its predecessor in several respects. Samsung was good at listening to
the criticisms that came with the first variant, so much so that today the Fold
2 appears to be a much more mature smartphone and more ready to take advantage
of the AMOLED folding display that distinguishes it.
Similar design but with many improvements
The concept behind the Fold has not changed from the first
model. Basically, Samsung has created a smartphone that can be used closed for
the most basic operations, thanks to the external screen, and open when
carrying out longer and more complex tasks. In this respect there are no
differences compared to the past, it is in the actual usability of the two
displays that a lot has changed. With the first Fold, in fact, the dimensions
of the external screen were too small to allow comfortable use: the result is
that the internal display was almost always used. This is no longer the case,
with the change to 6.23 inches from the 4.6 inches seen in the pastSamsung has
greatly improved the usability of this panel, which is still too narrow to
write long messages in comfort, but is still more usable in everyday use.
The build quality has remained the same, excellent, seen
with the first Fold, as soon as you take this new variant in your hand you
immediately perceive a clear sensation of quality, especially in the hinge,
this revised and improved too.
Its structure appears more solid and rigid and allows you to
position the smartphone in ways that were previously impossible, for example
with one half resting on a surface, where the keyboard is displayed, and the
top one open to function as a display. The external screen now occupies almost
the entire front of the smartphone and is covered with Gorilla Glass Victus,
the most resistant available today, while at the rear, in the camera area, we
find Gorilla Glass 6.
The internal screen now uses a more glass-like material as a
cover, but the pre-applied protective film does not allow you to feel it on
your fingers. This surface is also a real receptacle for fingerprints and dust:
it is difficult to do better in this case, at least until materials more
similar to the feeling given by glass are used. The positive aspects are a
greater rigidity of the folding panel and above all the disappearance of the
notch for the internal camera , which took away space for vision. Now in its
place Samsung has integrated the cam directly into the screen, a better
solution that also satisfies the eyes better.
The sales pack is quite complete and includes AKG USB T ype C
headphones, of excellent quality, and the 25 W charger:shame about the absence
of the cover , to be purchased separately, and given the price of almost 2000
euros at present we would have expected it available directly in the package.
Charging takes place via USB Type C while fingerprints are
available on the front release systems, with the sensor located under the power
button on the right edge, and face recognition. The fingerprint reader is quick
to detect but not always very precise, the unlocking with the face, on the
other hand, does not always manage to recognize the face in low light
conditions: certainly in this respect it could have been done better.
Ergonomics, net of the weight of just over 280 grams, is
excellent when closed, where the narrow and elongated shape allows a good grip.
Once opened, the greater rigidity of the hinges makes the use identical to that
of a traditional tablet, confirming that the innovations made to this element are
important and functional.
Great displays and audio
Samsung has equipped the Fold Z 2 with two high-quality
screens. The external one is 6.23 inches with a resolution of 816x2260 pixels;
has an aspect ratio of 25: 9 and uses Super AMOLED technology. We have used
this panel much more than the first Fold, the increase in size has made it more
functional: you can write short messages like surfing the internet without
problems, even the telephone management starts mainly through this panel.
But the news is not lacking even in the main display, which
has grown in size, from 7.3 to 7.6 inches , but also in resolution, going from
2152 x 1536 pixels to 2208 x 1768 pixels. Another important novelty is the
support for dynamic 120 Hz , the same technology seen in the Note 20 Ultra
review . Thanks to it, the smartphone moves easily from a refresh rate of 11 Hz
up to 120 Hz, depending on the task performed: if you need more fluidity, the
OS goes to 120 Hz, when instead more static tasks are performed it can go down
to 11 Hz, thus saving precious battery and at the same time offering greater
fluidity to images.
This display is perfect for web browsing and viewing videos
in a larger format, plus the option to use HDR10 +. The crease in the center of
the panel is still visiblebut, as we also highlighted in the first model, after
a few hours of use it practically disappears from sight and even to the touch
you no longer notice it. Certainly the benefit of being able to use a screen of
this size is much greater than the possible annoyance generated by the crease,
which is not a problem during daily use.
The absence of the notch also greatly improves the vision of
the contents, which can now be exploited without interruptions whatsoever, if
not for the small hole dedicated to the camera.
On the audio front Samsung did a great job , the sound is
very powerful and clean and even during conversations we had no problems
whatsoever. Enjoying a movie with the main screen together with the small but
good speakers of the Z Fold 2 is really a pleasure.
Top performance
Waiting for the Snapdragon 888, which will equip the top of
the Android range of 2021, we can only congratulate Samsung for the excellent
performance offered by this Z Fold 2 . The credit goes in larger part to the
Snapdragon 865+ processor used inside, the most powerful available today, and
to its Adreno 650 GPU, along with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of non-expandable
internal memory. The Snapdragon 865+, combined with Samsung's consistently
great work on its One UI software, has made the Fold Z 2 one of the most
performing and responsive phones you can buy, and moreover with a truly
remarkable autonomy, thanks also to the 4500 mAh battery. At the end of the
days you always arrive, with a more contained use the two days of use are
widely within reach.
In this period of smart working on the other hand, the use
of Wi-Fi rather than mobile networks gives hours of extra autonomy, for a phone
that does not fear even the most busy days. On the connectivity front, the
presence of the Snapdragon 865+ guarantees all the latest standards, from 5G to
Wi-Fi 6, passing through NFC and wireless charging.
Camera and software
On paper, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 does not have a photographic
sector that can compete with the S20 Ultra and Note 20 Ultra, but in reality
this is not the case. The large 108 Megapixel sensor installed in the
aforementioned models offers greater detail and a more advanced zoom, but the
more traditional configuration of the Fold 2 guarantees a simplicity and a
faster shutter speed , thanks to a faster and more precise focusing.
In all there are five cameras, three in the back that make
up the main module, one front for the external screen and another for the
internal one.
The main module consists of three 12 Megapixel sensors, the
first with wide-angle optics and f / 1.8 aperture, with OIS stabilization and
PDAF autofocus. Then we have an ultra wide-angle sensor with a field of view of
123 ° and an aperture of f / 2.2, while the latter has an aperture of f / 2.4
and is dedicated to 2x zoom without loss of quality.
The yield of the shots is very good (even at night), the
focusing speed is higher than that obtainable with the 108 Megapixel sensor.
The result are images perfectly in line with the product's caliber, even in the
case of the Ultra Wide sensor, only the zoom is penalized compared to the other
top of the range from Samsung. The two 10 megapixel front cameras do their job
very well, the Fold 2 does not stand out for photographic quality but remains
excellent.
As for the software, the work done by Samsung is
exceptional, starting with the three years of guaranteed updates . At the time
of written the device has just been updated to One UI 3, with Android 11 and
security patch of January 2021. The offer of options is huge, advanced
multitasking allows you to open up to three apps at the same time, or to take
advantage of floating windows to have more software open at the same time.
There is also the Flex mode, which is activated when the
smartphone is positioned open only halfway, as if the lower part were a
keyboard and the upper one an independent screen.
In this case, depending on the applications, you can take
advantage of different functions, from an extended keyboard to a better
separation of controls, as in the case of cameras. Samsung has created a
flexible and feature-rich operating system, if we add to this the possibility
of using DeX (a sort of alternative interface designed to be used in
conjunction with an external screen) without wires, we get a smartphone capable
of turning into a tablet. and at the same time skilled of becoming a hub for
big screen work.
