The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 has awaited upgrades like S Pen support, better durability, and water resistance in an otherwise familiar-looking smartphone with mostly unchanged cameras. Starting at a lower price than its predecessors, meaning those early adopters on the sidelines may certainly be tempted to join the foldable phone future.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is a foldable phone with a 7.6-inch. This foldable phone feels more durable than its two predecessors, and it’s waterproof this time around, the tablet-like inner screen is pretty durable this time so the stylus strokes Samsung’s new S Pen and S Pen Pro, also the S Pen support makes perfect sense on a screen of this size. 

Also, dial back your camera expectations: this is yet another foldable with good cameras. The slightly cheaper price next to the Fold 2, makes it even more of a good option for the people who wanted to get it. 

It starts at $1,799 / £1,599 / AU$2,499 for a model with 256GB of storage, while if you want extra capacity you can get a 512GB Z Fold 3 for $1,899 / £1,699 / AU$2,649. The Z Fold 2 started at $1,999 / £1,799 / AU$2,999 when it was released last year.

Design and display

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 keeps the design and functionality of its predecessors, but a bigger display opens up to reveal a massive 7.6-inch on the inside.

That inner display uses the same AMOLED tech as on the last-gen smartphone, with a resolution of 2208 x 1768. Running down the center of that screen you’ll see the fold where the handset pushes together. The on-screen image is still visible, but the crease is noticeable when you unfold the device and view the full-size display.

Samsung has made some improvements to the hinge here, the materials being used are more durable than those employed in all previous foldable attempts. 

Camera and spec

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 camera specs are a 12MP f/1.8 main camera, a 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera, and a 12MP f/2.4 telephoto camera that’s capable of 2x optical zoom.

There are two further cameras on the Galaxy Z Fold 3, both of which are designed for selfies. On the phone’s outer screen you’ll find a 10MP f/2.2 shooter, which matches what we saw on the Z Fold 2.

The Z Fold 3 now comes with Samsung’s first commercially available under-display camera, which is hidden under the screen on the right-hand side of the inner screen, it’s not entirely invisible. You can still see the camera poke through when the screen is off, and when the screen is on there’s a slight matrix effect that means that you can always know where the camera is.

This is a 4MP f/1.8 camera, and we found it to work notably less well than the camera on the front screen. Photos taken with this camera were much less sharp. 

The processor is paired with 12GB of RAM, which is more than enough. You have the option of 256GB or 512GB of onboard storage, but there’s no Samsung including microSD support for extra space. 

Battery and S Pen

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 has a 4,400mAh battery, which is 100mAh lesser than the battery in the Z Fold 2 assuming that they’ve done this for decreasing the device size a bit. As the ongoing trend, there’s no charger in the box with the Galaxy Z Fold 3, so you’ll have to keep your existing charger or buy one separately.

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 runs Android 11 with Samsung’s own One UI overlay on top. There are some optimizations here for the foldable design too. The S Pen is a major addition here – it’s the first time Samsung has included stylus support in a foldable phone – but it isn’t a must-have feature from what we’ve seen so far.

You’ll love using the S Pen on this foldable’s big screen. Frustratingly, however, there’s nowhere on the phone to store the stylus, you’ll have to pay extra for a separate case that you’ll need to slip into your pocket alongside the phone.

Early verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 could be the breakthrough device for those who’ve been on the fence about switching to a foldable phone over the last two years. You don’t get Samsung’s best cameras, but the slightly lower price compared to last year’s Fold. This can make it a good enough option for a lot of people, what do you thank, and are you thinking of getting one?