Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 Too Fragile?

Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 Too Fragile? If you want to take it to the beach  – maybe. Folding phones have been making a lot of noise in the tech community for a while now and just this month Samsung dropped two new folding phones on us. One of them being the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3. Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 too fragile?  Even if you didn’t keep up with folding phones it’s not hard to imagine why fragility is a major issue to consider. Unlike a normal phone, it has a folding softer screen and a hinge in the middle which are two areas to examine before answering that question.

We all remember how Galaxy Z Fold 1 wasn’t sturdy at all, they tried improving on that with Galaxy Z Fold 2 but it still wasn’t sturdy enough and not even waterproof. A foldable phone with a hinge, without waterproofing, means it’s vulnerable.

Is The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 Too Fragile?

After the launch of Galaxy Z Fold, it gained the impression of being fragile and flimsy but it seems like Samsung is set to change that perception with this model as they try to make their toughest folding phone yet.

Samsung has made it clear that their focus, this time, was on making folding phones more durable and work on their weaknesses.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 uses Armor Aluminum and happens to be the first phone to do so. This makes the phone 10% more durable than the previous models, not only that but Samsung claims that Armor Aluminum is the strongest material out of all others used in manufacturing phones.

Using Armor Aluminum also means that the Galaxy Samsung Z Fold 3 is 10g lighter than the previous model but it is still significantly heavier than a standard phone. It measures 67.1 x 158.2 x 16 – 14.4mm so for people who have been complaining about how folding phones are heavy to carry around in their pocket, it seems like this will be the case for quite some time.

That’s not all, this time Samsung has decided to cover the front and back with Corning Gorilla Glass (when folded) Victus which as we all know scratch-resistant but that’s not the reason why. It is the strongest Gorilla Glass which will make it 80% more durable than before. It also uses a tougher protective film, PET protective layer, over the foldable display making it more sturdy. However when open to its mini tablet form the plastic screen feels soft to the touch when using the pen. In an ideal world, surely this screen would be tougher.

So we have the strongest Aluminum and strongest Gorilla glass used for phones on other parts, it definitely makes the phone sturdier with a stronger hinge, giving an overall premium feel. But what about waterproofing?

Well to everyone’s surprise the whole phone is IPX8 water-resistant, including the hinge. They didn’t make the hinge watertight but actually coated the components inside the hinge and sealed each half of the phone off. Sadly, IPX8 doesn’t include dust resistance so while you can afford to drop while taking a bath, use it in rain, or in a pool, you can’t take it with you on a beach trip because if any dust or sand gets inside your phone it can damage it.

Should you be worried about the Z Fold 3 being fragile?

The answer is no, you shouldn’t encounter any problem or feel like it’s a fragile phone during normal use. Galaxy Samsung Z Fold 3 is the toughest folding phone in the market. This phone was built to be durable.

The only setback if we talk about durability is this phone not being dust resistant but again making a foldable phone waterproof and dust resistant is a very complicated and hard process, with the hinge being the main challenge.

Now that we have established that Galaxy Samsung Z Fold 3 is not a fragile phone (with normal use) what else does it have to offer?

Basic Specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3

You get a 6.2-inch screen display with one hole-punch camera on the front and 3 cameras at the back, with a dimension of 158.2 x 128.1 x 6.4 mm. When you unfold the phone you get a larger 7.7-inch display and you will find another front camera underneath the screen that hides itself pretty neatly, when unfolded have a 158.2 x 67.1 x 14.4-16 mm dimension. It has no headphone jack but one USB Type-C port.

Samsun Galaxy Z Fold 3 is available in three colors; Phantom Black, Phantom Green, and Phantom Silver. Lastly, it supports dual sim and 5G.

Display

The Z Fold 3 comes with a 6.2-inch display at the front and a 7.6-inch main screen (its lost 0.09 cm in width) when you unfold just like previous models but now it boasts an HD+ Dynamic AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate which is quite impressive and you’ll notice how smoothly everything runs as soon as you start using the phone (gamers will rejoice). While the cover display doesn’t support the S Pen, the 7.6-inch internal folding screen allows you to run wild with your creativity when using the S pen.

Enhanced Experience

Without good hardware, a good foldable phone like the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is nothing. The new foldable phone, unsurprisingly, has a Snapdragon 888 SoC under the hood. A step up from the Snapdragon 865 Plus on Galaxy Z Fold 2. The smartphone comes with a choice of 12GB RAM and 256GB storage to match the improved performance with impeccable memory. There’s also a 16GB + 512GB option.

While all other mobile manufacturers are attempting to cram higher and higher capacity batteries into their devices in order to differentiate themselves, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 has missed the mark. The phone comes with a 4,400mAh battery with 25W wired fast charging capabilities. This Samsung foldable still supports 10W rapid charging and 4.5W wireless charging reserve. This means that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 will not have a very impressive battery-life, instead we can expect it to be shorter than other normal phones since it boasts two screens at 120Hz which are not small at all. So if you’re planning to go on a long road trip, I suggest you keep a power bank with you.

The Android 11-based One UI and customized apps built to take advantage of the folding internal display enhance the native experience, such as the multi-active window feature which allows you to run 2 to 3 apps on the screen side by side, new taskbar feature, and flex mode where you can fold it like a laptop and apps adjust accordingly for example on YouTube you will get video display on the top screen while the title, comments, etc are displayed on the bottom

With the S Pen, the experience is much better. The S Pen Fold Edition and the S Pen Pro are also supported with the Galaxy Z Fold 3.

While the S Pen Pro with Bluetooth remote works with other Galaxy devices, the Galaxy Z Fold 3-exclusive Fold Edition stylus – which does not have Bluetooth – is somewhat shorter and has a retractable tip to protect the foldable screen. Both the S Pen and the phone are offered separately and there is no place on the phone to store them. But Samsung has S Pen holster cases available for the new foldable.

What are Cameras Specs of the Samsung Galaxy Fold 3?

The major distinction in optics when compared with previous models, is on the inside, at the foldable panel, where you get an under-display camera, or Under Panel Camera(UPC) as Samsung calls it. This camera technology allows the user to use the entire 7.6-inch display and features a 4MP lens with an f/1.8 aperture and an 80-degree field of vision. A 10MP lens is also housed in a camera hole-punch on the front display of the phone.

Nothing has changed cosmetically on the back of the phone in comparison to the previous models. Corning Gorilla Glass protects the triple camera module. It offers the same 12MP lens options as the other two cameras, as well as an LED flash. One f/1.8 wide-angle shooter, one ultra-wide f/2.2 camera with a 123-degree field of view, and a 12MP telephoto camera.

It can shoot 4k videos at 60 fps, 180p videos at 60 or 240 fps and 720p at 960 fps

On this gadget, the firmware for the nearly similar cameras as the Z Fold 2 has been improved. The software-based capabilities, which are currently exclusive to the Galaxy Z Fold 3, will gradually trickle down to the Galaxy Z Fold 2 over time.

The Verdict

Folding phones due to their hinge and folding screens are seen as fragile but Samsung has addressed all those issues. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is without a doubt the toughest folding phone you can buy. Besides the premium look, it has a sturdy and solid built which ensures that this phone will be a good companion. The only downsides are the cameras and the battery.

We don’t see any major upgrade in battery size, considering it has 2 screens with one almost the size of a Tablet it drains the battery faster. The cameras on this phone are pretty impressive and high quality but not as good as flagship phones are boasting nowadays, yes you can take very high-quality pictures with this phone but maybe not the best.

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