The $2,000 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 is here. Samsung has tweaked a few things with the
design this time around, including a larger front screen, and adding a new supposedly
dust-resistant hinge. I think, you know, we should test that out. Let's get started.
[Intro]
There are a few more changes inside the box this time around as well. No more free wireless
earbuds. But they do include the corded USB-C headphones that I don't think I've ever seen
anyone use in real life. There is a 25 watt fast charger in the box, but most importantly,
this year's Fold 2 comes with even more warnings than last year's Fold 1. They added a no fingernails
warning which that one was probably my fault, it's also still not water resistant. And down
here they added a do not remove the screen protector warning which we can probably still
blame on MKBHD.
Now of course I wouldn't publicly say it's kind of nice to get my own warning label due
to my durability tests, but privately I would probably say that's kind of cool. The rest
of the phone looks pretty similar to last year's. There's still a small gap between
the two halves when it's folded closed. The biggest difference is probably the exterior
screen, which is way larger than last year's version. We'll get to the internal screen
in just a second. Let's start with the scratch test.
The new exterior screen of the Z Fold 2 is almost two inches larger. And as we can see
from the level 3 scratches, it's covered with a very nice plastic screen protector. Underneath
that screen protector though, the elongated screen appears to be made of glass – Gorilla
Glass Victus to be exact. And as we start to make our way up through the Mohs scale
of hardness, we see scratches at a level 6 with deeper grooves at a level 7. Just like
most other flagships on the market today. So far it's about what we expected.
Let's move onto the middle screen. I'll take special care not to accidentally poke the
screen this time around, since as we learned last year, sharp stabs tend to kill it. The
inner display is pretty much the same size as last year's, just this time around there's
no notch up in the corner, just a hole cut out for the front facing camera. It's a little
more futuristic looking. It does look like there's more than one screen protector installed
though. A semi-temporary rubber screen protector placed on top of the more permanent plastic
layer. I'm definitely not saying this one should be removed though since Samsung very
specifically said none of them were removable. But it kind of appears like this top one isn't
super important or structural.
Once again underneath that we're still seeing scratches at a level 2, with deeper grooves
at a level 3. The hardness of the folding display has not changed. Samsung still does
say there is a layer of ultra thin glass on the Fold 2, and there probably is, it's just
under this thick top plastic display. We'll have to dig around for it during the teardown
when I pull the display completely off of the phone. But yes indeed, the Galaxy Fold
2 can still be damaged by a fingernail. The soft plastic screen isn't a deal breaker of
course, it's just important to know how durable a phone is before you start using it, which
is kind of why I'm here.
The phone frame is still made from aluminum. No complaints there. There is a SIM card tray,
but no expandable memory unfortunately. The bottom of the Fold 2 has its loudspeaker and
USB-C port. The volume rocker is made from metal. But we'll wait on the fingerprint scanner
for a bit later in the video.
Up top there is a microphone and another speaker. As a side note, if $2000 is a bit hard to
swallow and you still want a folding phone, you can always just get a Fold from last year
which does pretty much the exact same thing and now costs substantially less since there's
a new version now. A penny saved is a penny earned.
The back of the phone does have wireless and reverse wireless charging, along with it's
12 megapixel telephoto camera at the bottom, 12 megapixel normal camera in the center,
and another 12 megapixel ultra wide camera up top, all protected by glass. There's also
a 10 megapixel selfie camera on the front display and on the inner display. Cameras
are kind of all over the place on this thing and obviously the massive iconic camera bump
is still there to match the rest of Samsung's 2020 phones.
The hinge design is not very simple, unlike the Microsoft Duo or the Motorola Razer, but
it is made from metal. Inside the Fold is a highly complex and complicated conglomerate
of choreographed high caliber cogs in concise conditions, to hopefully avoid capitulating
to any cantankerous calamities. You know how it is.
The Samsung logo is inlaid with shiny letters. Kind of fun. And of course there is the thin
plastic ridge around the inside display to keep the two halves from clanking shut on
top of each other. One thing that's found fairly common here on planet earth is...earth.
Might even be safe to say that every country has a bit of it. So it's important that a
phone be able to survive a bit of dust and dirt since it's everywhere. With a highly
scientific assortment of pebbles and dust that I found that one time I went outside.
We can see if any of it will make it's way inside of the hinge. Samsung supposedly added
some bristles inside to help keep the dust clear. And so far it appears to be working.
The opening motion is still as smooth as it was when I pulled it out of the box.
[Air blowing]
We'll blow it off for good measure. And still nothing. Nice work Samsung. We'll try one
more time since I still have some more rocks left. But so far it's handling the dust way
better than last year's model. We'll definitely have to check out those bristles from the
inside during the teardown. Something that isn't working real great though is the fingerprint
reader. Apparently it doesn't like dirt on itself, nor on my finger. It took a really
long time for it to even register my fingerprint. And once we added some scratches to it...it
was completely game over. The fingerprint scanner on the Z Fold 2 is pretty picky and
not scratch or dust resistant.
Another improvement over last year's Fold is the interior 120 Hertz refresh rate. It
seems like every year those numbers just keep getting higher and higher. Kind of like the
global temperature. The inner AMOLED screen lasted 15 seconds under the heat from my lighter.
You can see the plastic has warped a bit from the heat. The outer screen though is way more
interesting. After about 15 seconds we get an awesome glowing red looking asteroid thing.
Which quite honestly is the only calamity we haven't seen yet in 2020. At this rate
we'll probably get one by Christmas. And even though 2020 has been crazy, I've been a pretty
big fan of the phones that have come out.
The Z Fold 2 is definitely one of the coolest. The only thing that would make it better though
is if you could see the inside from the outside. Now, I'm a little biased of course, since
this is my own Skin I've created with dbrand. But the insides of the Z Fold 2 look pretty
amazing. Our Teardown Skin is like an x-ray inside of the phone that doesn't void any
warranties. I've had a Teardown Skin on my own phone for the last year or so, and we've
got Teardown Skins designed for more than 50 different devices now. I leave little Easter
eggs in the design like “do not disassemble, bend, or send to Jerry Rig Everything.”
Or the more important one: “Vote November 3rd.” And the “glass is glass” written
on the blue ribbon. There are a few other things you'll have to find for yourself. I'll
leave a link down in the description so you can grab a Teardown Skin for your own device.
Now it's time for the bend test. The hinge is still working great at this point, even
after everything. And the phone can indeed handle a few slams. But the finely tuned hinge
still has me worried. Even though it did survive last year for the most part, it's still rather
unnerving to see something that looks so fragile be so strong. And this year's Galaxy Fold
2 is no different. Bending the Fold the wrong direction reveals the impious amounts of strength.
Logic would imply that the phone would snap right down there in the middle. But here we
are with the uncrackable cracker. Nice work science. This phone might scratch easier than
chocolate on a sunny day, and cost more than Trump's taxes, but it is most definitely built
extremely well. I still think if you want to save some money you can just get last year's
version. But either way, I've got a Teardown Skin made for both of them. And I'll put the
link in the description.
Let me know what you think of the Fold. Are you ready for the future? Or do you think
the price needs to drop substantially before it's more appealing? Let me know down in the
comments. Hit that subscribe button if you haven't already. Come hang out with me on
Instagram and Twitter. And thanks a ton for watching. I'll see you around.