Review on 📱 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G | Factory Unlocked Smartphone Tablet | 256GB | Flex Mode | Mystic Black (SM-F916UZKAXAA) by Jared Bradford

Where to start? I've had an iPhone since the original came out over ten years ago. I'm also a developer and hated a lot of their developer policy, so I consider myself someone who values good design and usability, not your run-of-the-mill geek. This entire review is done from the perspective of who is doing the transition. Hardware: The phone itself, while seemingly solid, is actually quite comfortable to hold and use. My iPhone 11 came with a wallet case and a popsocket case, which made it feel no lighter than this phone without a case but with a popsocket. The phone is very fast, just as fast if not faster than my iPhone 11. It has 12GB of storage and as far as I can tell you get used to it. Running every process in a sandbox is probably an artifact, but with iOS you literally have no visibility unless you apply a developer profile to the phone. Cameras: The cameras seem to be good, but honestly I like the iPhone better. For now. I'm not familiar with the different camera modes and I don't understand why the photos look so much better after the shot than in the viewfinder. The iPhone undoubtedly wins here. That being said, the iPhone seems to be a great vacation phone. Simple and oriented towards consumption and entertainment, with a great camera to boot. Judging by the photos I've taken I can say that this thing can take great pictures, but it's certainly not as easy as it is on the iPhone. So while it's going to be a great "city life" phone and I hope it takes those impromptu photos that pop up from time to time, the only ones I ever really share or revisit are vacation photos using this phone. on holiday. Battery: The battery seems to last a long time, I definitely get a good 12-14 hour day at the waist with your typical "it's a new toy" usage. It seems more than acceptable, I just hope it lasts. The external screen is very convenient! Tapping on it was about the same as tapping on an old iPhone, even with my older hands, and while it's not as widely used as on a regular phone, it's also a lot easier to use with one hand. Instead of going on and on about it, I'll just say this: I can do almost anything I need to do on an external display - and while I thought I'd miss the wider aspect ratio, it turns out almost everything we do this already with our phones configured for vertical flow; not horizontal. The internal screen literally made me laugh and smile when I turned it on. That's great. Turn on the "tablet" in the settings to smile and laugh again. It can get so ridiculously bright it's probably a health hazard, and both displays offer a night mode familiar to iPhone users (you'll need to turn up the intensity to match Apple's default experience). It has a protective plastic sheet that I believe can be removed, but it doesn't feel fragile. The protective plastic sleeve can feel "sticky" at times (depending on the condition of the finger), and then it's best to keep it clean to prevent this. I fold carefully and slowly, it is absolutely not necessary. The mechanism feels deliberate and premium. It's also fairly quiet, although I do hear a bit of hissing when I unfold it. I also thought I heard creaking noises, but it turned out to be the noise Android makes when you block it. Flexible Mode: That's great too, I smiled too. One note: if you're using this phone in flex mode with the camera in the air (like you have to use for video conferencing) it's not the right weight and often topples over on its own. I solved this with my pop socket/wallet but I was expecting this phone to be properly balanced considering the Flex is selling so well. Software and UX: To be honest, Android is great. I downloaded all the same apps that I had on my iPhone (everything literally looks the same) plus a few apps that Apple doesn't list on their market. I really have to repurchase all my games, which isn't ideal, but now I'm covered by both ecosystems. The way Android organizes apps and the home screen independently is much more consistent than iOS (you can still switch to the iOS method if you want) and the addition of widgets is much more useful on Android than the newly introduced functionality in iOS 14. What's not great about UX: - Literally no help when switching from iPhone. After reading the online user guide, I found that there is a Samsung helper app for transferring content, but I haven't used it yet. Apps for Samsung and Google: I understand that Samsung wants to offer its own apps and I'm honestly not a big fan of Google and their ecosystem, but why both? Of course, Google's offerings can be downloaded if required, and Samsung won't include its own version unless it's fully baked - so why have two. It's so confusing, and to be honest I still haven't quite figured out if they both sync my photos, contacts or whatever. This is where Apple's mentality really (only) shines - by tightly controlling the apps on a user's phone, they're able to offer a consistent and unified experience. As far as I can tell, apart from the web, Samsung's apps work quite well, so why not just use them? Is there no point in having Google Photos and Samsung Photos if Samsung Pass saves my passwords and then Google asks me to save them? For real? Any non-developer Apple user can easily suspect that this is a scam. Buying Experience: This is where things fell apart for me. The phone arrived late despite being pre-ordered literally the minute it was listed. People who pre-ordered from Samsung got $150-$250 off the phone's price depending on their efforts, as well as free Galaxy Live headphones due to the delay. Luckily, Revain made me smile too, but Samsung really needs to reconsider its strategy with this phone. People buying a $500 iPhone can go to an Apple Store and get expert advice right there. I bought this phone for $2,000 and had to figure everything out for myself. When I needed assistance to get the benefits of Galaxy Z Premier, even Samsung support didn't know what I was talking about. We figured it out together, but it's unacceptable. The box includes a charger, a 3-5 foot cord, 3 sheets of tissue-sized paper, and a phone. Plus three separate phone usage alerts. This too is unacceptable. It would be great to include a case or at least headphones. Bonus: Your phone + Windows 10. It's like the iMessage and iPhoto integration in Apple products, but way better. You can make and receive calls from PC, send and receive text messages and notifications, and MAKE A FULL REMOTE DESKTOP ON YOUR PHONE. What a time to be alive. It works surprisingly well and even supports all of my various Windows devices (desktop, notebook, tablet). Other observations: 1. Ultra-fast charging should be different from normal USB PD charging. None of my PD chargers can charge it except the one that came with it. 2. There are currently no cases available for this phone3. Yes, it's quite heavy, but so will your regular iPhone4 with accessories. It's slippery! A pop socket or finger ring is recommended. Final thought: Android gives me hope for a more useful phone. Or should I say pocket computers. iOS users don't have to be developers or lie to themselves if they claim to have replaced their PC with an iPad. I can program on this Android device. I can use keyboard, mouse and USB-C hub with this Android device. I can download programs that definitely don't meet Apple's listing criteria simply because they offer competing features or expose too much of the core of the operating system. This is a true PC replacement. Especially if you add a Microsoft RDP or Citrix client there. I will update this review in 2 weeks but these are my first thoughts. Update: the camera seems decent, but I'm still not sure if it's any better than my iPhone. I've added some photos I took from the roof.