What you need to know
- Samsung unveils its Eco² OLED display tech used in the Galaxy Z Fold 3.
- The display is said to consume 25% less power than a traditional OLED.
- The increase in light enabled Samsung to implement its under-display camera.
Last week, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 with display resolution and sizes similar to their predecessors. However, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 has a new display technology, which Samsung claims is more power-efficient than a traditional OLED.
The new Eco² OLED showcases Samsung's new method of developing OLED displays, which throws out the need for an external polarizer. Normally, this is needed to help reflect light entering the panel and provide a clearer picture. However, it's a double-edged sword in that it also blocks some of the light coming from the OLED display, making it less efficient.
Eco² OLED stands for Efficient power Consumption + Eco-friendly Component, and with it, Samsung implements a new display stack that rids the polarizing layer. By integrating the polarizer into the OLED itself, Samsung is able to increase light transmittance from the OLED panel by 33%, thus creating a display that's 25% more efficient than a more conventional OLED panel found on the best Android phones. It also stands to make the display thinner and makes use of less plastic materials.
The increased light from the lack of a polarizer is how Samsung provided the Galaxy Z Fold 3 with an Under Panel Camera, which would normally suffer greatly due to the lack of light reaching it through the display. Of course, the solution isn't perfect, as the camera is still fairly visible due to the decreased pixel density over the sensor. However, the camera features larger pixels than the Galaxy Z Fold 2, which should help with light intake, and we'll be testing this to see just how well it performs.
While the Galaxy Z Fold 3 has a slightly smaller battery capacity than its predecessor, Samsung appears to have offset the difference with a more efficient chipset and new display technology. Rest assured, we'll also be putting the battery through its paces to see how it compares.
Two-in-one
The Galaxy Z Fold 3 represents among the best that Samsung has to offer, with a more durable, refined design, a new Under Display Camera for uninterrupted viewing, and S Pen support for better productivity.
