Here’s what we want to see on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, Samsung’s flagship folding

When Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 2 last fall, we here at XDA absolutely love it. It was a big improvement over the original Fold and proved that the foldable ones are here to stay. But that does not mean that the device is perfect – we have small problems with the device that we hope Samsung can fix for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 that will arrive later this year.

In the months that followed, Huawei launched a similar-looking foldable that has even better hardware – but its unique status for China and the lack of GMS support means that its appeal is very limited. This keeps the Galaxy Z Fold 2 as the best foldable phone for most people, and we can’t wait to see what the Galaxy Z Fold 3 brings. Here is our wish list for the next foldable, based on our extensive experience in handling devices in this category, since the birth of the category itself.

A flatter fold and less hip

The point of a foldable is that it offers the user a bigger screen experience in a package that can be kept in the pocket. The Galaxy Z Fold 2 offers mainly, but it is still a little thick and heavy at 16.8 mm and 282 g. This extra thickness and weight is not a big problem when I’m doing normal daily activities wearing, um, appropriate pants, with a button and / or belt. But when I’m at the gym or basketball wearing basketball shorts, which are thinner, looser, with just an elasticated waistband, the weight of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 can start to loosen the shorts on one side. The weight of the phone also tires the wrist after prolonged use with one hand.

I would also like to see Fold 3 fold in a flatter design like Huawei’s Mate X2. This would not only make the Galaxy Z Fold 3 look better, but it would also reduce the overall thickness of the device by a few millimeters.

True flagship camera system on the Galaxy Z Fold 3

All Samsung folding phones have so far not used the best possible camera systems from Samsung at the time of launch. The Galaxy Z Fold 2, for example, lacks the 108MP sensor and the Periscope zoom lens, which has been a main feature of the Galaxy’s last three flagships.

When I reviewed the Galaxy Z Fold 2, I forgave the device for using a “smaller” camera system because I thought it was physically impossible to put on a Periscope lens (which is thicker and takes up more space than traditional camera sensors) in a foldable device. But then Huawei threw that assumption out of the window by doing just that with Mate X2.

Now there is no excuse for Samsung – please put a Periscope zoom lens on the Galaxy Z Fold 3.

Magnify the “external screen”

A major improvement that Samsung made with the Galaxy Z Fold 2 over the original Fold was that it dramatically increased the display area of ​​the external screen, which Samsung calls the “cover screen”. Most of that growth happened vertically, however, as Samsung really got rid of the original Fold’s huge forehead and chin frames and didn’t increase the phone’s width as much. This left the external screen of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 with an odd 25: 9 aspect ratio, which is really tall and narrow.

Don’t get me wrong – I can still use the phone for most tasks, but if I need to type a lot, the keyboard feels tight; some apps are also not displayed correctly in such a tight fit.

I would like to see the Galaxy Z Fold 3 widen the external screen to get closer to a more conventional aspect ratio. This has already been accomplished by the Huawei Mate X2, which has an external 21: 9 screen that makes the phone look more like a conventional phone when folded.

S-Pen support on Galaxy Z Fold 3

There were rumors that last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 2 would support Samsung’s S-Pen, but that turned out not to be true. But with the Galaxy S21 Ultra gaining support for S-Pen and Lenovo’s foldable PC – the ThinkPad X1 – also with support for a stylus, it seems that both desire and technology are ready for Samsung to unlink the S-Pen from the series Note and make it a Samsung accessory for the entire ecosystem.

For a pen to work well on the Galaxy Z Fold 3, however, it would need to fix yet another problem with the Galaxy Z Fold 2.

Get rid of the crease

Both the original screens of the Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 2 have a very abrupt and rough vertical fold in the middle of the screen which, although not very visible to the naked eye if you look at the “correct” angle, is always noticeable to the touch. The groove is so deep that it would interrupt a pen stroke for artists who value precision. So if the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is to support the S-Pen, it should reduce the crease.

The good news is that the technology is already there. Huawei’s Mate X2, Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 and Motorola’s Razr 5G have folding screens that exhibit very little crease due to a folding mechanism that pushes the screen into a teardrop gap.

Samsung may consider this option to reduce the crease. However, following this path can make the hinge no longer able to stay open at any angle – a useful trick for the Galaxy Z Fold 2. Perhaps engineers will be able to find a good middle ground somewhere.

Easy proportion switch for non-optimized applications

Whether inside the 7.6 inch square main screen or the 6.3 inch 25: 9 external screen, the two Galaxy Z Fold 2 monitors have unconventional proportions. This means that smartphone apps that are not specifically optimized for the Galaxy Z Fold 2 have three options to show themselves: display in the normal smartphone form with a mailbox; display in an elongated format to fill the screen, but open the possibility of distortion; or full view through cropping, which means that the edges of the app may not appear on the screen of the Galaxy Z Fold 2.

Sure, app makers can optimize their apps to fit these foldable screens perfectly – and all of Samsung’s original apps do that – but it’s highly unrealistic to expect all app makers to do this, especially when the foldable market is still a niche. This is a problem that will be here to stay in the foreseeable future.

It’s not much of a problem on the Galaxy Z Fold 2 for most word-based apps. Chrome, when stretched, looks a little strange, but doesn’t detract from performance or experience. But apps with lots of photos, like Instagram, are more difficult to handle. Distorting an image by stretching it is obviously not ideal, so Instagram on the large display of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 should run in letterbox format or in a cropped format that cuts the top and bottom of Instagram Stories. I can switch between options through the Samsung Good Lock app, but shouldn’t Samsung natively incorporate this functionality into the phone’s software instead of requiring an additional download?

Better yet, how about giving us the option to quickly switch between the three display options (mailbox, cut, stretch) in real time? Maybe a pop-up button on the screen, a gesture with several fingers or a shortcut to toggle in the navigation pane? We see room for improvement here.

Increased durability

For some people, foldable phones are still synonymous with “fragile”. Personally, I think that reputation is no longer a fair assessment – I’ve used the original Fold, Z Fold 2 and Z Flip for over a year combined and they all still work well – but it’s understandable why some mainstream consumers are still cautious, given the high profile flaws of the original Fold’s first overhaul units.

So for the Galaxy Z Fold 3, I would like to see some kind of increased durability. I know that asking for IP68 water and dust resistance is probably highly unlikely for a folding device. But what about a lower IP rating, similar to those seen on headphones, such as IPX3 or IPX4?

If Samsung cannot provide tangible “proof” of durability as an IP rating, then perhaps it can give buyers more peace of mind by extending the warranty period from one year to 18 months or even two years? Samsung already seems quite confident with the durability of the Galaxy Z Fold 2, as it offers a 100-day return period, so reassuring customers that folding is not fragile can go a long way in bringing this product category to the market. general acceptance.

What would you like to see on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3?

Overall, I don’t want to make it look like I have a lot of complaints with the Galaxy Z Fold 2 – it’s still my favorite phone of them all (Mate X2 would probably have gotten over it had it not been for Google’s problem). But the updates above are reasonable to ask, considering that most have already been achieved by other brands.

With the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 probably only half a year away, it is likely that most hardware changes have already been set in stone, so this list is purely hypothetical. If Samsung hasn’t yet applied these changes, it’s probably too late to see them on the Galaxy Z Fold 3.

But Samsung, after all, is the pioneer in the folding category, so its engineers probably have some tricks up their sleeve that no one expects.