The Galaxy Z Fold3 5G brings the best of the Note to Foldables.

I imagine a lot of people will be wondering what to do for their new phone after the Unpacked event in 2021 when no new Galaxy Note was announced…when it usually is. Should I get the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G, or cross my fingers that Samsung will un-pause the Note series, or buy the Galaxy Note20 Ultra? But never fear, the answer to the question is the ever-meme-able “Why not both?”

Because, in many ways, the Galaxy Z Fold3 is “both.” It brings some of the best features of the Note series to the folding form factor.

From big screen to bigger screen(s), and 2 new S Pens¹ (sold separately), including one that’s compatible with select other S Pen supporting Galaxy devices, plus so much more to help find your balance in life .
 

Like with the Note series, the Galaxy Z Fold3 now has the capability for 120Hz on the cover screen for a super smooth scrolling, playing and viewing experience.

Along with it, the refresh rate is dynamic, so the phone learns what your behaviours are in the first few weeks of use and adapts, maxing out at 120 Hz and full brightness. This is all to make sure your battery is used as efficiently as possible and you don’t need to put your life on hold for a few hours while your phone charges as frequently as you might otherwise, or with previous generations of the Fold.

The foldable screen is now an Eco² display, making it 29% brighter than the previous Fold generation – and you’ve got an under display camera in the upper right of the internal screen, so your working, playing and living usage of the phone isn’t interrupted by a pesky little camera punch hole on the big internal screen.

The foldable screen itself, as we’ve mentioned previously, has been re-engineered with a new layer structure for greater durability – a PET screen protective film, with 80% more durability than the earlier generation. To add to it, the cover screen and rear of the phone uses Gorilla Glass Victus, which is 50% less breakable than Gorilla Glass 6.

Plus, this is the first generation where there’s water resistance, great news for klutzes like me. The Galaxy Z Fold3 is rated IPX8 – this translates basically that it can survive submersion in up to 1.5 metres depth of fresh water for up to 30 minutes. If it were me, though, I wouldn’t test it…and I’d get it dry ASAP regardless – I don’t know about you, but my life is on my phone.

Yup, you read that correctly, the S Pen was engineered to work with the foldable screen (and on the front facing screen of the Fold, as well, of course). Samsung and Wacom put in hard yards to get this right.

There are 2 different S Pens for the Z Fold3, sold separately – the S Pen Fold Edition, designed specifically for the Fold3 and weighing in at 6.7 grams, and the S Pen Pro, weighing it at 13.8g with a bunch of capabilities, including being battery run (which is why it’s a bit heavier )¹.

One of the improvements you’ll likely notice, if only subliminally – the latency on this S Pen Pro is 68% faster than the S Pen generation with the Note 20 Ultra – from 9ms previously to 2.8ms now.

The team also worked together to create a retractable tip to work seamlessly with the foldable screen on the interior of the Galaxy Z Fold3. And the foldable screen/film has been redesigned itself, with about 80% more durability than the Z Fold2.

Plus, the S Pen Fold Edition has a special case available (purchased separately, of course) that means you can keep it safe with your phone, along with being able to use air commands and handwriting.

As well as being compatible with select other S Pen supporting Galaxy devices and Bluetooth enabled, the S Pen Pro can pair with devices by click when the devices are already connected to the same Samsung account, mark up PDFs and be tracked with “Find My S Pen”. You can also use Air Action features with the S Pen Pro.

Both The S Pen Pro and the S Pen Fold can take advantage of the S Pen to text feature which needs to be enabled in your settings, where you can write directly into the search box and it’ll get transformed into text, currently available primarily for Internet browsers, though more app developers should be getting on board. Plus you’re able to edit your text (delete typos, remove or add spaces) with specific pen gestures in all languages supported by Samsung Keyboard. It makes life easy when you don’t have to change contexts or ways of entering in information between pen and keyboard in order to GSD.

What are you most excited about with the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G?

^{₁ S Pen Pro and S Pen Fold edition sold separately by Optus, not included in the purchase of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3.}