Pre-orders for Samsung’s new foldable phones have already started in the US, the UK and Europe and will kick off in India next week. Last week’s poll shows that many will be hitting that “pre-order” button, which will make the first week of sales an interesting time. There is a lot riding on the foldables, especially this year when there is no new Galaxy Note.
About 1 in 4 voters will be pre-ordering a Galaxy Z Fold3, likely taking advantage of the early-bird perks and trade-in deals set up by Samsung. About as many people are taking a more cautious approach and are waiting for positive reviews before committing. We’re working on full reviews, but for now you can check out our hands-on review for our first impressions.
While Samsung claims that the S Pen is a major boost to productivity, not everyone is sold on the idea. The vote on getting an S Pen to go with the Z Fold3 was split nearly 50/50. Some of the naysayers are Note traditionalists who are not happy with the carrying case solutions, others are just not stylus fans. Of course, you don’t have to buy the stylus immediately, Fold owners can always try it out later. But can the Z Fold3 really replace the Note series? Analysts will have to look at the sales data to answer that one.
Moving on to the Galaxy Z Flip3, nearly 1 in 3 voters are interested in the clamshell foldable (but will wait for reviews to come out) and 1 in 4 will be pre-ordering. The lower price makes it more accessible than the Fold and some are replacing small phones with it.
In the case of both the Z Fold3 and Z Flip3 there are still many that remain unconvinced, though for different reasons. For some, the prices are still too high. Others are not happy with the crease in the screen (at least Samsung solved the water resistance issue). Others still have issues with these two models unrelated to the foldable form factor, e.g. that the camera setups are no match for the Galaxy S21 series.
It looks like foldables are still haven’t achieved mainstream appeal, but they are close. Many commented that they will hold out for the Z Fold4 or Z Flip4, which will bring another round of hardware polish. For now, foldables (especially the large, pricey Fold) appeal mostly to well-heeled adventurous buyers.