After half-unveiling the phone alongside the Note 20 in August, Samsung has now dropped the rest of the deets on the Galaxy Z Fold 2. Price was the biggest remaining mystery, but we now know the Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G will set you back $2,999 outright - the same price the original Fold launched for at the end of last year.
If you're keen to nab Samsung's second generation foldable, pre-orders will start at 9am on September 9 ahead of a September 25 release date. If you're keen to get the Fold 2 on a plan, you'll be able to do so through Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone. Telstra won't be ranging the phone until October 9, however. At this stage we're not sure when Telstra will start pre-orders.
The Galaxy Z Fold 2 has ostensibly been designed to address the original's shortcomings. The displays are larger, and Samsung says the phone is more durable.
Like its predecessor, the Fold 2 is a phone that opens up to be a tablet. This time around, both displays are bigger. This is most significant when it comes to the external display. Instead of a narrow 4.6-inch screen reminiscent of a feature phone on the front, the Fold 2 has a 6.2-inch display. It looks a lot more modern, and we're hoping it will make the device more comfortable to use when shut. In our review of the original Fold, we found the front-facing display was just a bit too small to be useful.
On the inside, the display has been upped from 7.3-inches to 7.6-inches. The side notch (or "slotch") has been replaced with a camera cut-out on the right half of the screen. As with the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, this display can run at 120Hz refresh rate. The internal display will use the same kind of ultra-thin glass that protects the Galaxy Z Flip screen, rather than plastic like the original Fold.
In addition, the Fold 2 body is thinner than its predecessor, and the gap between screen halves is smaller when the phone is closed. And as with the Z Flip, the Fold 2 has a new hinge design that allows the phone to open at any angle. Inside the hinge is a vacuum-like "sweeper" that will prevent dirt and dust from getting trapped and impacting the phone's durability. Samsung says the Fold 2 has protection against water droplets, but the device isn't water-resistant.
The Galaxy Z Fold 2 is a little more restrained when it comes to cameras, featuring three 12MP shooters - a primary, a 2x telephoto, and an ultra-wide. These might not quite sound quite as impressive as the 108MP primary lens and 5x telephoto on the Note 20 Ultra and S20 Ultra, but given some of the performance issues with the 108MP lens, this might not be a bad thing. We're definitely curious to see how the Fold 2 stacks up in terms of camera prowess.
Here's the complete set of Galaxy Z Fold 2 specs and how they compare to the original Fold.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G specifications
| Galaxy Z Fold 2 | Galaxy Fold | |
|---|---|---|
| Outside Display | 6.2-inch 60Hz | 4.6-inch 60Hz |
| Inside Display | 7.6-inch 120Hz | 7.3-inch 60Hz |
| Rear Cameras | 12MP + 12MP + 12MP | 12MP + 12MP + 16MP |
| Front Camera | 10MP | 10MP |
| Processor | Snapdragon 865+ | Snapdragon 855 |
| RAM | 12GB | 12GB |
| Storage | 256GB | 512GB |
| Battery | 4,500mAh | 4,380mAh |
| Water-Resistance | N/A |
N/A |
| 5G | Yes | No |
You'll be able to get the Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G in a choice of Mystic Black or Mystic Bronze.
While the original Galaxy Fold was bundled with Samsung's wire-free Galaxy Buds in the box, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 only includes wired USB Type-C headphones.
In addition, Samsung has confirmed a 5G version of the Galaxy Z Flip - the Galaxy Z Flip 5G - will be available locally from October 9.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5G is almost identical to the 4G Galaxy Z Flip, other than two key The most obvious is that is has 5G connectivity, rather than just 4G. It also has a faster processor - a Snapdragon 865+, as opposed to a Snapdragon 855+.
Otherwise, the Galaxy Z Flip 5G shares the rest of its specs with the standard model. These include a 6.7-inch 1080p+ display, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of non-expandable storage, a 12MP primary and 12MP ultra-wide camera, and a 3,300mAh battery.
The 3,300mAh battery could potentially end up being problematic, however. In our review of the Galaxy Z Flip, we found battery performance already lacking - it struggled to last an entire day, only managing to get around four hours of screen time per charge. 5G can take an even greater toll on smartphone batteries, as we found when testing the Note 20 Ultra, so we wouldn't be surprised if the Galaxy Z Flip 5G has an even shorter battery life than its 4G sibling.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5G will retail for $2,149 outright, which is actually $50 less than the 4G Z Flip launched at. At present, Samsung is charging $1,999 for the 4G Z Flip.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5G will also come in a choice of Mystic Black or Mystic Bronze.
Alex Choros
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