The Apple iPhone Duo was announced by Apple quite recently. It arrives to compete directly with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8. That is basically its main competitor, even though several other wide foldable smartphones have launched thus far. With that being said, over a week has passed since the iPhone Duo launch, and I wanted to share some more of my thoughts. I recently wrote about the iPhone Duo’s weight and thickness, and where that puts it in the market. In this article, we’ll do something else entirely.
Here, I’ll highlight 5 advantages of the Apple iPhone Duo over the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8. Now, do note that this will be kind of subjective, as no matter how you spin it, this is my personal opinion. So I’ll basically highlight what those advantages are in my opinion: my favorite iPhone Duo features over the Galaxy Z Fold 8, essentially. There’s a good chance you’ll think of (and prioritize) others, of course. I do plan on doing a separate article where I’ll highlight the Galaxy Z Fold 8’s advantages over the iPhone Duo. Neither of these two phones is perfect, and each of them has something over the other, of course.
Under Display Camera (UDC)
As many of you may recall, Samsung used an under-display camera in some previous Galaxy Z Fold models, on their main displays. The company stopped doing that with the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which arrived last year. Now, many of you may disagree, but I do think that was the wrong move, and Apple’s choice with the iPhone Duo kind of adds more fuel to the fire. The UDC on the iPhone Duo’s main display makes that display look great and seamless.
While many of us are used to display camera holes and other forms of display black holes, like notches and Dynamic Island, it’s always nice to see a display that has none of that. The iPhone Duo not only has an under-display camera, but Apple added a very nice animation when it’s in use. It appears when you need it, and disappears when you don’t. This animation is way more satisfying than I thought it would be.
Sure, the picture will be worse with that camera than it would be with a normal selfie camera, but I do think that the tradeoff is worth it. You do have a selfie camera on the cover display, a normal one, if you need it. Besides, this is a folding phone, so the cover display can serve as a viewfinder if you need it to. You can get much better pictures and videos with the cameras on the back either way.
Proper dust resistance
Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, the Apple iPhone Duo offers proper dust resistance/protection. Don’t get me wrong, IP48 on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is better than nothing, but IP68 is above and beyond that. IP68 is what you get on most modern smartphones (regular ones, not foldables), so it’s great that Apple decided to follow in Google’s footsteps. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold and Pixel 11 Pro Fold both offer the same certification.
That IP48 certification on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is not really good enough for small dust particles; it’s notably more limited than IP68. IP48 protects against solid objects larger than 1mm, while the IP68 certification basically means the phone is dust-tight. There’s a big difference between the two, in all honesty. IP68 certification gives you way more peace of mind in comparison to IP48. I sure hope the Galaxy Z Fold 9 will come with IP68 certification.
Apple A20 Pro
Alongside the iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro series, Apple announced an immensely capable processor. The Apple A20 Pro was introduced as the company’s new flagship 6-core processor. It is made using 2nm process technology, and it’s a true beast of a chip. The iPhone Duo, with this chip, according to Nanoreview, managed to reach a score of 3,061,434, even higher than both iPhone 18 Pro devices.
This chip also has a 7-core GPU and a dual 16-core Neural Engine. Compared to its predecessor, it offers 50% more memory bandwidth, graphics performance improved up to 40%, and double the AI processing power. If you add to this, Apple also included a next-gen vapor chamber and changed its location to be even more effective… I have truly high hopes for this chip. It’s not really fair to compare it to the now-year-old Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, but there you go.
MagSafe
While the Samsung Galaxy S27 series is expected to come with magnets built in, that’s not the case with the Galaxy Z Fold 8. The Apple iPhone Duo, on the other hand, does have magnets on the inside. That not only enables the device to be charged via MagSafe up to 25W, but it also makes it compatible with a ton of MagSafe accessories that are not necessarily related to charging.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8, on the other hand, does offer 20W wireless charging, but it doesn’t have magnets on the inside. You’ll need a case with magnets in it in order get similar functionality to the device. It’s a really useful feature to have, for both charging and other needs. I often use a pop-socket type of accessory on my phones, for example, and a wallet from time to time as well. It’s also useful to have in the car for maps, and so on.
Ecosystem
For those of you who have plenty of Apple devices, you’ll immediately know what I’m talking about here. While Samsung does have its own ecosystem and wide compatibility, Apple is usually on the next level. If you own a MacBook, iPad, iPhone, and an Apple Watch, or at least some of the combination of those, you’ll be able to attest that the communication between the devices is seamless.
Whether it’s Bluetooth pairing or using AirDrop. Android has come a long way in that regard, but Apple is still ahead, I’d say. The iPhone Duo represents the very first foldable smartphone that allows users to truly dive into the Apple ecosystem, and that makes it kind of special. Many of you who wanted a foldable but are heavily invested in Apple’s ecosystem have probably been eagerly waiting for this device.
The bottom line
There you have it. Those are some of the advantages the Apple iPhone Duo has over the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8. As I promised at the beginning, the opposite of this article is coming, as the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has its advantages as well, of course. Both of these phones are compelling options, albeit very different. They do share the same form factor, but other than that, they’re quite different on both the hardware and software side of things. We do know a lot more about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 at this point, as the Apple iPhone Duo is not yet available for review. The phone is launching next month, just as a reminder, in case you’re interested in grabbing one for yourself. It will be priced at $1,999 in the US, and notably more in other markets.
The post 5 Ways the iPhone Duo Beats the Galaxy Z Fold 8 appeared first on Android Headlines.
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