Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G vs Galaxy Z Fold 2
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 7.6-inch Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G) that was released on August 11, 2021, against the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus and came out 12 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G
- Waterproof body (IPX8 classification)
- Delivers 30% higher peak brightness (929 against 715 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- 12% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (779K versus 695K)
- More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 12
- The phone is 1-year newer
- More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 888 5G
- 13% faster in single-core GeekBench 5 test: 1106 and 975 points
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Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Performance
CPU/GPU performance in apps and games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview score
Final comparison evaluation
Value for money
You can enter your local price of these phones (in USD or any other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 7.6 inches | 7.6 inches |
| Resolution | 1768 x 2208 pixels | 1768 x 2208 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 22.5:18 | 22.5:18 |
| PPI | 374 ppi | 373 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | Yes |
| Max rated brightness | 500 nits | 700 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1200 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88.8% | 89.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 97.3% | 99.9% |
| PWM | 245 Hz | 219 Hz |
| Response time | 6.4 ms | 8 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 158.2 mm (6.23 inches) | 159.2 mm (6.27 inches) |
| Width | 128.1 mm (5.04 inches) | 128.2 mm (5.05 inches) |
| Thickness | 6.4 mm (0.25 inches) | 6.9 mm (0.27 inches) |
| Weight | 271 g (9.56 oz) | 279 g (9.84 oz) |
| Waterproof | IPX8 | No |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Green | Black, Brown |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in home button | Yes, in home button |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G | Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus |
| Max clock | 2840 MHz | 3100 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55) - 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78) - 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1) |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 585 Silver (Cortex-A55) - 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 585 Gold (Cortex-A77) - 1 core at 3.1 GHz: Kryo 585 Prime (Cortex-A77) |
| L3 cache | 4 MB | 4 MB |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 7 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 660 | Adreno 650 |
| GPU clock | 840 MHz | 645 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1720 GFLOPS | ~1365 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 207270 | 173487 |
| GPU | 272918 | 270523 |
| Memory | 144935 | 107888 |
| UX | 151113 | 138056 |
| Total score | 779970 | 695083 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 39.8 °C | 42.9 °C |
| Stability | 64% | 82% |
| Graphics test | 31 FPS | 25 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5332 | 4180 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 11979 | 10043 |
| Video editing | 7637 | 7173 |
| Photo editing | 29761 | 29365 |
| Data manipulation | 10530 | 10043 |
| Writing score | 15571 | 12907 |
AnTuTu 9 Rating (126th and 178th place)
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 2750 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256, 512 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 12) |
| ROM | One UI 5.1 | One UI 4.1.1 |
| OS size | 39 GB | 35.4 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4400 mAh | 4500 mAh |
| Charge power | 25 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (10 W) | Yes (11 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes, (wireless) |
| Fast charging | Yes (33% in 30 min) | Yes (30% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:46 hr | 1:55 hr |
| Web browsing | 07:38 hr | 08:02 hr |
| Watching video | 11:50 hr | 10:45 hr |
| Gaming | 04:51 hr | 04:29 hr |
| Standby | 75 hr | 92 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 2x | Optical, 2x |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 123° | 123° |
| Lenses | 3 (12 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP) | 3 (12 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens | - 12 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.76", Sony IMX555 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.76", Samsung S5K2LD (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens | - 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 52 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.6", SK Hynix Hi-1337 (CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 52 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.6" (CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens | - 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/3.06", Sony IMX258 (Exmor-RS CMOS) |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/3.1" (CMOS) |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G from DxOMark | - |
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 10 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3648 x 2736 | 3648 x 2736 |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | 2 microns | 1.22 microns |
| Sensor type | CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.2" |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.2 | 5.1 |
| Bluetooth features | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, SBAS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | - | Standby |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | 20 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | August 2021 | August 2020 |
| Release date | August 2021 | September 2020 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.291 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 1.453 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
These smartphones have a lot in common, but we would recommend the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G. It has a better display, performance, software, camera, connectivity, and design.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 88