Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 Review: It's not a phase, mum

Foldable phones feel like the smartphone industry's weird teenage years. A time to experiment, try something new, freak out your parents when you bring home a copy of System of a Down's Toxicity. After over a decade of glass rectangles, foldables are the black nail polish and long fringe you might take on after a life of clean-cut conformity. A rebellion. An attempt to cement an identity. 

Naturally, the question is if it's just a phase. With the Galaxy Z Fold 3, Samsung is trying its best to prove foldable phones are like my love for heavy metal; a core part of its identity that it doesn't grow out of.

Riding the same lightning

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 isn't dramatically different from its predecessor, working from the sound foundation as last year's device. You still get a candy bar esque phone with a tall 6.2-inch display (albeit upgraded to a 120Hz refresh rate for smoother motion) that unfolds to a 7.6-inch tablet-like device.

This means you still run into the same quirks I found in the Galaxy Z Fold 2. The external display is just a touch too narrow for a great typing experience. It certainly will do, and increasing the horizontal size of the keys helped me a lot - but it's definitely an adjustment coming from any other phone.

You get a split keyboard when you unfold the Z Fold 3, which comes with its own learning curve. As with the external display, it's an adjustment coming from a standard phone, as you well and truly have to use both hands. It's much harder to just bang out a message on the go, for example.

The biggest persistent issue is that Android apps aren't ready for foldables. While Samsung may be convinced foldables aren't a phase, three generations in, it still hasn't persuaded developers to optimise their apps. When unfolded, Instagram awkwardly appears in the middle of your screen, leaving the side areas unusable. Facebook is clearly running the mobile version even when you're using the Z Fold 3 as a tablet, meaning some images don't even fit on the sizeable screen. Sure, tablet apps on Android tend to be a nightmare anyway, but it's harder to forgive when you're clearly trying to make foldables mainstream. Throw money at the problem if you need to.

Conversely, it's still very cool having a device that's both a phone and a tablet in one. When apps can genuinely take advantage of the larger internal screen - Lightroom, for example, or when you're watching a video or playing a game - the Fold 3 is a joy.

I'm okay (I promise)

What's new is how Samsung has approached durability. For the first time in a foldable, you get IPX8 water-resistance. This means it can survive depths up to 1.5m for as long as 30 minutes. Water-resistance has been a standard feature on Samsung flagship phones since the Galaxy S7, so it's nice to see that extra bit of assurance on the Z Fold 3.

Samsung also says the internal displays are 80% more durable when compared to last year's models, the aluminium frame is 10% more durable, and Gorilla Glass Victus is now being used for all external glass. It's clear that Samsung wants you to think of the Z Fold 3 as any other phone.

It's nice knowing Samsung is making an effort to toughen its foldables, but there's part of me that still has durability concerns. I've found myself extra anxious when going out for a jog with the Galaxy Z Fold 3, worried it might bounce out of my pocket and onto the pavement. While I've had that happen to other phones (which have survived unscathed), it's hard to tell how well the foldable would fare - even in a case.

I also didn't want to risk destroying the phone to find out. Drop tests do however suggest Samsung has done a surprisingly good job at making the Z Fold 3 harder to break. I'd love to see the manufacturer offer up more stats on durability credentials, in the same way Apple has with its ceramic shield displays.

The more durable display enables S Pen support. You don't need to worry about scratching up the screen with Samsung's trademark stylus, and it works just as well as it did on any Note. The S Pen itself is, however, an optional purchase, and you'll have two options to pick from - a traditional "dumb" stylus, or the S Pen Pro which is larger and features Bluetooth connectivity. Bluetooth enables Air actions, which let you wave the stylus like a wand to trigger certain tasks.

The standard Fold S Pen sells for $74, or $119 when bundled with a holster case. The Bluetooth-enabled S Pen Pro will set you back $189. Given the Z Fold 3's premium pricing, it would have been nice to see an S Pen included in the box. Ideally, I would have loved it integrated into the phone's design, as with a Note. There's nowhere on the Z Fold 3 to stash your S Pen when you're not using it.

Samsung's holster case is a half measure. When you've got the phone unfolded, the case extends past the screen, which in turn makes typing a worse experience. You also have to deal with a significant bump for the holster itself. When you're using the front display, there's no way to neatly fold the cover all the way behind the screen. It's an all-round awkward experience.

The middle

While the Z Fold 3 certainly impresses as an engineering marvel, its traditional phone credentials let it down. Battery life is on the shorter side: I could only get between three and four hours of screen time with 5G and the 120Hz displays switched on. That's roughly on par with Android flagships for this year, but it barely translates to a full day of usage. Heavier users may find themselves needing to top up earlier. Switching off the 120Hz display gives you a bit more of a buffer, padding screen time out to between four and five hours per charge.

It's a similar story with the camera: it's pretty good, but it's a step down from what Samsung is doing on the Galaxy S21 range (albeit not as much as the Galaxy Z Flip 3), and pales compared to the iPhone 13 family and the Pixel 6. You get a fairly standard setup of a primary lens, ultra-wide lens, and 2x zoom lens, and they're all serviceable. They just don't feel like a flagship photography experience; images are prone to motion blur, and low light performance is just fine. Here's how the three lenses compare:

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 also has an under-display selfie camera hidden in the internal display, but the tech isn't ready yet. There's a weird glitchy appearance where the camera resides, making it a bit more noticeable than a camera cut out, and the quality is far worse than what you'd get from the selfie camera on the external display. It's good enough for a video call, but you'll want to stick to the external display selfie camera for photos.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 - Final Thoughts

The biggest clue that Samsung wants to make its foldables more palatable to a broader audience is the price tag: the Z Flip 3 and Z Fold 3 are both cheaper than their predecessors. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 starts at $2,499, down from $2,999 for last year's model. That's still expensive, but it's just a little less extreme than dropping three grand on a phone. 

The premium pricing is paradoxical, however. The Z Fold 3 is positioned as a power user device for someone that wants it all, but fails to offer the best of the best. The S21 family have better cameras, and in some cases, better battery. If you want a foldable in 2021, you're going to need to make a couple of compromises.

The Z Fold 3 is a truly impressive piece of tech, and I'm glad Samsung is focusing on durability. If you're going to spend $2,499 on a phone, you shouldn't have to baby it. Knowing an accidental dunk won't kill the Z Fold 3 is a big win, as are more durable displays.

While there are still challenges to overcome as the category matures - the lanky external display and the app situation - Samsung's foldable dream is looking more like a reality. Samsung has sold me on the idea that foldables aren't just a phase, but it hasn't quite converted me to the scene just yet.

It's clear that foldables will be a core part of Samsung's identity going forward, even if it is by necessity. Samsung doesn’t have the hardware-software integration to out Apple Apple, while Chinese manufacturers including OPPO, Vivo, and Xiaomi are outpacing Samsung when it comes to camera in the Android world. Samsung's standard flagships are falling behind.

Samsung's strongest point of difference is that it can make foldable phones, and pretty damn good ones at that. No one else can boast that claim; it's a halo Samsung can call its own.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 camera samples

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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