Neither phone is in Max Tech's hands yet, so where MKBHD's Duo and Z Fold 8 impressions judged the pair on feel, its iPhone Duo vs Galaxy Z Fold 8 video is a spec-sheet fight, 15 rounds of it. Apple takes more of them. But the round you'd feel first goes to Samsung: the Z Fold 8 weighs 201 g to the Duo's 254 g, and the video reports early complaints that the Duo tires the hands when you're lying on a couch with it.
The numbers Max Tech lines up
| Spec | iPhone Duo | Galaxy Z Fold 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Dust and water | IP68, 6 m for 30 minutes | IP48, 1.5 m for 30 minutes |
| Thickness, unfolded | 5.2 mm | 4.5 mm |
| Weight | 254 g | 201 g |
| Charging, wired and wireless | 60W and 25W | 45W and 20W |
| Split-screen apps | Two, fixed size | Four, resizable |
In the hand
- Dust sealing. IP68 makes the Duo dust-tight. IP48 only stops particles larger than 1 mm, so Max Tech's worry is sand working into the Z Fold 8's hinge.
- MagSafe. The magnets are built into the Duo, so iPhoners can bring their chargers and mounts along caseless, while the Z Fold 8 needs a magnetic case. Fit is a separate question, since the iPhone Duo MagSafe ring sits too high for standard wallets.
- Front glass. Ceramic Shield 2 covers the Duo's front, and the video leans on JerryRigEverything's scratch test of the same glass on the iPhone 17 Pro to call it the most scratch-resistant available.
On the inner screen
- Under-display camera. It leaves the Duo's inner display looking like one slab of glass, where the Z Fold 8 has a punch-hole cutout. Image quality pays for it: Apple doesn't list a megapixel count, and Max Tech rates Samsung's 10 MP inner camera the better one.
- Multitasking. Two side-by-side apps on the Duo, no floating windows, no resizing. The Z Fold 8 runs up to four, by the video's count, each adjustable.
- Desktop mode. DeX gives the Z Fold 8 windowed apps on a monitor with a keyboard and mouse. The Duo doesn't drive an external display at all.
- Stylus. Apple Pencil works on the Duo, and the Z Fold 8 has no S Pen support.
Chip, cooling, and cameras
- Leaked benchmarks. Leaked Geekbench 7 runs put the A20 Pro above 4,000 in single-core, which Max Tech works out as 30% ahead of the Z Fold 8, and 28% ahead in multi-core with six cores against eight.
- Cooling. The Duo has a vapor chamber and the Z Fold 8 doesn't. Apple claims 35% better sustained performance than the iPhone 17 Pro, the video notes.
- Main camera. Samsung's 50 MP sensor measures 1/1.56 inch. The Duo seems to reuse the iPhone 17e camera, Max Tech suspects, which would mean a 1/2.55-inch sensor.
- Cover selfie camera. 12 MP with Center Stage on the Duo against 10 MP.
The Duo's crease is harder to see, and it still loses the round. Its matte inner display hides the fold by killing the reflections that outline it on the Z Fold 8. Max Tech's scoring goes to Samsung because matte OLED gives up its deep blacks and can look gray and washed out.
I honestly wish that Apple just stuck with glossy glass.
The video attaches a maybe to Apple's win, and I'd weigh the rounds differently. A two-app limit and a missing desktop mode are software, the kind of thing Apple has rebuilt on the iPad more than once, while IP48 and 254 g are fixed the day each phone ships.
