Samsung’s foldable phone future is nearly here. The official Galaxy Z Fold 2 release date is Friday, September 18, according to the company at a launch event today.
It’s the sequel to the original Fold, which we called ‘the most forward-looking phone you shouldn’t buy.’ It just had too many reliability issues and a small front screen so we couldn’t t recommend it for the price, even though we loved the innovation.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 price is $1999 / £1,799, so it remains exceptionally high for a smartphone. But not every phone, including the new Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, folds in half (if your Note phone folds in half, you have problems).
It’s the revised Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 specs that will make you happy you waited for this second-generation foldable phone. Gone is the bezel-heavy front screen, as Samsung fixed our No. 1 complaint about the original. It’s now 6.2 inches on front.
Unfolded, you get a tablet-like 7.6-inch screen, now with a variable 120Hz refresh rate. When propped up in flex mode (half open), the software has been tweaked to show a special split-screen configuration in certain apps, as seen on the Z Flip.
It has Qualcomm’s fastest chipset, the Snapdragon 865 Plus, and 12GB of RAM. The internal storage is 256GB (there’s no 512GB version) and without a microSD card slot on this phone. Finally, it has 5G – that wasn’t something we saw on the Galaxy Fold worldwide when it first launched in October 2019.
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Cut to the chase
- What is it? Samsung’s newest foldable phone
- When the release date? Friday, September 18
- How much does it cost? $1,999 / £1,799
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 release date and price
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 release date Friday, September 18 with pre-orders going on sale immediately or almost immediately, depending on where you live.
It’ll cost $1,999 / £1,799, and there’s only a 256GB model with 5G. There are no variants when it comes to internal storage and network connectivity this time.
There is a Thom Browne Edition, which costs a hefty $3,299 / £2,999. Pre-orders also go live right away, but it does come with some unique styling and a Galaxy Watch 3, Galaxy Buds Live and custom accessories.
Design and display
The Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 comes in new colors: Mystic Bronze and Mystic Black. But what you’re really here for is the foldable screen, aren’t you.
Unfolded, there’s a 7.6-inch screen that’s 1.12x bigger than the original Fold (that had a 7.3-inch screen). This AMOLED display is capable of a QXGA+ resolution, but dials things back down to HD when you’re in the 120Hz refresh rate mode.
Folded, you get a separate 6.2-inch HD display, what Samsung calls its ‘Cover Display’. It’s 1.63x bigger than original Fold (4.6 inches), and that’s where we see the biggest improvement on the new Fold 2. There’s a single punch-hole camera at the top middle of the screen.
Samsung has detailed the hinge mechanism, which has been redesigned from the original. Apparently Samsung has taken inspiration from vacuum cleaners, adding tiny bristles to keep the hinge clean and clear of dirt and dust, although you won’t see these as they’re housed inside the hinge mechanism.
The original Fold had durability issues and hopefully, the new phone will avoid those.
The phone comes in two colors – Mystic Bronze, which Samsung is pushing as an option for all its Unpacked 2020 devices, and Mystic Black.
If you need more than Samsung’s official renders and pictures offer, check out this hands-on video recently uploaded to TikTok, showing various screens on the phone and how it looks both opened and closed.
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 specs and features
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 will be 5G-compatible in all regions – the original Fold was in some regions but not others.
It has a 4,500mAh battery, which would be a fair size for a power pack in a normal smartphone, but if you find yourself using the large screen often it might not last you a full day.
That’s all we know so far, but ahead of the September 1 event we’ll update this article with anything new that the company confirms.