Unfortunately, the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s display averaged 422 nits of brightness in our lab testing. That’s okay but nearly half what the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra turned in (821 nits), and the iPhone 12 Pro Max also hit a relatively high 654 nits. Samsung upgraded just about every one of the Z Fold 2's shortcomings on the Z Fold 3. Water resistance and a significantly better screen protector will help everyone, and a lower price makes it easier than ever for regular folks to afford one. Samsung Electronics (UK) Limited (Registered no: 03086621), registered at Samsung House,2000 Hillswood Drive, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 0RS, United Kingdom, acts as a credit intermediary and not as a lender. Samsung is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 727333). Credit is provided by Klarna Bank AB, which is authorised and regulated by the Swedish Financial Services Authority, with limited supervision by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority in the UK. For more information please visit www.klarna.com/uk. Finance is only available to permanent UK residents aged between 18-80, subject to status, T&Cs apply.

Despite all of these improvements, the Z Fold 3 somehow costs slightly less than its predecessor. There’s a huge emphasis on the word “slightly”, in this instance, since it’s still the priciest handheld you can currently buy. But a saving is still a saving, no matter how small it might be. The Galaxy Z Fold 3's cameras aren't bad by any means, but they're not the very best cameras you can get in most areas. Samsung's Galaxy S22 series outshines it in every way, and the Google Pixel 6 Pro outclasses the Fold 3's cameras entirely. Both of those phones are also a lot less money. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 wasn’t as far behind the iPhone 12 Pro Max on the 3DMark Wild Life graphics test. The Samsung mustered 33 frames per second, compared to 39 fps on the iPhone.We've got a lot of joy out of playing games without our thumbs covering up the entire display when reaching for on-screen controls. We also showed off a YouTube video to a group of friends without having to hand over our device and without them having to squint – the Z Fold 3 screen is just that big. The Galaxy Z Fold 3’s main display looks pretty stunning, and a big reason for that is a new under-display camera. Instead of having to stare at a notch or punch hole, the UDC on the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is nearly invisible, especially when you go full screen on content like photos and videos. When the display is dark, say on the home screen, you can make out the tiny hole, but it’s not that noticeable. Other S Pen-powered features include productivity boosters such as Screen Write (a markup feature), Smart Select (pull text and pictures out of other apps) and translate (where you can tap words to find out what they mean in different languages). Other features like Live Message — where you can capture an image and add text and doodles — or AR Doodle for superimposing your drawings over real-world objects are less about productivity and more about fun.

But my favorite optimized app for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is Chrome. I like being able to see all my tabs at the top and move them around, just as I would on the desktop. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 review: S Pen

Waterproof, Foldable Phone

I really like the Taskbar feature, which lets you pin your favorite apps to the side of the display and follow you to any app. It's just like Windows. However, you have to dig in the Labs setting to turn this on. The biggest disadvantage of these new screen protectors is that they're not user removable. Over the past six months, the larger inner screen remains completely free from scratches and dents, despite heavy usage during that time. The update was initially supposed to roll out in December but faced a series of delays due to some bugs that were bootlooping some devices. While it's not based on Android 12L— that's the sort of Android 12.1 that Google designed to work best for foldables and devices with large displays — we expect that some of Android 12L's new features will make their way to the next One UI update on the Z Fold 3. The camera specs mirror what we got a year ago: a 12MP f/1.8 main camera, a 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera, and a 12MP f/2.4 telephoto camera that’s capable of 2x optical zoom. You’ll get optical image stabilization in the telephoto and ultra-wide cameras on this new device, but little else has changed. You can see in this shot of portulaca flowers that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is capable of delivering vibrant colors, though the details could be a bit better in the petals when I zoomed in. I slightly prefer the contrast offered by the iPhone 12 Pro Max.