Galaxy Z Fold 2: The new foldable phone king
Galaxy Z Fold 2: The new foldable phone king
13:34

Galaxy Z Fold 2: The new foldable phone king

Foldable Phones
[MUSIC] It's gorgeous and refined. It's truly useful and it fixes nearly every mistake that Samsung made with its first foldable phone, the galaxy fold two is truly a remarkable and unique advice that makes foldable phones less of a futuristic curiosity or expensive toy and almost like a thing that somebody might actually use. Almost. [BLANK_AUDIO] When Samsung first launched the Galaxy Fold, it was a huge hit, I was so excited to use it. And then there were reports from reviewers that there was all sorts of damage that occurred that basically broke the phone. Samsung took them all back, redesigned it. And even with the redesigned phone that fix the major flaws, it still wasn't a joy to use. There were just too many problems with it and it still seems like a really interesting beta device that was a blueprint but not something that you can use in day to day life. The z fold two changes all of this first. It's got a much larger outer screen. It has this beautiful hinge that feels so strong and so smooth. Samsung has also made the hinge more tight and cohesive in the sense that when I look at it straight on and move it around, I see plastic. I see a lot of barriers and And I can't even get my fingernail in any grooves inside. There's no big ugly notch taking up your big beautiful screen you just have one little camera hole and that's perfect. You know pricing hasn't actually changed that much from the original fold to the full two. It's only $20 more does bring you to $2,000 which is quite a bit. It doesn't come with a case it doesn't come with headphones. So is it worth the price? We are going to get to that but first, let's talk about everything this phone can do. [MUSIC] Let's start with design because it is such an unusual one. I am absolutely in love with this mystic bronze color. It also comes in mystic black. One of the things that I love about it is that your fingerprints don't actually come up on the back because it's a matte finish. It's got Gorilla Glass victus on the front, which is meant to be the strongest one of the strongest cover materials that you can have Got this beautiful metal frame and also glass on the back. Let's talk about this outer screen first because Samsung made some big changes and they're wonderful. Mostly the screen is much bigger than before it is is a 6.2 inch display. It's very tall and narrow. That does have an effect when you're typing. It does make the keyboard really small. I found that I used this outer screen much more often, than I thought that I would maybe 60% of the time, maybe even more. But this is where I open any apps and get those started. Do you quick reply is checking on things, but the outer screen is great because in the first iteration, the screen was much smaller and it wasn't right. We usable one of the best things that you can do is open it. Any single app that works with Android from this display, and then if you want to see it, for example, you're looking at your email or you want to see a picture that you've just taken. Then you can open up the phone and we'll take up that beautiful entire screen that's 7.6 inches on the inside. So I've talked about the dimensions His phone is tall and narrow. It's also pretty heavy and it is kind of like two phones stuck together so that I can get it into the back pocket of my jeans. I can wedge it into the front pocket, but I don't really want that. It does tower out a little bit. It doesn't feel totally comfortable because of the thickness of the phone. But it's also something that I really feel that almost anybody can get used to, in addition to being able to comfortably read on this outer display. I also really enjoyed it for watching video. Yes, I could open up on Device and watch on the larger internal screen. But sometimes I got tired of holding it because it is pretty heavy and it weighs on you. Or I wanted to just prop it up while I was eating and have the phone open itself up and you can actually see the video on the entire external display and it's still pretty large so we did find it very comfortable viewing So I mentioned that you can open up any app on the outside and then unfold the phone and you've got it all on the inside. But Samsung has made it possible to actually go the other way that didn't happen as often with the original fold. But here you can dig into the settings menu a little bit and choose any app that you want to continue on from the inner screen to the outer screen when you close the device. One thing that I don't like and this has everything to do with the fact that we've got two screens sandwiched together is unlocking the phone. So you've got a power lock button here that's got a little trough, and this is your fingerprint reader. And it's pretty comfortable to get to but the problem is when the phone is closed, my thumb is pressing both of these surfaces at the same time. So even though it's a pretty small target, and it's easy to hit Got a lot of error messages. So I think that's a miss and when you're unlocking your phone dozens of times a day, it can get really annoying if it's not as responsive as you want it to be. [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO] So the interior screen is 7.6" it is nice and big about the size of a small tablet. It does have ultra thin glass as I mentioned, and there is a crease down the center because that is just the nature of the beast. But it's not something that I really noticed when I'm using the device. If I put my finger on Hear Dang it, I feel it. If I look at the light I see it but when I'm watching video when I'm reading something, when I'm immersed in an experience, I don't really notice it. As much as the back of the phone doesn't pick up fingerprints the inner screen really does. But because this is a phone that bends, you do have to care for it in a different way and Samsung provides a lot of care instructions. And one of them is that you can't get water on the device. Another is you don't want to apply too much pressure. So, I haven't been cleaning the screen as much or as aggressively as I would with a phone that has a harder glass cover material. And as a result, the fingerprints definitely show. I absolutely love using this big inner screen for everything that you would expect. Watching movies, looking at photos, great for looking at photos that you've just taken galleries, but at the same time for me, it's not that comfortable for typing. So So I tried an experiment, I actually put aside my laptop for over 24 hours and I used the Z fold too instead. And I found that I was not as efficient doing the work for my full day as I wanted it to be. It wasn't really comfortable to write stories or to edit, I would switch back to the smaller keyboard on the outer screen, but then it was too small and I make mistakes also. In fact, I found that I would actually fold the phone and half a little bit to bring the sides closer together so I didn't have to reach as hard as I typed. Essentially, I think this is an area that could still use some improvement. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] When an area where Samsung has really improved the experience on this inner screen is with multitasking. This can actually support up to three apps and you can move them around. I found that this feature which is called multi active window was something that I used really naturally. It was definitely a benefit to have. If you're a fan of phones that have high refresh rates, maybe you like to do a little gaming, you'll be happy to know that their support on this larger interior screen for 120 hertz refresh rate. I definitely thought that the killer feature on this phone was going to be flex mode and that is when the hinge can bend on the hole. Pulled itself in that position, but I found that I didn't actually use it as much as I thought I really liked it on the Galaxy z flip, because the dimensions of that phone are basically the same as folding the Z fold two and a half and then folding it in half again radically But because of the dimensions when I fold this in half, doesn't really work that great for video. It doesn't work that great for video calls. I just feel that there needs to be a few more apps that adapt themselves when you do fold the phone in order to make it truly useful. [MUSIC] See, you might expect that a $2,000 phone would have all the best cameras that Samsung can possibly make. But that isn't the case here. And that is because of the cost trade off. What you do have is still quite good. You've got 12 megapixel cameras across the board from the wide angle, ultra wide angle and telephoto lenses. Plus you have a 10 megapixel camera on the front and a 10 megapixel sensor on the inside of the device. You can even use the rear cameras to take a selfie by pressing a button opening it up. The only problem is because you're holding the phone open, it's sort of off kilter. So you're not really getting yourself head on. It's a little bit weird but it's still a good idea. So you're not gonna get the 5 x Optical Zoom that you get with the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, and you're not gonna get any fancy 108 megapixel camera. But I still found that the photos were really clear, colourful, detailed, totally 100% usable. I was happy with most of the ones that I took but when you're trying to get Up close on some architecture that's way up high or fettucine up a specific way or you want to really get detailed, you're just not gonna have that with this phone to the same extent that you would with one of Samsung's other devices. [MUSIC] I will admit that I was worried about battery life for this phone because it has to separate battery cells for a combined capacity. 4500 milliamp hour, which is the same as the note 20 Ultra whose battery life I was not very impressed with, and one thing that we know about batteries is that when you split one big battery into two smaller pieces, they are inherently not as efficient, however, it was not as bad as I feared, thankfully I was able to take the phone from day to night. Remember how I said that I used this device instead of my laptop for over 24 hours. I still needed to charge it every day. I used it just like a normal device, but I was on it all day long and it's still lasted. Sure, it drained a little bit later into the evening but I still felt completely comfortable that I would have enough battery reserves before I went to bed. As a rule of thumb, I would say if you get this device, depending on what you do, you'll wanna keep an eye on battery. You should expect it to take you from morning tonight, but you will wanna charge it completely probably at least once a day. The reason that I think battery life wasn't such a problem for me is because I use the outer screen so extensively. This is the screen that only has support for 60 hertz as the refresh rate and the interior screen is the one that has support for the much faster refresh rate, which is known to pull down more battery. The second factor is that there is a program on here called adaptive brightness and that is the default mode. And what that means is that when you're using the screen in a way that would take advantage of really smooth scrolling that you get with 120 hertz Then it's going to switch and use that if you're doing something static like I am right now just staring at a screen doing absolutely nothing. Then it's going to fall back to the 60 hertz, so it will actually conserve energy. As for your other specs, you've got your snapdragon 865 plus processor On every single galaxy fold, that means you're not going to have a different processor. If you buy it in a different region, you all get the same. There's also only one configuration with 256 gigabytes of onboard storage, no micro SD card and no water resistance. So you do want to be a little bit careful [MUSIC] As a piece of innovative technology, I am really impressed with what I see Samsung has made. Fantastic improvements to the first fold and as I said earlier transformed what was a concept a blueprint for foldable devices and now to see and use this device. It is Find its lux. It's actually seems like a device that somebody could have, that I can see someone having. Right now Samsung is treating this as a statement piece is something truly luxury. So I don't look at this and think that the device is overpriced and that Samsung needs to lower the cost. Because it's too big a barrier to entry and that is something that I felt for the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. So now for the question of whether you should buy it, you need to ask yourself what you value most. You've got to love technology in order to want this phone because it doesn't act the same way that a regular phone would. They cameras aren't going to be quite as good. They're still good, but they're not going to be the most amazing. You have to want to have this kind of hybrid device. That you think that you were taking videos off. If you think that you're going to get back on the couch and really use the tablet part and then close it up and take it undergo, then this could be a device that you can integrate very easily into your daily life. However it is still twice the price of a regular premium phone and therefore it's not for everyone. But I do think that it is worth watching even if you're never going to buy the device because the pace of development is really quite fast and it is so exciting and It's quite possible that a year from now the prices are going to come down and you might find yourself using a phone just like the Z fold.

Up Next

Motorola's Rollable Concept Phone Wraps on Your Wrist
240225-site-motorola-rollable-concept

Up Next

Motorola's Rollable Concept Phone Wraps on Your Wrist

Samsung's Concept Flip Phone Can Bend Both Ways
samsung-booth-tour-seq-00-03-28-11-still002

Samsung's Concept Flip Phone Can Bend Both Ways

Camera Test: Google Pixel Fold vs. OnePlus Open
thumbvs

Camera Test: Google Pixel Fold vs. OnePlus Open

Honor Reveals Concept Phone Purse at IFA 2023
purse-phone-site-image

Honor Reveals Concept Phone Purse at IFA 2023

Foldable Phones May Be the Future. In South Korea, They're the Present
1080-00-04-47-14-still001.png

Foldable Phones May Be the Future. In South Korea, They're the Present

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Review: Flip Phones Are Cool Again
z-flip-5-review-cnet-00-00-18-22-still003.png

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Review: Flip Phones Are Cool Again

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Is Thinner, Lighter and Gapless
230803-site-galaxy-fold-5-review-2

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Is Thinner, Lighter and Gapless

Galaxy Z Flip 5: First Impressions From Seoul, Korea
cnet-24-hours.png

Galaxy Z Flip 5: First Impressions From Seoul, Korea

Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs. Z Flip 3 and 4: How Do the Specs Stack Up?
230726-site-galaxy-z-flip-5-vs-z-flip-4-and-3-spec-comparison

Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs. Z Flip 3 and 4: How Do the Specs Stack Up?

Everything Revealed at Samsung's Summer Unpacked
samsung-unpacked-2023-clean

Everything Revealed at Samsung's Summer Unpacked

Tech Shows

The Apple Core
apple-core.png

The Apple Core

Alphabet City
alphabet-city.png

Alphabet City

CNET Top 5
top-5.png

CNET Top 5

The Daily Charge
the-daily-charge.png

The Daily Charge

What the Future
what-the-future.png

What the Future

Tech Today
tech-today.png

Tech Today

Cooley On Cars
on-cars.png

Cooley On Cars

Carfection
carfection.png

Carfection

Latest News

Android 15: See New Features in Action
yt-android-15-clean-1

Android 15: See New Features in Action

If Apple Makes Siri Like ChatGPT or Gemini, I'm Done
240516-site-hey-siri-lets-talk

If Apple Makes Siri Like ChatGPT or Gemini, I'm Done

Bose SoundLink Max Review: How Does It Compare to the Cheaper SoundLink Flex?
240514-site-bose-soundlink-max-2

Bose SoundLink Max Review: How Does It Compare to the Cheaper SoundLink Flex?

Hands-On With Huawei's Pura 70 Ultra
240515-winged-pura-70-ultra-00-01-30-05-still001.jpg

Hands-On With Huawei's Pura 70 Ultra

I Tried Three Fitness Apps to Help My Postpartum Recovery
cs-ai-coaching-seq-00-07-22-19-still001

I Tried Three Fitness Apps to Help My Postpartum Recovery

How Many Times Did Google Say AI at I/O 2024?
Every AI Thumbnail

How Many Times Did Google Say AI at I/O 2024?

I Tried Google's Project Astra
240513-site-google-project-astra-hands-on-v3

I Tried Google's Project Astra

Everything Google Just Announced at I/O 2024
240513-site-google-io-supercut-thumbnail-v2

Everything Google Just Announced at I/O 2024

Google Introduces Gemini AI Upgrades to Gmail and Chat
google-io-gemini-gmail-chip

Google Introduces Gemini AI Upgrades to Gmail and Chat

Google Brings Multistep Reasoning to Search
screenshot-2024-05-14-at-11-16-37am.png

Google Brings Multistep Reasoning to Search