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Samsung's New Z Flip 4, Z Fold 4 Are Partially Made From Recycled Fishing Nets
Samsung's New Z Flip 4, Z Fold 4 Are Partially Made From Recycled Fishing Nets
What's happening
Samsung's new Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 are the first folding phones from the company to be made partially with recycled fishing nets.
Why it matters
Samsung's efforts are part of a broader effort by several tech companies to build products more sustainably.
What's next
Samsung, Microsoft and Apple are likely to continue investments into sustainability, with various pledges to become either carbon-neutral or to increase use of recycled materials.
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 will include components made from repurposed fishing nets, marking a first for Samsung's foldables. It builds on Samsung's previous efforts, following its decision to incorporate such materials into its Galaxy S22 lineup earlier this year.
The announcement came during Samsung's Unpacked event on Wednesday, when it revealed the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 as well as the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, the Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. All of the new devices include some components made from repurposed materials. More than 90% of the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are made from recycled parts.
Samsung's efforts are part of a broader movement by consumer tech companies to offset the mounting pile of global electronic waste their devices inevitably contribute to by giving back to the environment. Only 20% of e-waste is dealt with appropriately, according to the World Economic Forum, while much of the rest ends up in landfills. Sourcing more materials from sustainable channels may not fix the world's electronic waste problem. But it does give tech companies the opportunity to contribute to solving other environmental issues in the process of building their own new gadgets.
More from Samsung Unpacked
Samsung's new foldables include components made from repurposed fishing nets.
Samsung
For Samsung, that issue is "ghost nets," or fishing nets that are no longer in use and have been abandoned in the ocean. The World Wildlife Fund describes them as a "major contributor to the ocean plastics crisis," saying that 268 tons of nets, ropes and other materials were found in the Baltic Sea in a single 2015 mission.
As for specifics, the side key bracket on the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4, as well as the Fold 4's display connector cap, are made from discarded fishing nets. But there are several other parts inside each phone that are made from other post-consumer materials. For the Z Flip 4, such components include the upper antenna bracket, upper and lower brackets of the speaker module, display connector cap, receiver deco and inner part of the side key. The upper case of the Z Fold 4's top speaker, the inner part of its side key as well as its long and short connector to connector brackets are made from post-consumer materials, according to Samsung.
One of the major challenges with creating components from recycled fishing nets is ensuring these parts are durable enough to work properly in a variety of conditions. Phone parts must be designed to survive various extreme weather conditions in all areas of the world where Samsung devices are used, says Pranveer Singh Rathore, materials R&D manager for Samsung. That's particularly true of foldable phones like the Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4.
"They are a unique design, and with that comes a fresh set of challenges," says Rathore, in reference to Samsung's foldable phones. "The internal parts are different. The sizes are different. The way they are supposed to perform is different."
Certain components in new Samsung products like the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 are made from recycled materials.
Samsung
Samsung is far from being the only company investing in more sustainable ways to build new products. Microsoft pledged to become carbon-neutral, zero-waste and water-positive by 2030, and it launched a computer mouse made with 20% recycled ocean plastic last year. Apple is making the latest iPhone SE with low-carbon aluminum and wants to eventually only use recycled and renewable materials in its products and packaging.
But the industry is likely far from creating a phone completely from recycled materials, says Rathore.
"I personally think that it should be possible in the future," he said. "But when, I don't know."
Read more: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch: What to Know About the Floating Islands of Trash
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Samsung Unpacked Live Blog: Galaxy Z Fold 4, Z Flip 4, Watch 5, Buds 2 Pro Reveals
Samsung Unpacked Live Blog: Galaxy Z Fold 4, Z Flip 4, Watch 5, Buds 2 Pro Reveals
That's a wrap!
By David Lumb
And that's Samsung Unpacked 2022! That's only a tease of what these devices have to offer -- for in-depth looks, head to our deep dives on everything Samsung revealed today:
No physical bezel on the Watch 5
By David Lumb
One thing that isn't here: a new Samsung Galaxy Classic. If you want a physical rotating bezel, you'll have to go with last year's model. And for the chip nerds -- no, the Watch 5 won't pack Qualcomm's upcoming W5 wearables chip, which promises huge battery life gains. Instead, it'll use the Exynos W920, which came out last year and is the same chip as used in the Watch 4.
Samsung Watch 5: Pricier than last year
By David Lumb
With advances come price bumps: The Galaxy Watch 5 starts at $279 for the 40mm noncellular version, which is $30 more expensive than the Watch 4. The Watch 5 LTE starts at $329, which is also up $30 from last year's watch. If you want the Watch 5 Pro, prepare to pony up $449 for noncellular or $499 for the LTE version.
From $449
By James Martin
Watch 5 Pro upgrades: Routes, battery life and big size
By David Lumb
The Watch 5 Pro has improved workout routing, guiding you back along the route you too. And you'll have enough battery life to keep going, with a 590-mAh battery that's twice the capacity of the smaller 40mm Watch 5. That said, if you've got small wrists, the Watch 5 Pro might not be for you -- it's a massive 45mm. But that size allows room for a huge 590-mAh battery.
Galaxy Watch 5 Pro
By James Martin
The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is a big, rugged watch for the outdoors
By David Lumb
The rumors were true! The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is real. It's a bigger, tougher version of the Watch 5 with more battery life and durability. It's an option for outdoorsy folks and rugged workout fans. How tough? It's got a titanium case and an even more durable sapphire crystal display than the Watch 5. It's twice as scratch-resistant as the screen on the Watch 4.
Wear OS will get better, we promise
By David Lumb
Samsung switched to Google's Wear OS for last year's Watch 4 and kept it with the Galaxy Watch 5. At Unpacked, Google is promising more apps and functionality, like improvements with Google Maps, which now syncs locations from your Google account and lets you navigate with voice commands. Great to have on the go.
Z foldables are the best of a niche
By David Lumb
Samsung has recently touted some big numbers for foldables, saying sales increased by around 300% last year. But it's all relative: Analyst firm IDC reported that 8 million foldables sold in 2021, a drop in the bucket considering the 1.3 billion phones sold overall last year. The firm projects that number to grow to 25 million foldables sold in 2025.
Z Fold 4 cameras improve software, not hardware
By David Lumb
There's a newly redesigned under-display camera, but otherwise, the cameras aren't changed from the Z Fold 3. But like the Flip 4, the new Fold 4 will take better night photos. Space Zoom is a bit easier to use, too, harnessing that second screen to keep track of the overall picture while you're zoomed in.
Z Fold 4 melds mobile and tablet software
By David Lumb
The big upgrade is in software, with a redesigned app dock at the bottom of the screen -- something inherited from the Android 12L software for tablets. It's small enough to stay tucked out of the way. It looks easier to tap and drag apps from the dock to one side of the screen, or swap them.
Z Fold 4 brings better durability
By David Lumb
The Z Fold 4 also saw minimal changes from last year's Z Fold 3, but it's slimmer, which will help it fit in more pockets. The redesigned hinge is more durable, Samsung says, and its inside screen is also 45% stronger than the Fold 3's. It's also lighter, which is always nice when you're essentially carrying two phones in one.
Z Fold 4
By James Martin
Galaxy Z Fold 4: a foldable "for the mainstream"
By David Lumb
Roh came onstage to say that foldables were here "for the mainstream," echoing recent Samsung statements. If they want that, well, there's one feature that folks really want -- a lower pricetag.
Fold 4
By James Martin
Samsung's foldables and Buds 2 Pro packaged in 100% recycled plastic
By David Lumb
In a bid to show sustainability, the packaging of the Flip, Fold and Buds 2 Pro is made entirely of recycled plastic. Samsung has extended its Galaxy for the Planet sustainability program, started last year, to recycle ocean netting plastic for use in packaging for these products. But no parts of the Fold 4 or Flip 4 are made using recycled plastic, unlike the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which uses it for a few parts including the S Pen stylus sheath. Samsung has pledged to incorporate more sustainable plastic in the devices themselves in the future, but not for this year's foldables, apparently.
Galaxy Watch 5 upgrades
By David Lumb
Another big upgrade is its 15% larger battery from the Galaxy Watch 4 -- up to 276 mAh in the smaller 40mm size and 397 mAh in the larger 44mm size. Recharging is fast, too, getting 45% battery in 30 minutes. Thanks to the more advanced BioActive sensor, Samsung promises sleep coaching is better. Your morning sleep report now tracks sleep stages, blood oxygen levels and how much time you spent snoring. All that data is collected into an overall sleep score. It's one number you definitely want to go up.
Samsung x BTS: Another K-pop collab
By David Lumb
Samsung's Fall 2022 Unpacked event included a BTS ad, with the K-pop group sporting the new Z Flip 4 foldable.
Samsung
K-pop sensation BTS have appeared in another Samsung ad! They're repping this year's Z Flip 4 -- and I wouldn't be surprised if we see some sort of proper BTS edition Z Flip 4 at some point.
Galaxy Watch 5
By James Martin
Galaxy Watch 5's new feature: Tracking your skin temperature
By David Lumb
The new feature for the Watch 5 is reading your skin temperature. It won't take exact number readings, but will look at significant changes in temperature that could signify possible illness or other conditions.
Watch 5: Slimmer design for better sensor readings
By David Lumb
At first glance, not much has changed since the Watch 4. But the Sapphire Crystal glass in the Watch 5 is 60% more resistant to scratches than the glass used in its predecessor. Samsung has also reshaped the curve on the back glass that covers the sensors so that more of it touches your wrist, which should improve readings.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is revealed
By David Lumb
Given how much we liked last year's Galaxy Watch 4, we were excited for the new Galaxy Watch 5. The Galaxy Watch 4 was the first to switch from Samsung's Tizen OS to Google's Wear OS 3, which integrates features from Tizen. But since any watch running Wear OS 3 so far isn't compatible with iOS, once again, iPhone owners are left in the cold as they won't be able to sync with the Watch 5. It's not clear how big the market is for iPhone users who want a Samsung watch.
Galaxy Watch 5
By James Martin
Buds 2 Pro are a bit pricier
By David Lumb
Samsung has also raised the price of the Buds 2 Pro by $30, and they'll retail for $229 when they go on sale on Aug. 26. You can get them in white, graphite and Bora purple.
Buds 2 Pro improves sound quality
By David Lumb
The Buds 2 Pro have 24-bit hi-fi audio for richer sound, Samsung says. The noise canceling has gotten better, with an expanded range of 3 extra decibels of noise reduction compared to the Buds Pro. The new earbuds will block more higher-frequency sounds, too. Later this year, LE audio will be added to capture 360-degree audio from the environment around you -- great for ASMR fans, I suppose?
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro: New elite earbuds
By David Lumb
The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro brings a lot of small ergonomic changes. They're 15% smaller than the Buds Pro, with a redesign for better airflow, a windshield that's twice as big to block outside noise and tweaks to its shape to ensure they don't rotate.
Galaxy Buds 2 Pro
By James Martin
Galaxy Z Flip 4, the best clamshell foldable yet
By David Lumb
More durability, Flex Mode apps and extended battery life are are basically everything on our wishlist for the Z Flip 4. Well, everything but a price drop -- the Z Flip 4 price starts at $999, the same as its predecessor. Still, it's competitive with other premium flagships.
Bespoke Edition
By James Martin
Personalize your Galaxy
By James Martin
A more durable Z Flip 4
By David Lumb
New for this year's Flip is a more robust hinge and slightly slimmer design. Samsung has made durability improvements every year, which is encouraging after the initial wave of Samsung Galaxy Fold phones in March 2019 had to be recalled due to reports of easily damaged displays and hinges. The design hasn't changed much, but Samsung has added more app widgets for the outer display, like tapping to make purchases with Samsung Pay.
12 MP
By James Martin
Flex Mode gains for folding fun
By David Lumb
There are also more apps that work in Flex mode, splitting the top and bottom of the screen when the phone is partially folded. This means having a chat window on the bottom with a video call on the top, for instance, or making Instagram Reels without hands. It's a big feature that only a foldable can use, so we're eager to see more ways to use the split-screen function -- and using the bottom as a touchpad, new for the Flip 4, is one of them.
Z Flip 4 Cameras: New software, not hardware
By David Lumb
The cameras also haven't changed from the Z Flip 3, with a 12-megapixel wide and 12-megapixel ultrawide. But the Z Flip 4 does inherit the camera software upgrades from the Samsung Galaxy S22 released earlier this year, which should enable better night photos.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 is real
By David Lumb
And here it is! The Galaxy Z Flip 4, Samsung's next version of the clamshell foldable. New for this year's Flip is a more robust hinge and slightly slimmer design. Samsung has made durability improvements every year, which is encouraging after the initial wave of Samsung Galaxy Fold phones in March 2019 had to be recalled due to reports of easily damaged displays and hinges.
Z Flip 4
By James Martin
Samsung/Screenshot by James Martin, CNET
Z Flip 4
A decade in the works
By David Lumb
Samsung President TM Roh has taken the (prerecorded) stage to remind us that Samsung started making foldables a decade ago. It took eight years to get the the original Samsung Galaxy Fold to market in 2019.
What we don't expect
By David Lumb
There are several devices we aren't expecting. We haven't heard any rumors of a new Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet or of a Galaxy S22 Fan Edition. The FE is the more affordable and slightly lower-specced version of the flagship phone that usually comes out around this time, though the Galaxy S21 Fan Edition was delayed until early 2022.
There's also no expectation of a Galaxy Note -- and it's safe to say we won't see one this year, if ever again.
Leaks and expectations
By David Lumb
We saw plenty of leaks for the foldables we expect to see, including a listing on Amazon Netherlands supposedly for the Galaxy Z Fold 4 that showed slight design changes and a new external case for the S Pen. Maybe the stylus won't get a slot, like the S22 Ultra has?
So what are we expecting? Samsung foldables: the clamshell Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the larger Galaxy Z Fold 4. We also anticipate the brand's next smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch 5, which we expect will run Google's Wear OS 3, which incorporates Samsung's Tizen OS.
Leadup to today's Unpacked
By David Lumb
A leak in mid-July from tipster Evan Blass suggested that Samsung's next Unpacked was a month away and that it would likely see foldables revealed.
A day later, Samsung itself teased the Unpacked event with a colorful puzzle that, when solved, revealed the date: Aug. 10. That's today!
Samsung Unpacked for 2022 so far
By David Lumb
Samsung's first Unpacked this year was in February, when it revealed the Samsung Galaxy S22 series and Galaxy Tab S8 tablet line. Both of these ranges included more affordable devices and top-tier premium models: the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and the huge Samsung Tab S8 Ultra.
Samsung revealed the new Galaxy A53 and Galaxy A33 phones at another event in March. These phones are aimed at the midrange market. Only the Galaxy A53 is sold in the US for $450 (£399 or roughly AU$710). That's around the same price as the iPhone SE (2022) and Google Pixel 6A, which was released later in the year. All of them are competing to win over folks who don't want to pay top dollar for a capable 5G device.
It's Samsung Unpacked day
By David Lumb
Hello and welcome to our live blog for Samsung Unpacked! We're expecting a lot of updates on some fan-favorite devices. Here's the YouTube link, or you can watch at Samsung.com. There's also Samsung 837X for the AR and VR fans. CNET will also have a live show on our YouTube channel as the event begins, including commentary and reporting from our editors. You can send us questions for the show and watch it here.
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Galaxy Z Fold 3 review: A refined foldable in search of a purpose
Galaxy Z Fold 3 review: A refined foldable in search of a purpose
Samsung announced the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 at the same time. But of the two, the $1,000 Z Flip 3 has a familiar design that's based on clamshell flip phones that have been around for decades. It folds in half from a 6.7-inch phone down to a square that's roughly the size and thickness of several coasters stacked. Meanwhile, the Z Fold 3 costs $1,800, with a futuristic design closer to something you'd see in a sci-fi movie or TV show like Westworld. The latter folds open from a regular phone, into a 7.6-inch square tablet and lacks the same "love at first sight" appeal as the Z Flip 3.
This is because Samsung's phone/tablet hybrid design is still inherently new compared to the tried-and-true flip phone motif the Flip 3 embraces. The Z Fold 3 is actually a wonderful tablet, but when it's folded up it has the same hefty appeal as an air conditioner remote control.
Like
120Hz cover screen
Water resistance
Wonderful tablet experience
S Pen is a blast to use
Software improvements for multitasking and Flex Mode
Don't Like
Battery life lasts about a day
Weird, heavy phone when closed
$1,800 is still expensive
Despite its complicated allure, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is a remarkable showcase of technology and innovation. Pretty much anytime I open the phone in public, there is someone with a dumbfounded look on their face. For the price, you get nearly every high-end feature one would expect in a flagship Android phone. And for $1,800, you better. The few compromises Samsung did make, like having B+ cameras instead of A+ ones, aren't deal breakers and stand as further reminders that the Z Fold 3's high price tag is because the phone folds in half.
Throughout my time with the Z Fold 3, I kept asking myself why the tablet even needs to fold in half? Or is there a better way to design a tablet that folds down to the size of a phone? As much as the Z Fold 3 has improved over its predecessors, it's still largely a concept in search of a purpose. And I couldn't escape that underlying conundrum. Yet if you want a tablet that can fold up and fit into your pocket, the Z Fold 3 certainly deserves your consideration. It's the second best foldable phone Samsung has made to date, with the best one being the more practical Galaxy Z Flip 3.
Galaxy Z Fold 3 storage and pricing
US
UK
Australia
Galaxy Z Fold 3 256GB
$1,800
£1,599
AU$2,499
Galaxy Z Fold 3 512GB
$1,900
£1,699
AU$2,649
The Z Fold 3 has nearly all the refinements you could ask for, but it still feels like it's missing a purpose.
Patrick Holland/CNET
A stronger, lighter and thinner Fold
The Z Fold 3 takes on the same design and form as the Z Fold 2, albeit with a bunch of improvements. For some, the best improvement might be the $200 drop in price from the $2,000 the Z Fold 2 cost. Most of the phone's upgrades are more iterative, small touches that add up to a more refined package overall.
For instance it's lighter than the previous Fold, which I noticed as soon as I picked it up. But it's still one of the heaviest phones I reviewed this year. It's thinner and more svelte than the Z Fold 2, but still one of the bulkiest phones I have ever tested.
It seems more durable. Obviously, I only had a couple of weeks with the Z Fold 3, so I can only be hopeful that the improvements I noticed span the life of the phone. The metal in the frame and hinge is reinforced and you can feel that extra tensile strength when you hold it, fold it and interact with it. The folding screen, hinge and body feel more like a single uniform whole instead of being separate features. The 7.6-inch main screen still has a crease but it doesn't bother me in the least. You could nitpick it if you want, but the iPhone's notch is far more of an eyesore.
The Gorilla Glass Victus-clad cover screen now has a smooth 120Hz refresh rate that matches the main display and looks lovely. The Z Fold 3 has water resistance and can be submerged up to 1.5 meters (about 5 feet), which is truly remarkable for a folding phone.
Using an S Pen on the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is a blast
One indication that Samsung is confident about the Z Fold 3's durability is that it sells a sharp pointy stylus for you to use on the screen. It's as if Samsung is saying, "We're no longer worried about your fingernails making indentations on the main screen. Go ahead and try out an S Pen."
In my time using the S Pen with the phone, the screen looks just like it did when I took it out of the box. And that's on top of all the times I folded and unfolded it, shoved it in the pockets of my jeans and threw it in my backpack along with whatever else was in there.
Samsung made two versions of the S Pen for the Z Fold 3: the S Pen Fold Edition, which lacks Bluetooth and costs $50; and the S Pen Pro, which has Bluetooth and costs $100. Both have a retractable tip that helps reduce wear and tear on the screen. I only got to try out the S Pen Fold Edition and I noticed that the tip rarely retracted all the way. Instead, it seems to relieve some of the pressure I put on the screen when I draw or write. There's a small arsenal of S Pen tricks such as hover to magnify, which activates when the S Pen is just millimeters away from the screen.
The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is the first foldable phone that supports the S Pen.
Patrick Holland/CNET
The cover screen doesn't support either new S Pen which is a bummer because there's no way to jot a quick note or a doodle without opening up the Fold. And if you have an old S Pen, you can't use it with the Z Fold 3.
As much fun as it is to use an S Pen on that giant vibrant screen, the Fold in no way replaces the inherent convenience that a Galaxy Note provides. The Fold doesn't let you quickly make a note. And there isn't a place to store the S Pen. It would be nice if you could magnetically attach the S Pen to the Fold 3's hinge in the same way you can attach an Apple Pencil to an iPad Pro. I should note that Samsung sells a bundled S Pen Fold Edition and phone case that stores it along the hinge for $80.
Under-display camera selfies and Zoom calls on the Z Fold 3
There are two, technically three, selfie cameras -- let me explain. You can take a selfie with the hole-punch selfie camera in the cover screen. Or you can flip the cover screen down, use it as a live preview and take a selfie with the main rear camera. Or you can use Samsung's first ever under-display camera, which is mostly hidden behind the main screen.
Out of the three options, the one that is the most curious is the under-display camera. The part of the display in front of the camera has fewer screen elements and translucent wiring. At certain angles or when brighter colors are on the display, you can see the part of the screen where the camera is. Think of this camera setup like looking through a window that has blinds on it.
The front-facing camera in the main display of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 (white screen) is housed in a hole-punch cut out. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 uses an under-display camera. Notice the tiny octagon shape in the green leaf wallpaper on the Fold 3's main display.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The under-display camera is only 4 megapixels, which isn't a lot, but that lower resolution helps it see through or around those screen elements. Samsung also uses AI processing to improve the image quality. I took selfies with all three options on the Fold and, no surprise, the photos from the under-display camera looked the worst. Indoor selfies look highly processed and outdoor snaps in good lighting do not look much better.
The under-display camera is intended for video calls and works fine for them. On the few video calls I made using it, people on the other end said that they didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
I took selfies with the different cameras on the Galaxy Z Fold 3. From left to right, here are selfies from: the main rear camera, cover screen camera and under-display camera.
Patrick Holland/CNET
But let's go back to why there is an under-display camera. The idea is to reduce visual distractions on and around the display. There isn't a notch. There isn't a hole punch. Instead, you either see nothing (yay!) or when bright colors are displayed, you see a tiny glittery octagon that I found to be more distracting than something like a hole-punch camera. At this point, the benefit of having a screen free of visual interruptions isn't worth the tradeoffs from this under-display camera.
Z Fold 3 has B+ cameras at an A+ price
Despite all of the improvements to the phone's hardware, the cameras are one area that largely remain the same. In terms of quality and performance, they are a step behind the camera systems found on phones like the iPhone 12 Pro Max and Samsung's Galaxy S21 Ultra. These are good cameras and for most people the photos and videos they capture with them will be fine.
There are five cameras on the Z Fold 3: the aforementioned under-display camera, the cover-screen selfie camera and a triple camera array on the "back" with a main wide-angle camera, an ultrawide-angle camera and a 2x optical telephoto camera that now has optical image stabilization. In bright lighting, photos look good. Digital zoom up to 4x magnification has minimal image deterioration. If you go past 6x, photos look less stellar and have softer details. Night mode on the Z Fold 3 is solid, but compared to the S21 or S21 Ultra, images look soft. Take a look below at a few photos I took with the new Fold.
The camera hardware didn't change, but the Z Fold 3 gets a new image signal processor thanks to its Snapdragon 888 chip.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Under good lighting, the Fold can capture great photos.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Notice how it handles the highlights in the clouds and the details above the windows of the cream-colored building.
Patrick Holland/CNET
There is something about the perspective of Samsung's ultrawide cameras that always gets me.
Patrick Holland/CNET
This was taken with the 2x telephoto camera.
Patrick Holland/CNET
A beautiful day yields some perfect views. Look at the highlights and shadows in the clouds.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Night mode on the Fold 3 isn't quite to the level of the Galaxy S21, but it's still impressive.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Images look bright and are mostly free of image noise, even from the ultrawide camera.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Videos are decent, but suffer from image noise in all but the most ideal of situations. Take a look at some videos I recorded with the Z Fold 3 below.
There will inevitably be some people who expect the absolute best cameras on a phone that costs $1,800. I'd argue that Samsung made a smart tradeoff to keep that price under $2,000.
Like the Z Flip 3, the Z Fold 3 is essentially its own tripod. Because of its size and flexibility you can put it nearly anywhere to capture a unique angle or perspective.
Galaxy Z Fold 3 gets multitasking right
On the inside, the Z Fold 3 packs nearly every 2021 Android spec you could want. It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip and 12GB of RAM. It runs Android 11 and Samsung's One UI 3. Split-screen apps are more customizable, taking advantage of the larger tablet screen. You can put them side by side, stacked vertically or even have three. You can move each app around and resize their windows. You can also save split-screen app groupings and setups for later.
Like the Z Flip 3, the phone's settings has a section called Labs, which lets you optimize nearly any app for the screen. For example, natively Instagram shows up in a thin vertical aspect ratio with screen space on either side of the app. I went into Labs, and forced it to be displayed across the full screen, which worked well.
Multitasking is fun and customizable on the Z Fold 3. You can save app window layouts to use the same setup again.
Patrick Holland/CNET
A useful trait that the Flip and Fold share is Flex Mode. You can position either phone half open like a mini laptop. Flex Mode gets more support in One UI 3 and there are more apps that can take advantage of it. Some apps just move to the top half of the screen with system navigation and brightness controls on the bottom. Other apps, like for videos and music, place the playback controls on the bottom half of the screen. Not every app is optimized for Flex Mode, but this is a huge step up from the Fold 2. I still would like to see apps go farther and even be designed around Flex Mode. Can you imagine a game designed for Flex Mode?
Galaxy Z Fold 3 has less than average battery life
The Z Fold 3's biggest drawback is its battery life. The dual 4,400-mAh batteries are actually a tad smaller than the ones in the Fold 2. As a result, the Z Fold 3 barely makes it through a day. I imagine that has a lot to do with the combination of 5G connectivity and the fact that there are two screens that run at 120Hz. Screen-on time during my review averaged about three and a half hours, which isn't great. I am still running CNET's battery test and will update this review with the results soon.
The Fold lacks dust resistance. In my use this wasn't an issue. But I recommend being careful if you take the Z Fold 3 to the beach or on a hike or anywhere there's potential for small particles to interact with the phone. This wouldn't be a good phone for Salt BAE.
The screens and finish on the body collect finger smudges easily. I find myself wiping it clean constantly.
The Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 are quite the pairing. One is aimed more at the mainstream and the other at early adopters.
Sarah Tew/CNET
A better foldable, but not the best
While I continue testing the Galaxy Z Fold 3, I still question who this phone is for exactly. A phone enthusiast might love all of the technology in the Fold, especially that folding screen. Foldable phones are still at a comparatively early stage, but the lower price offered by the Z Fold 3 and the Z Flip 3 compared to their predecessors shows an effort to make them more accessible. And I hope that's a trend that continues in the coming years. I still hold that most people who want a folding phone will likely want to consider the Z Flip 3 for its familiar flip-phone aesthetic, but if you want that larger tablet shape the Z Fold 3 fulfills that promise.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 specs vs. Galaxy Z Fold 2, Galaxy Fold
