Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 2 was initially revealed on 5 August alongside the Galaxy Note 20 series, followed by a full reveal on 1 September, but how does it compare to its predecessor - the Galaxy Fold?

We've compared the specifications of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 against the Galaxy Fold to see what changes have been made for the second generation and how the two devices differ.

Design

  • Both bookstyle designs
  • Larger external display on Z Fold 2
  • More refined design on Z Fold 2

The Samsung Galaxy Fold features a book-style design with a vertical fold. When folded (160.9 x 62.8 x 17.1mm), there's a triple camera on the rear and a dual camera on the front. There's also an external display in the middle of the front of the device. 

When unfolded (160.9 x 117.9 x 7.6mm), there's a large flexible display that folds in the middle. The frame is made from stainless steel and the device comes in two colour options of Space Silver and Cosmos Black.

The Galaxy Z Fold 2 features the same book-style design with a vertical fold, differentiating it from the Galaxy Z Flip. There are two colours: Mystic Bronze and Mystic Black. There are also four hinge customisation options: Metallic Silver, Metallic Red, Metallic Blue, Metallic Gold.

When folded, the Z Fold 2 measure 159.2 x 68 x 16.8mm, while unfolded it measures 159.2 x 128.2 x 6.9mm, making the it slimmer but wider than the Fold. The hinge has also been redesigned, allowing for opening at different angles, and the gap between the hinge and display has been reduced.

The camera housing on the rear of the Z Fold 2 is like the Note 20 and there is a punch hole camera on the front, and on the right side of the internal display. The external display is also much larger, stretching from edge to edge with slimmer bezels.

Neither the Galaxy Fold or Galaxy Z Fold 2 are waterproof.

Display

  • Galaxy Fold: 7.3-inch main, 4.6-inch external
  • Galaxy Z Fold 2: 7.6-inch main, 6.2-inch external

The Samsung Galaxy Fold has a 7.3-inch display when unfolded, along with a 4.6-inch external display when folded. The main display is AMOLED with a resolution of 2152 x 1536 that delivers a pixel density of 362ppi. 

The smaller external display has a resolution of 1680 x 720 pixels, offering a pixel density of 399ppi. It too is an AMOLED display.

For the Galaxy Z Fold 2, the main display has increased to a 7.6-inch screen. It offers an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, like the Galaxy S20 series and it has a resolution of 2208 x 1768 pixels, delivering a pixel density of 372ppi.

Meanwhile, the external display has increased to 6.2-inches, filling the exterior rather than sitting in the middle like the original. The external display sticks at the standard 60Hz refresh rate like the original Fold and it has a resolution of 2260 x 816 pixels for a pixel density of 388ppi. 

Hardware and specs

  • Galaxy Fold: SD855, 12GB RAM, 512GB storage, 4235mAh, 4G/5G
  • Galaxy Z Fold 2: SD865+, 12GB RAM, 256GB storage, 4500mAh, 5G

The Samsung Galaxy Fold runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, supported by 12GB of RAM. There is 512GB of internal storage but no microSD slot for storage expansion.

Under the hood, the Galaxy Fold has a dual battery, which has a combined capacity of 4380mAh in the LTE model and 4235mAh in the 5G model.

The Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ processor supported by 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage with no microSD support. That means the RAM is the same as the original, while storage has been cut in half.

The Z Fold 2 is a 5G capable phone only, with a combined battery capacity of 4500mAh, which is a little more than the 5G model of the original Fold.

Cameras

  • Galaxy Fold: Triple rear, dual front, additional front
  • Galaxy Z Fold 2: Triple rear, two punch hole front

The Samsung Galaxy Fold comes with a triple rear camera comprised of a 16-megapixel ultra-wide camera, a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera and a 12-megapixel telephoto camera.

The front camera when unfolded is a dual camera comprised of a 10-megapixel selfie camera and an 8-megapixel depth camera. There is also a 10-megapixel selfie camera on the front of the device when folded.

The Galaxy Z Fold 2 has a 12-megapixel main camera, 12-megapixel telephoto sensor and 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera. 

The front cameras are both punch hole cameras, and both are 10-megapixel sensors.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 offers a similar but much-improved design to the original Galaxy Fold, along with a larger external display, smaller bezels and hole-punch cameras for a more streamlined appearance. 

The hinge has also been redesigned, becoming more useful thanks to its new capability of various positions and the device is slimmer when folded too, making for a much nicer looking device overall.

The internal hardware has been updated for the Z Fold 2 as well - as is the case with any successor - and its camera setup might have lost a few megapixels but that's not to say the results won't be better.

We will update this feature when we have reviewed the Galaxy Z Fold 2 in full. For now, check out our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 feature for more in depth information about the device.