Apple iPhone Duo vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8
After months of rumors and leaks, Apple has finally unveiled its first foldable phone. The Apple iPhone Duo comes with the same wide form factor that Huawei has already adopted for the Pura X Max and Samsung for the Galaxy Z Fold8. Here’s our comparison between the world’s two largest mobile phone manufacturers and their foldable flagship models.
Size
The foldable Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 is a full 53 grams lighter and thinner in both its folded and unfolded states. The weight difference is clearly noticeable. The Apple iPhone Duo features a higher-quality titanium frame, while the Galaxy uses aluminum. Thanks to its IP68 certification, the iPhone has a slight advantage over the Fold8, which is only IP48 certified. Both devices have protruding camera modules, with the iPhone’s protruding slightly more than the Galaxy’s.
Cover display
Regarding the external display, the Apple iPhone Duo and the Galaxy Z Fold8 are nearly identical in terms of dimensions, resolution, refresh rate, and maximum brightness. The Fold8 appears more uniform, while the iPhone Duo has rounded corners. Additionally, the iPhone Duo features a larger cutout for the selfie camera, located in the corner, in contrast to the more compact, centrally positioned cutout of the Fold8.
Folding display
The Apple iPhone Duo and the Galaxy Z Fold8 have the same screen diagonal, but the iPhone Duo boasts a slightly sharper resolution of 1878 x 2670 pixels and 430 ppi. Apple also scores points with its in-display selfie camera, which ensures a clean, uncluttered look. Both devices offer variable refresh rates of 1–120 Hz and a peak brightness of up to 3000 nits. The iPhone further benefits from its nano-texture surface, which effectively reduces reflections, and unlike the Galaxy, it supports a stylus.
Performance
The Apple iPhone Duo is equipped with the more modern 2nm A20 Pro chip, which Apple touts as the “fastest in a smartphone.” It features an additional GPU core, allowing Apple to promise up to 40% better graphics performance compared to the A19 Pro. The Galaxy Z Fold8 uses last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (3nm) – currently the fastest Android processor.
No posts for this criteria.Both smartphones come standard with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage. The Galaxy can be configured with up to 16 GB of RAM and storage options of 512 GB and 1 TB, while the iPhone Duo is available with up to 2 TB of storage.
Cameras
The Apple iPhone Duo and the Galaxy Z Fold8 offer a similar camera setup, with a main camera and an ultrawide camera on the back. Apple likely uses a slightly larger 1/1.28-inch sensor for the main camera, while Samsung has a 1/1.56-inch sensor. Unfortunately, neither device has a separate telephoto lens. The Galaxy has a slight advantage when it comes to video recording: it achieves a maximum resolution of 8K at 30 frames per second.
Battery
As is typical for Apple, the actual battery capacity of the iPhone Duo was not specified. Apple promises up to 31 hours of video playback using the inner display and 44 hours using the outer display, or 24 hours with even use of both screens. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 has a 4800 mAh Si/C battery that lasts all day with normal use.
Regarding charging speed, the duo reaches 50% in 20 minutes of wired charging, according to the manufacturer, while the Samsung achieves 65% in the same timeframe. The iPhone offers slightly faster wireless charging at 25 watts compared to the Galaxy’s 20 watts. Both smartphones feature USB-C 3.2 ports, with the Galaxy Z Fold8 benefiting from Samsung DeX, while the iPhone lacks a desktop mode when connected to an external display.
Verdict
To conclude the technical comparison, both the Apple iPhone Duo and the Galaxy Z Fold8 support Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, and UWB connectivity, with the iPhone offering the newer second-generation UWB specification. The Galaxy Fold8 also features a physical SIM card slot, while the iPhone Duo supports eSIM exclusively.
And then there’s the price. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 currently costs €1,929/$1,649. The Apple iPhone Duo is available from €2,299/$1,999. That’s a significant difference of €370 or $350, giving the Galaxy phone a clear advantage.
