Surface Duo 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 spec battle

4 min. read

Updated September 24th, 2021

Published September 22nd, 2021

updated on Sep 24th, 2021 published on Sep 22nd, 2021

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With the Surface Duo 2, Microsoft finally delivered a competitive folding smartphone, and the main competition is of course the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3.

In the specs comparison below we can see how the two devices stack up.

	Surface Duo 2	Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3
Dimensions	Open: 145.2 x 184.5 x 5.50 mm Closed: 145.2 x 92.1 x 11.0 mm	Open: 158.2 x 128.1 x 6.4 mm Closed: 158.2 x 67.1 x 14.4-16 mm
Display	Dual PixelSense™ Fusion Displays open: 8.3” AMOLED, 2688×1892 Single PixelSense™ Screen: 5.8” AMOLED 1344×1892 (13:9) 401 PPI HDR Wide color 100% SRGB, DCI-P3 Dual displays with 90Hz adaptive refresh rate 800 nits max brightness Display Material: Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus™	Type Foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1200 nits (peak) Size 7.6 inches, 179.9 cm2 (~88.8% screen-to-body ratio) Resolution 1768 x 2208 pixels (~374 ppi density) Cover display: Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 6.2 inches, 832 x 2268 pixels, 25:9 ratio
Battery capacity	4449mAh (typical) dual battery 4340mAh (minimum) dual battery	Li-Po 4400 mAh, non-removable
Camera and video recording	Dynamic triple lens rear-facing camera: Wide: 12MP, f/1.7 aperture, 27 mm, 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF and OIS Telephoto:12MP, f/2.4 aperture, 51 mm, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS and 2X optical zoom Ultra-Wide:16MP, f/2.2 aperture, 13 mm, 1.0µm, 110^o diagonal field of view with distortion correction Front-facing Camera: 12MP, f/2.0, 24 mm,1.0µm Flash: Dual led – dual color flash Video recording: HDR Video 4K video recording at 30 fps and 60 fps 1080p video recording at 30 fps and 60 fps Slow motion video at 120 or 240fps HEVC and H.264 video recording formats	Triple 12 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.76″, 1.8µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS 12 MP, f/2.4, 52mm (telephoto), 1/3.6″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 2x optical zoom 12 MP, f/2.2, 123?, 12mm (ultrawide), 1.12µm Features LED flash, HDR, panorama Video 4K@60fps, 1080p@60/240fps (gyro-EIS), 720p@960fps (gyro-EIS), HDR10+ Front-facing Camera: Single 4 MP, f/1.8, 2.0µm, under display Cover camera: 10 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/3″, 1.22µm Features HDR Video 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS
Network and connectivity	Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax (2.4/5GHz) Bluetooth: Bluetooth^® 5.1 NFC for payments and provisioning WCDMA: 1,2,5,8 GSM/GPRS: GSM-850, E-GSM-900, DCS-1800, PCS-1900 Location: GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS	GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE / 5G WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot Bluetooth 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD GPS Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS NFC Yes Radio No
Processor	Qualcomm^® Snapdragon™ 888 5G Mobile Platform	Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm)
Storage and memory	128GB, 256GB, 512GB 8GB DRAM LPDDR5 memory	256GB 12GB RAM 512GB 12GB RAM UFS 3.1
Software	Operating System: Android™ 11	Android 11, One UI 3.1.1
Security and authentication	Biometric lock type: Fingerprint reader with enterprise grade security Lock type: Swipe, PIN, password Security applications pre-loaded on device: Microsoft Authenticator	Fingerprint (side-mounted)
Sensors	Dual Accelerometer Dual Gyroscope Dual Magnetometer Dual Ambient Light Sensor Dual Proximity Sensor Hall Sensor Fingerprint Sensor	accelerometer gyro proximity compass barometer
Weight	284 grams	271 g (9.56 oz)
Battery life	Up to 15.5 hours of Local Video Playback Up to 28 hours of Talk Time	34 hours talk time
Battery charging	Fast Charging available using the Microsoft Surface 23W USB-C Power Supply¹¹	Fast charging 25W Fast wireless charging 11W Reverse wireless charging 4.5W
SIM	One eSIM¹¹ and one Nano SIM	Nano-SIM and eSIM
Connections	USB-C^® 3.2 Gen 2 Unlocked for all carriers	USB USB Type-C 3.2
Audio	Stereo speaker, Dual Mic AI-based noise suppression and acoustic echo cancellation optimized for productive use in all postures Best-in -class Full Duplex communication for voice calls in hands free mode, receiver and LRA Qualcomm^® aptX™ Classic, HD and TWS Hearing aid compatibility: M4/T3 Wake on Voice using Google Assistant	Loudspeaker Yes, with stereo speakers 32-bit/384kHz audio Tuned by AKG
Exterior	Exterior Material: Corning^® Gorilla^® Glass Color: Glacier, Obsidian	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
Pen and inking	Supports all in-market generations of Surface Slim Pen, Surface Pen, and Surface Hub 2 Pen⁸ Simultaneous Pen and touch are supported	S-Pen
Water resistance		IPX8 water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins)
Price	$1499	$1,799.99

The Surface Duo 2 has a number of wins, but has obvious deficits such as the lack of a cover display and no support for wireless charging. The Z Fold 3 is likely also a more durable device, but you pay $300 for that advantage.

Which handset do our readers think comes out ahead? Let us know below.

More about the topics: microsoft, samsung galaxy z fold 3, surface duo 2

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