Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 may have inferior cameras to the Galaxy S21

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 (Image credit: AakashJhaveri)

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 might well be the most expensive phone of the year when it lands, but if the latest leak proves accurate then it almost certainly won’t have the best cameras.

According to leaker Yogesh, speaking to 91Mobiles, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 will have a triple-lens rear camera, with all three sensors being 12MP. They didn’t go into any more detail than that, but this might mean that the phone has identical cameras to the Galaxy Z Fold 2, which are a step down from those on the Samsung Galaxy S21, let alone the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Presumably, these cameras will take on main, ultra-wide and telephoto roles, but the source didn’t say. What they did say was that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 will apparently have a 16MP under-display camera on the main screen, and a 10MP camera on the outer cover display – which we assume will be in a punch-hole.

Other leaked specs aren’t much more impressive, with this source claiming that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 will have a Snapdragon 888 chipset (even though the Snapdragon 888 Plus has now been announced), and up to 512GB of storage, which is the same amount as its predecessor.

That chipset claim is one that we’ve also just heard elsewhere, as SamMobile spotted the phone on Geekbench (a benchmarking platform), with a Snapdragon 888 chipset listed along with Android 11 and 12GB of RAM – an amount which again matches the Z Fold 2.

While we’d take these leaks with a pinch of salt, we’ve heard most of these specs before, so there’s a good chance they’re accurate – which would mean the Z Fold 3’s specs could be less than cutting-edge across the board.

Keeping components to cut costs

But that might not be the worst thing, as the biggest problem the Z Fold range has is its price, and we’ve previously heard rumors that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 could be up to 20% cheaper than its predecessor.

If Samsung achieves that by offering only modest spec upgrades, it’s a trade-off that we might be okay with, especially since there’s talk of an under-display camera and stylus support, so it’s not as if there’s nothing new here.

In any case, we should know the truth soon, as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 will likely land before long, and Yogesh has some news there too, claiming that it will be unveiled in the second week of August, then go on sale in the US and UK in late August, with India getting it in September.

That announcement date is slightly at odds with an earlier leak of August 3, but either way it’s looking very likely that we’ll see the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 sometime in August.

Via Phandroid

James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.