Samsung unveils foldable Galaxy Z Fold 3 with S Pen support

Samsung has finally shown off the Galaxy Z Fold 3, the South Korean tech giant’s latest flagship foldable handset.

The smartphone offers several new features, spec upgrades and most notably, now supports the company’s S Pen stylus (RIP Note series).

First off, you won’t sacrifice any screen real estate with the Z Fold 3, as the device still features a 6.2-inch cover screen and a 7.6-inch inner display. However, the foldable smartphone does include a slimmer and lighter body, dropping 10g from its predecessor’s weight.

What’s most impressive about the new foldable is that it’s IPX8 waterproof, which means that it can be submerged past 1m of water. Additionally, it offers what Samsung calls ‘Armor Aluminum,’ which it claims is the hardest material ever used in a smartphone. You’ll also find a Gorilla Glass Victus display and a new protective film that Samsung says is 10 percent more durable than its predecessor’s.

Another impressive feature to make its way to the Z Fold 3 is the ‘Under Display Camera.’ Samsung created this by locating pixels over the main camera lens, hiding the phone’s shooter.

The Z Fold 3 also works with two different S Pen styluses, the S Pen Pro and the S Pen Fold Edition. The Fold Edition is only compatible with the Z Fold 3 and lacks Bluetooth, whereas the S Pen Pro works with other compatible Samsung products like the Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Book devices.

111User interface-wise, Samsung has better adapted One UI for the larger screen, included more intuitive interactions and added app optimization through a new ‘Labs’ feature that forces apps to adapt to a larger display.

You’re now able to customize the size of the menu with different apps, like Samsung’s Calendar app, for example, and can pin the taskbar. Other new UI features include the ability to open new tabs by dragging the link to the right side of the display and dropping it and creating a split-screen with the dragged link.

Further, thanks to Labs, users can now enable multi-screen support on all apps. Samsung has partnered with a number of app developers like Netflix, Slack, YouTube, Spotify, TikTok and more to create a more optimized experience.

The Z Fold 3 also offers Dolby Atmos and upgraded stereo speakers. Lastly, the foldable smartphone offers a matte finish and comes in ‘Phantom Black,’ ‘Phantom Green’ and ‘Phantom Silver.’

The 256GB Z Fold 3 costs $2,269.99 CAD and the 512GB variant costs $2,409 (Phantom Black only) and both are available through several carriers, retailers and the Samsung Experience Store, you can pre-order the device today and it releases on August 27th.

Alongside the Z Fold 3, Samsung also showed off the clamshell Z Flip 3.