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00:00Hey guys, I'm Tom the Tech Chap, and this is the brand new Galaxy Fold 3, and one of
00:05the first questions I was asked when I brought this home was will I be switching from my
00:09S21 Ultra, which has been my daily driver for the past few months, and the answer is
00:14no.
00:16In fact, as impressive as the new Fold 3 is, I'm pretty convinced the S21 Ultra, or indeed
00:21actually the Flip 3, is a much better option for almost everyone.
00:26Let's start with the price, and in the UK this is £1,600, and this is £1,200 for the
00:33same spec, and it's actually £50 cheaper than that if you're happy to go with 128
00:37storage.
00:38And that doesn't really take into account any discounts or deals that you might get
00:41on this because it's about 7 months old now.
00:44Okay, so this is a lot more expensive, but then we are getting two screens, five camera
00:48lenses, including this very nifty underscreen camera, and it folds.
00:53I mean, who doesn't love a bit of folding action?
00:56Whereas this is just another glass rectangle like every other phone on the market.
01:00So in terms of having an innovative design, a bigger tablet screen experience, and while
01:04just being able to show off to your mates a little bit, the Fold is definitely the winner.
01:08And particularly with the Fold 3's IPX8 water resistance and its more durable screen, I
01:13definitely feel more confident actually using this than I did with the previous models.
01:17But the thing is, as someone who's bought both the Fold and the S21 Ultra myself, outside
01:22of Samsung's review samples, as much as I love how this looks, I feel like it's going
01:27to be the same situation as the Fold 2 where after a few weeks, I'll just want to go back
01:31to the S21 Ultra.
01:33Although I must admit, I do prefer the physical fingerprint reader on the Fold rather than
01:37the in-screen one on the S21.
01:39Plus there is something very satisfying about being able to open it up and having that big
01:44tablet screen experience, particularly if the app is well optimized for it.
01:49I don't think the Fold is a gimmick.
01:50I think if you really do want that tablet experience, I think it's a genuinely lovely
01:54device and also if you are a bit of a sort of enthusiast user and you want the extra
01:58screen real estate for multitasking, then I think there is definitely an audience for
02:03this and also if you want to just show off a little bit.
02:05But in day-to-day life, I do find something like the S21 Ultra a lot more practical.
02:09It's more comfortable in my pocket because while it is a little bit shorter, just a tiny
02:15bit, it's obviously a lot thinner than the Fold.
02:17That's where the Flip 3 I think comes into its own because it is a lot more comfortable.
02:21I also don't have to decide between a slightly too small cover screen and a slightly too
02:26big tablet screen when I'm on the go.
02:28For me at least, it feels like the Fold is missing that kind of Goldilocks screen size
02:32somewhere in between.
02:33I'm often tapping the wrong letter when I'm using the cover screen, but then it's
02:36always a two-handed job when it's opened up in tablet mode.
02:41I also have to say I'm not as impressed by the under-screen camera as I thought I'd
02:45be.
02:46The problem with this is Samsung's had to downgrade that under-screen camera to a pretty
02:49average 4 megapixel shooter, which they just recommend using for video calls and using
02:54for face unlocking, not as a proper photography camera.
02:58It's certainly a step up over a hole punch or a big chunky notch in the corner, but it
03:02is still there.
03:03It's more camouflaged than hidden and I think it feels a bit like a first-generation tech.
03:09The other problem with the design is the aspect ratio because this tablet is great for most
03:14games and websites, but when it comes to posts that use feeds like any social media,
03:19you either get chunky letterboxing or it just doesn't fill the whole space.
03:23Most content is just better suited to this kind of regular phone shape and size.
03:28Okay, what about performance though?
03:30Because this has been out for about six or seven months now, is the Fold 3 faster and
03:35technically higher spec?
03:36Well, no.
03:38There's no Snapdragon 888+, it uses the same chip as the S21 Ultra, same RAM, same
03:43storage.
03:44There are two caveats though, because the Fold tops out with 12 gigs of RAM, whereas
03:48this actually can come with up to 16 if you go for the 512 storage option.
03:53So bizarrely, even though this is probably more of a multitasking device, you can get
03:57more RAM on the S21 Ultra.
03:59And secondly, all models of both the Fold and the Flip, regardless of region, use the
04:04Snapdragon 888, whereas in the UK and some countries, the S21 still use the Exynos 2100.
04:11But as you can see from these results, there's really not much between them now and actually
04:14the Exynos can be faster in some tests, but it's still worth bearing in mind.
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05:05Then there's the S Pen and outside of the Note series and the Galaxy tablets, only the
05:09S21 Ultra and the Fold 3 support it.
05:14Although this is a slight win for the Fold 3 here as both the S Pen Fold Edition and
05:18the S Pen Pro have the fastest response time on any Galaxy device at 2.8ms versus about
05:249ms or so on the S21 Ultra.
05:27So doodling and drawing will be a touch more responsive on the Fold.
05:31But still, neither feel as convenient as a proper Galaxy Note where you don't need an
05:35awkward carry case sleeve thing for the pen.
05:38But I suppose the tablet size screen plus that faster response time does make the Fold
05:43a better choice if you are a big S Pen user.
05:46Okay, lastly, I'll tell you what really does stop me from switching to the Fold except
05:50for the price.
05:51And that is the camera because while these are very good and we do have five lenses,
05:56they are not as good as the S21 Ultra which came out, as I say, about seven months ago.
06:01And side by side, while there aren't a huge amount of differences, particularly in good
06:05In terms of overall quality and also having a significantly better zoom, I mean up to
06:1030 times on this is actually pretty usable, the S21 Ultra is the clear winner when it
06:14comes to the camera which is a little bit disappointing.
06:17Although on the flip side, the Fold 3 has that advantage of being able to use the cover
06:20screen as a viewfinder so you can more easily take selfies with the main higher quality
06:24camera and also see yourself when someone's taking a photo.
06:29But putting the S21 Ultra to one side just for a moment, the Fold 3 is still a big step
06:34up from last year's Fold 2.
06:36It's a little bit thinner and lighter but you can't really tell the difference in your
06:39hand.
06:40But the extra durability of the screen and with that water resistance, the new chip,
06:44the faster 120Hz cover screen, the slightly hidden camera and of course the S Pen support
06:49all add up to make this feel like a real refinement.
06:53I just wish we had a proper step up in the cameras and maybe a more significant price
06:57cut like we've seen on the Flip 3 and it is still a bit of a chunky monkey.
07:04Now with all that said, I have only had this for about a week or so now so I will give
07:08it some more time.
07:09I've switched my SIM to it so I am properly using this as my everyday phone but I can
07:13tell you already that as I say similar to my Fold 2 experience, I already kind of want
07:18to just go back to this.
07:19It's just a bit more comfortable and practical in everyday life.
07:23As much as this is very much a showy off kind of cool piece of tech, when you want your
07:28phone, when you're sort of running and gunning or you're late for an Uber and you need to
07:31check something or respond to an email very quickly, I kind of just want to go back to
07:35my regular phone.
07:37That could be muscle memory, that could just be that I'm not really fully taking advantage
07:40of the Fold and I'm using it incorrectly.
07:43Don't get me wrong, this is still a fantastic device.
07:46For some people, this will be the dream phone slash tablet thing but for me, when it comes
07:52to everyday life and practicality and also affordability to some extent, this is the
07:57better option.
07:58But I do want to hold out for the Flip 3 because I think that's actually a lot more exciting.
08:03It's a lot more affordable at about £950 so £400 or so less than the Flip last year
08:09and it's also the closest to just using a regular phone when it's unfolded plus you
08:13have that handy cover screen.
08:15But outside of the Flip and the Fold, I think the two phones that may convince me to upgrade
08:20in the next few months would be either the iPhone 13 Pro Max, whatever that ends up being
08:25called, and also the Pixel 6 Pro.
08:26I can't wait for that and to see what Google does with that new Tensor Core chip.
08:30But what do you think?
08:31Regardless of price, let's just say put that to one side, would you want to use this everyday
08:36as your phone and having it in your pocket?
08:37Let me know what you think in the comments below.
08:39Thank you so much for watching guys and I'll see you next time right here on the Tech Chap.
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