Max Tech scored the iPhone Duo against Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 in 18 categories after a week with both, and the Duo took 12. The difference a buyer feels first is in the hand, and that one goes to Samsung: the Duo is the thicker, heavier phone. Earlier first impressions of the two foldables leaned the same way.
| Spec | iPhone Duo | Z Fold 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Thickness folded | 11.3 mm | 9.7 mm |
| Thickness open | 5.2 mm | 4.5 mm |
| Weight | 254 g | 201 g |
| Wired charging | 60W | 45W |
| Magnetic charging | 25W, built in | 20W, needs a case |
| Rating | IP68 | IP48 |
Where the Duo wins
- Speed. Geekbench puts the A20 Pro 28 percent ahead in single-core and 5 percent in multi-core, and 3DMark's Steel Nomad Light 41 percent ahead. After a 20-minute stress test the Duo's lowest loop was 42 percent higher, and a Llama 3.2 3B model ran at 54.1 tokens per second against 14.4.
- Battery. Citing Mr. Who's the Boss, the video gives the Duo 1 hour 32 minutes more than the Fold and 51 minutes more than the iPhone 18 Pro.
- Speakers. They sit in opposite corners, so sound stays stereo in either orientation. Unfolded in landscape, both of the Fold's speakers end up on the left.
- Hinge. It stiffens midway to hold flex mode, which the Fold doesn't support, and the open Duo lies flat face down where the Fold wobbles.
- Glass and Pencil. Ceramic Shield 2 scratched a level later than the Fold's Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3 in JerryRigEverything's test, and the Duo works with the USB-C Apple Pencil on both screens, while the Fold takes no stylus.
Where the Fold 8 wins
- Inner display. It's glossy with deeper blacks. The Duo's matte finish hides the crease but grays out dark scenes.
- Multitasking. Windows resize freely and three apps fit at once; the Duo shows two at a fixed split.
- Cameras. A bigger 50MP main sensor, and an inner selfie camera far clearer than the Duo's under-display one, though the Duo's cover-screen selfie camera looks more natural.
- Durability. In JerryRigEverything's tests the Duo's hinge jammed with sand and its frame bent near the antenna line until the display showed a green line. The Fold held up.
A tally gives speaker placement the same weight as a bend test, and I'd weight them differently. Durability is the one loss with a real-world echo: Apple has acknowledged inner-display problems on a small number of Duo units and says AppleCare will replace them. For anyone who keeps a phone three years, that row counts for more than the 42 percent.
